Just what is hackable in Best Buy DVD or blu-ray players ?

[Zipper666]

I've been switching backwards and forwards from the Best Buy site to here and punching in model numbers all of which come up "no hacks"
Can anybody tell me which DVD and/or blu-ray players they stock that can be made any region ?

[usually_quiet]

It is likely that you are getting no hits because almost nothing you can buy off the shelf at BestBuy today is hackable by consumers. For what it is worth there is a hack here for the Philips DVP2880/F7

Making a Blu-Ray player from any of the big names in consumer electronics region free, particularly for Blu-Ray, would likey require hardware modifications, not a simple hack. Want a region free Blu-Ray player? Buy from a region free specialty store that sells modified machines. Here are a few well-known sources:

http://www.220-electronics.com
http://www.world-import.com
http://www.samstores.com/

Pay attention to the listings because some may be region free for DVD only. Modifications for Blu-Ray may cost extra or be unavailable. Also make sure the player has conversion from PAL to NTSC built in.

[lingyi]

+1 to usually_quiet's post.

In addition, if you do find non-hardware modded player listed, a new firmware either already installed or downloaded can take away the hack at any time.

[Zipper666]

Many thanks to "usually_quiet" and to "lingyi"

I note that the lower end blu-ray will play all region DVD but only "2" on blu-ray - pardon my ignorance on this, but can I assume that means US only?

If so, it's no big deal as I really want it for UK/European DVD's and expect to have only US blu-ray discs

[hech54]

Many thanks to "usually_quiet" and to "lingyi"

I note that the lower end blu-ray will play all region DVD but only "2" on blu-ray - pardon my ignorance on this, but can I assume that means US only?

If so, it's no big deal as I really want it for UK/European DVD's and expect to have only US blu-ray discs

Hacking a DVD player to "region free" most likely will NOT enable you to play "UK/European DVD's " anyway. You still
need to deal with the VIDEO FORMAT of UK/European DVD's ....and that is PAL (America is NTSC video format).

A hack is only half of the battle. You also need to make sure the DVD player converts PAL to NTSC "on the fly" as they say.

[roma_turok]

Hacking a DVD player to "region free" most likely will NOT enable you to play "UK/European DVD's " anyway. You still
need to deal with the VIDEO FORMAT of UK/European DVD's ....and that is PAL (America is NTSC video format).

A hack is only half of the battle. You also need to make sure the DVD player converts PAL to NTSC "on the fly" as they say.

Not all TV in UK/European can accept PAL only
there MultiSystem TV can display NTSC format also, without any conversion.

[hech54]

Hacking a DVD player to "region free" most likely will NOT enable you to play "UK/European DVD's " anyway. You still
need to deal with the VIDEO FORMAT of UK/European DVD's ....and that is PAL (America is NTSC video format).

A hack is only half of the battle. You also need to make sure the DVD player converts PAL to NTSC "on the fly" as they say.

Not all TV in UK/European can accept PAL only
there MultiSystem TV can display NTSC format also, without any conversion.

That's a wonderful story but the OP is in the US(NTSC) and importing UK(PAL) DVDs.

[roma_turok]

That's a wonderful story but the OP is in the US(NTSC) and importing UK(PAL) DVDs.

Anyway in US also have MultiSystem TVs.

[jman98]

That's a wonderful story but the OP is in the US(NTSC) and importing UK(PAL) DVDs.

Anyway in US also have MultiSystem TVs.

Not really. Samsung, for example, is an extremely popular brand here and none of their TVs that they sell in North America can play PAL video. Yes, you can always buy a multisystem TV from an online speciality seller, but few people do so. A few brands sold in stores have been reported to be able to play PAL video, but I don't remember the brands. If you buy a TV in the USA/Canada you should assume that it can't play PAL video at all and count yourself lucky if it actually can.

