Panasonic EH59 help

[Maldez]

I'm a new owner of a Panasonic EH59 and need some help. I just tried playing a commercially produced DVD disc and was stopped in my tracks with the message "This disc can not be played in your region".

Please tell me I just need to change the settings of my EH59 to another "region" so that I can play commercial discs!

Thx!

[hech54]

Not all players can be hacked.

[Maldez]

Not all players can be hacked.

I don't even know what that means. I just want to play a video on the damn thing!

[hech54]

Not all players can be hacked.

I don't even know what that means. I just want to play a video on the damn thing!

You either bought the discs from overseas or the player from overseas. Either way you have FEW easy options.
If you are in the United States your situation is probably insurmountable for you.

[jjeff]

You didn't say where you live or where you purchased your EH-59 but mine purchased in the US (like any I've seen for sale in the US) is region free. Note region free doesn't mean it will convert from PAL to NTSC or NTSC to PAL so even though it may play a PAL region 2 disc your TV will need to be able to display PAL(50hz).

[usually_quiet]

I'm a new owner of a Panasonic EH59 and need some help. I just tried playing a commercially produced DVD disc and was stopped in my tracks with the message "This disc can not be played in your region".

Please tell me I just need to change the settings of my EH59 to another "region" so that I can play commercial discs!

Thx!

You may have to use a DVD player for playing commercially produced discs, since the EH59 isn't a US model. Either that or try making region-free safety copies of your discs.

Remember. the EH59 is an "international" or "gray market" product built for use somewhere else. You bought it because you hated the Magnovox (the only current US DVD recorder with an HDD) for being cheap-looking and not having as many features. Your EH59 was apparently not made region-free by the seller, as some such models are. I doubt that there is a hack released for it.

[Edit]I looked at the listing from B&H, and the specification tab in their catalog says "ALL" for region. You should talk to them, if that is where you bought your recorder, and find out if they can help you. However, if this is a PAL disc, then you are out of luck. It will not be converted to NTSC by the EH59, and the vast majority of TVs sold in the US can't correctly handle a PAL signal.

[Maldez]

You didn't say where you live or where you purchased your EH-59 but mine purchased in the US (like any I've seen for sale in the US) is region free. Note region free doesn't mean it will convert from PAL to NTSC or NTSC to PAL so even though it may play a PAL region 2 disc your TV will need to be able to display PAL(50hz).

I live in the US and bought the EH59 from a US store (B&H Photo). The unit was recommended to me by someone from this site, but I don't recall anything about, oh by the way, it might not play your DVDs.

[usually_quiet]

You didn't say where you live or where you purchased your EH-59 but mine purchased in the US (like any I've seen for sale in the US) is region free. Note region free doesn't mean it will convert from PAL to NTSC or NTSC to PAL so even though it may play a PAL region 2 disc your TV will need to be able to display PAL(50hz).

I live in the US and bought the EH59 from a US store (B&H Photo). The unit was recommended to me by someone from this site, but I don't recall anything about, oh by the way, it might not play your DVDs.

If this is a region 1 DVD, something has gone wrong. All region 1 DVDs are NTSC, and should be playable with a US TV. Talk to B&H. B&H describes what they are selling as all region, and jjeff says his all-region EH59 plays region 1 DVDs.

[Edit] B&H is closed for the holiday and will re-open Tuesday, May 29th at 9:00AM EDT.

[hech54]

Is this the one you bought?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/659769-REG/Panasonic_DMR_EH59GA_K_DMR_EH59GA_K_M...B_HDD_DVD.html
If it is....send it back. These guys may know photographic equipment but after reading the product description, they don't know JACK about video equipment.

[Maldez]

Yes, that's exactly the one I bought. So you're saying it should already work with all US DVDs?

[usually_quiet]

Yes, that's exactly the one I bought. So you're saying it should already work with all US DVDs?

The description at B&H says the following "This model also plays NTSC region 1 (USA) discs via HDMI or A/V inputs but cannot receive over-the-air US TV signals." So yes, it should play US commercially-produced DVDs, all of which should be NTSC and region 1. It should also play region 0 (all region) NTSC discs, which are what it records from NTSC video received via its line-in connections.

[Maldez]

The description at B&H says the following "This model also plays NTSC region 1 (USA) discs via HDMI or A/V inputs .....

I'm a little unclear by that particular statement. The DVD I was trying to play was just inserted into the DVD drive of the player. I didn't use any inputs. Are they trying to say I have to connect another source to the EH59 via the inputs to view Region 1 discs?

[usually_quiet]

The description at B&H says the following "This model also plays NTSC region 1 (USA) discs via HDMI or A/V inputs .....

