unlock toshiba dkvr60ku

[bukijami]

hi,

I do hack pc's but when it comes to VCR... I'm speachless....

i bought this (Toshiba dkvr60ku) VCR/DVD combo player from the USA, i tested it (in USA )with a DVD and a video cassette, and every thing went fine.
when back to Italy, i tried my DVD's and VCR cassettes, while the dvd is playing perfectly the VCR cassettes are viewed in black and white and it is faster than it should!

so the problem is limited to the VCR, is it due to the region lock?? on the back of the decoder it is indicated as region 1? is there any way to troubleshoot this problem?? by the way the video cassettes I'm using are old family tapes with no limitation, as long as i know.

thank you guys

[Ai Haibara]

It could be a PAL issue. Players sold in the US generally don't handle PAL-format media/video all that well (or at all, in a lot of cases).

The DVD player's region settings shouldn't have any effect on the VCR.

[bukijami]

Thanks for replying,
Does the PAL affect the video and makes it running faster? and why the DVD which is on the same system is running properly?
so you don't think it has nothing to do with the regional coding, by the way it is connected to a PAL/NTSC tv it should work, right?

thanks again

[jman98]

So many problems. Where to begin...

1) Combo players of all types, including DVD/VCR combos, are almost impossible to unlock.
2) US DVD players sometimes don't support PAL video at all.
3) Your VHS tape problem has nothing to do with DVD region coding.
4) When you play video of any kind and get black and white where you should have color (and you may or may not also get a rolling screen) this suggests a PAL-NTSC mismatch between player and TV. You may have to play with the settings of the Toshiba video output and try changing it or possibly change the TV settings if you can. By any chance are you playing PAL VHS tapes? Because if so, you need to be aware that US VCRs of all kinds typically do not support PAL at all, so in that case it would be just about a miracle that you got any kind of output at all.

[bukijami]

thanks for replying

yes, I think the cassettes I'm trying to view are in a PAL format, thats why is plays them faster and in black and white, which means that the VCR is sutable only for NTSC!

so you are saying I may use it as an ornament!!.......any troubleshoot for this case?

[jagabo]

To play a PAL VHS tape you need a PAL VHS deck and a PAL TV. Or you can use a PAL -> NTSC converting VHS player like the old Samsung SV5000:

http://www.220-electronics.com/VCR/samsungsv5000.htm

[jman98]

thanks for replying

yes, I think the cassettes I'm trying to view are in a PAL format, thats why is plays them faster and in black and white, which means that the VCR is sutable only for NTSC!

so you are saying I may use it as an ornament!!.......any troubleshoot for this case?

I'm not trying to be cruel, but if you had joined the forums here and asked for advice BEFORE you bought anything, we could have warned you about this. I am constantly baffled at why people who live in Europe will buy DVD players in the USA and then expect to have no problems of any kind once they get home. Some USA DVD players only work on American electrical power and I can promise you that having to buy a proper step down converter for such players will push the total cost far beyond what an equivalent European DVD player would cost. It's possible that the speed up you see on VHS tapes is being caused because the player doesn't support European power and you are using a device to convert the power that is not converting the frequency to American standards, only the voltage.

You need to remember this - American electronic devices are only guaranteed to work with NTSC video, region 1 DVDs, region A BluRays and American power. If you expect anything else to be supported, you may be in for a nasty surprise. There are devices sold in the USA that do support more than the American standards, but you cannot expect this to be true most of the time.

[bukijami]

jagabo, thanks for your suggestion, i will try to look for a NTSC/PAL convertor but still i do not understand why i can still watch the DVD without being converted in adition to the fact that my tv operates in pal and ntsc

Jman98, I didn't mean you are cruel, i was just kidding about not being able to use my NEW device, when you live in europe and fly to the US it is like a trip to paradice
electronics are much advanced and more affordable you would save almost 30%
sorry again about the missunderstanding.
I do use a power convertor, i checked the frequency required (60 Hz) and the one from the convertor (50-60 Hz)
if it is a problem of frequence shouldn't it affect the DVD too !

thanks

[jagabo]

VHS NTSC drums spin at 1800 RPM. PAL drums at 1500 RPM.