As far as I know, BestBuy no longer stocks any BluRay players that can be made region free with hacks by a consumer. At best they might have 1 or 2 Philips BluRay player models that can be made region free, but Philips BluRay players don't convert between PAL and NTSC, so unless your TV supports PAL video, this is likely of no use to you. On the other hand, BestBuy may still carry a small number of Philips DVD players (NOT BluRay players but DVD players) that can be made region free with a hack and can convert between PAL and NTSC video output. BestBuy used to sell Insignia BluRay players and a few of theirs actually could be made region free for BluRay and DVD playback with a hack, but they don't sell those any more. Unless you want to do a LOT of research by going to the BestBuy website, writing down Philips model numbers, and looking for recent reports of hack codes that have recent posts saying that they still work, the safest thing to do is to buy from a seller in usually_quiet's post.

[usually_quiet]

That's a wonderful story but the OP is in the US(NTSC) and importing UK(PAL) DVDs.

Anyway in US also have MultiSystem TVs.

TVs made for N. America are almost never multi-system. The odds are at least a hundred to one against being able to find a multi-system TV in a normal retailer's electronics department. Multi-system TVs normally have to be purchased at a specialty retailer in N. America. The specialty retailer imports them from another country outside N. America and sometimes performs modifications to make them more usable in N. America, but frequently the tuners don't work here.

[usually_quiet]

Many thanks to "usually_quiet" and to "lingyi"

I note that the lower end blu-ray will play all region DVD but only "2" on blu-ray - pardon my ignorance on this, but can I assume that means US only?

If so, it's no big deal as I really want it for UK/European DVD's and expect to have only US blu-ray discs

That makes no sense, as Blu-Ray uses regions A, B, and C. Only DVD uses 0-8 for regions plus 9/ALL. What lower-end model from what retailer are you complaining about?

[Zipper666]

I'm a little surprised that posters are talking about PAL and NTSC which are VIDEO formats.

DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region. This is achieved by way of region-locked DVD players, which will play back only DVDs encoded to their region (plus those without any region code). The American DVD Copy Control Association also requires that DVD player manufacturers incorporate the regional-playback control (RPC) system.

Which is why we hack DVD players to make them region free.

I have a Phillips DVD player hacked that plays UK, European and US purchased DVD's with no problem. Unfortunately it's now died of old age and rather than just get another DVD player I thought perhaps an easily hackable blu-ray might be around, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

[Zipper666]

Many thanks to "usually_quiet" and to "lingyi"

I note that the lower end blu-ray will play all region DVD but only "2" on blu-ray - pardon my ignorance on this, but can I assume that means US only?

If so, it's no big deal as I really want it for UK/European DVD's and expect to have only US blu-ray discs

That makes no sense, as Blu-Ray uses regions A, B, and C. Only DVD uses 0-8 for regions plus 9/ALL. What lower-end model from what retailer are you complaining about?

Yeah, my bad, I meant A not 2

[Kerry56]

Have you considered a streaming media player like a Roku or WD TV Live? You'd need to rip to hard drives but a Blu-ray rom drive isn't all that expensive. Once transferred to hard drives, the convenience in watching is a definite plus to this approach. WD TV Live: $90. 2TB external drive: $63. Blu ray rom drive: $35. MakeMKV: Free. It will take a fair amount of time to rip your collection which is one of the few downsides.

I know some people who use SATA docks instead of external drives, which makes it very easy to shift drives and allows for extremely large collections of movies.

I wouldn't recommend a Blu-ray player at all anymore, but then I'm not much for extras included on the discs. You may have different tastes.

[fritzi93]

Have you considered a streaming media player like a Roku or WD TV Live? You'd need to rip to hard drives but a Blu-ray rom drive isn't all that expensive. Once transferred to hard drives, the convenience in watching is a definite plus to this approach. WD TV Live: $90. 2TB external drive: $63. Blu ray rom drive: $35. MakeMKV: Free. It will take a fair amount of time to rip your collection which is one of the few downsides.

I know some people who use SATA docks instead of external drives, which makes it very easy to shift drives and allows for extremely large collections of movies.

I wouldn't recommend a Blu-ray player at all anymore, but then I'm not much for extras included on the discs. You may have different tastes.

