Samsung BD-UP5000 Region "A", Region "1"

[lastbutthree]

How can I change Samsung BD-UP5000 player to a "Region-free Player" for Blu-ray and DVD.

[hech54]

NOT gonna happen.

[jman98]

Very very few BluRay players can be made region free for DVD playback by entering a code. I am not aware of any Samsung players that will let you do this. Most Samsung players of any kind are region locked and can't be changed. We've had reports of a couple of current models that can be made region free, but I think they were in the 300 series and they were DVD only players.

The only currently available BluRay players that are capable of changing region for BluRay playback are the Oppo and Momitsu players. The Momitsu has had hardware modifications done on it by the people who sell it. The Oppo requires firmware modifications to be done either by the seller or the purchaser before it can change BluRay regions. Note that I said "change region". No BluRay player can operate in region free mode, but these 2 players do allow you to change BluRay regions between A, B and C as desired.

[turk690]

There are sites that are dedicated to modding BD players (like bluraymods.com). It basically involves mounting a PCB with a processor in it inside the player, then pressing code on the remote to change from, say region "A" to "B" and vice-versa. If you are an electronic h/w professional you can buy the chip from these sites and do the mounting & soldering yourself. It appears the players most amenable to this are the ones from Panasonic. Samsung, I'm told, is more difficult. If you are like the rest, you will have to send your player to them for them to install said thing inside.
It all costs $$$. BD players are NOT yet cheap. These modifications are also expensive (US$150 or so).
If you really do have to have multi-region BD, buying two players of different regions may only cost marginally more than buying a modded one, or having your existing BD player modded.
The funny thing is, different permutations of region codes of BD with DVD produce players with different codings, also depending on the philosophy of the place. For example, Hong Kong and USA are both BD region A, but Hong Kong is DVD 3 and USA is DVD 1. While in the USA a BD player will be stuck at BD A & DVD 1, same model will be BD A snd multi-region DVD in Hong Kong (no-one will buy DVD players legally stuck only at region 3 in Hong Kong).
Getting around BD region code for now is still h/w difficult. On the PC, it's also touch and go (Power DVD is ever more hobbled with each latest version). I travel a lot, buying flotsam along the way, and until I can play all the varied BD I have acquired on one player with all of its capabilities intact we're still firmly on the side of the kvetch on BD region coding thing.
Oppo and Momitsu can't openly advocate their machines as BD multi-region because that is illegal, but on the level of Panasonic (which stridently abides by it) they make it relatively easier to do so.