Amen to that. I only use a standalone player any more for 3D Blu-Rays. (BTW, I just sold one of my pre-Cinavia players, a Sony BDP-S360. Hadn't used it for a few years now.)

The OP is pretty much limited to a hardware-modded player for BDs, and the standalones that can be hacked for DVD region coding are getting scarce.

There are other ways, outlined above, that not only solve the problem, but have other advantages as well. Such as no load time, no forced trailers, no stupid menus.

Just to add: if the TV is less than 4 years old, it may have an onboard media player that can play files from external powered hard drive via USB. Yes, they tend to be more particular about codecs/containers, but I have 2 TVs that have decent onboard players (an LG and a Sharp).

Anyway, I have many BDs now that have never been played in a standalone. First thing I do is rip main movie and put them away. Or if I see any extras I might be interested in, I'll view them from my HTPC's BD-RW before I rip. One viewing had always been enough for me.

[usually_quiet]

I'm a little surprised that posters are talking about PAL and NTSC which are VIDEO formats.

DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region. This is achieved by way of region-locked DVD players, which will play back only DVDs encoded to their region (plus those without any region code). The American DVD Copy Control Association also requires that DVD player manufacturers incorporate the regional-playback control (RPC) system.

Which is why we hack DVD players to make them region free.

I have a Phillips DVD player hacked that plays UK, European and US purchased DVD's with no problem. Unfortunately it's now died of old age and rather than just get another DVD player I thought perhaps an easily hackable blu-ray might be around, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

I don't think you understand the situation. Whether you realize it or not, there are 2 sections in the DVD spec. One for the PAL video system and the other for the NTSC video system. The two parts of the spec use different resolutions and frame rates, and the audio requirements are slightly different as well. DVDs from the UK and EU (Region 2) are encoded to conform to the PAL section of the DVD spec. N. America DVDs (Region 1) are encoded to conform to the NTSC spec. Unfortunately, since almost all TVs made for N. America are only capable of displaying NTSC video correctly, a DVD player that outputs PAL video when playing a PAL DVD will not work well for playing Region 2 DVDs whether the player is region free or not.

As someone else already mentioned, most Philips DVD players can be configured to output NTSC video even when playing a PAL DVD. Your old Philips player likely performed the conversion, which allowed your TV to display the video. However, there are a few region free players around that don't convert and play PAL video as PAL and NTSC video as NTSC. When playing an region 2 DVD, you would need to use an external converter to allow a non-converting player to work with a typical N. American TV.

[Noahtuck]

Yep, I figured when he wrote this,

I'm a little surprised that posters are talking about PAL and NTSC which are VIDEO formats.

He obviously copied and pasted the rest from somewhere as I can't see someone understanding that much about region coding yet not understanding the video format differences that go along with region coding when playing imported DVD's.

[usually_quiet]

Yep, I figured when he wrote this,

I'm a little surprised that posters are talking about PAL and NTSC which are VIDEO formats.

He obviously copied and pasted the rest from somewhere as I can't see someone understanding that much about region coding yet not understanding the video format differences that go along with region coding when playing imported DVD's.

Yes, it was borrowed from Wikipedia.

[hech54]

I'm a little surprised that posters are talking about PAL and NTSC which are VIDEO formats.

DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region. This is achieved by way of region-locked DVD players, which will play back only DVDs encoded to their region (plus those without any region code). The American DVD Copy Control Association also requires that DVD player manufacturers incorporate the regional-playback control (RPC) system.

Which is why we hack DVD players to make them region free.

I have a Phillips DVD player hacked that plays UK, European and US purchased DVD's with no problem. Unfortunately it's now died of old age and rather than just get another DVD player I thought perhaps an easily hackable blu-ray might be around, but it doesn't seem to be the case.

That's because your old Philips was not only Region Free....it also converted PAL to NTSC as it played(on the fly).....and you changed a menu setting to enable it to do that.
Region Coding - hurdle one
NTSC vs. PAL - hurdle two.
Two completely different issues/problem you must address playing "foreign" DVDs in America.