I'm a little unclear by that particular statement. The DVD I was trying to play was just inserted into the DVD drive of the player. I didn't use any inputs. Are they trying to say I have to connect another source to the EH59 via the inputs to view Region 1 discs?

I think they meant it can play an NTSC region 1 DVD and output video via HDMI, S-video, composite, component or SCART (for European TVs) and audio via either HDMI, or its analog stereo ports.

[jjeff]

The description at B&H says the following "This model also plays NTSC region 1 (USA) discs via HDMI or A/V inputs .....

I'm a little unclear by that particular statement. The DVD I was trying to play was just inserted into the DVD drive of the player. I didn't use any inputs. Are they trying to say I have to connect another source to the EH59 via the inputs to view Region 1 discs?

I believe thats a typo and should have read outputs. I also purchased my EH-59 from B&H and it plays all regions as well as PAL discs.
Is the disc you are trying to play NTSC region 1? and also have you set the EH-59 up for NTSC operation? You may get that warning if playing a NTSC region 1 disc with the unit set to PAL, I haven't done that but it might make sense as to whats happening. If not I guess it's possible your DVDR was not configured for all regions in which case B&H should send you another or offer to hack yours with postage being covered by them.

[Maldez]

I also purchased my EH-59 from B&H and it plays all regions as well as PAL discs.
Is the disc you are trying to play NTSC region 1? and also have you set the EH-59 up for NTSC operation? You may get that warning if playing a NTSC region 1 disc with the unit set to PAL, I haven't done that but it might make sense as to whats happening. If not I guess it's possible your DVDR was not configured for all regions in which case B&H should send you another or offer to hack yours with postage being covered by them.

Well. that sounds encouraging in that the EHG59 is at least supposed to play US discs. If it doesn't, back it goes to B&H!

But I'm starting to think my unit is on the fritz...ever since yesterday, when I first tried playing the US disc, the only thing my EH59 is good for is playing my own personally burnt discs.

Anything else I try to do, I get the message on my TV "Unsupported signal. Please check the device output".

I can't even see the unit's Menus. No Navigator, no Function Menu, nothing but home burnt DVDs.

What the heck would cause that?

[jjeff]

To me it sounds like your unit is setup for PAL and your TV isn't capable of displaying PAL.
Unfortunatly to change back to NTSC I believe the only way is to display the SETUP screens which it sounds like you are unable. A couple of possible solutions would be to hook the Panasonic up to a PAL compatible TV. I believe most if not all Vizios LCDs are PAL compatible as are many cheaper LCDs(Insignia, Magnavox, Sylvania, etc.). My LG LCD also is capable of displaying PAL(50hz). TVs like Sony, Panasonic or Samsung will almost certainly not be PAL compatible.
If you don't have or have access to such TVs you might try hooking up the composite instead of HDMI to the TVs you have. When I did to my Sony LCD it was B&W and rolled a bit but at least I could see the menus. Tube TVs will probably not display PAL at all, of course unless they are multi-system which was quite rare.

[Maldez]

To me it sounds like your unit is setup for PAL and your TV isn't capable of displaying PAL.
Unfortunatly to change back to NTSC I believe the only way is to display the SETUP screens which it sounds like you are unable. A couple of possible solutions would be to hook the Panasonic up to a PAL compatible TV. I believe most if not all Vizios LCDs are PAL compatible as are many cheaper LCDs(Insignia, Magnavox, Sylvania, etc.). My LG LCD also is capable of displaying PAL(50hz). TVs like Sony, Panasonic or Samsung will almost certainly not be PAL compatible.
If you don't have or have access to such TVs you might try hooking up the composite instead of HDMI to the TVs you have. When I did to my Sony LCD it was B&W and rolled a bit but at least I could see the menus. Tube TVs will probably not display PAL at all, of course unless they are multi-system which was quite rare.

Thanks. This at least gives me a shot at correcting things. Unfortunately. all three TVs in my house are SONY, two of which are Hi-Def. But I'll take a shot at your suggestion with the older Sony.

[hech54]

I doubt it is defective.
If it won't play "American" discs....it's most likely that B&H screwed up and associated region coding and video format(PAL and NTSC) together like so many newbies do that come here.
AND.....did anyone bother to read the yellow highlighted print that says:

This unit may require a multi-system TV or system converter to view PAL DVDs in the US

Unless there is a system setting on this unit that allows you to change the output(convert on the fly)....then TRY to send it back.
But as it sits right now....it's not defective.

[jjeff]

[QUOTE=Maldez;2164882]

Unfortunately. all three TVs in my house are SONY, two of which are Hi-Def. But I'll take a shot at your suggestion with the older Sony.

Just as long as the Sony is a LCD and not a tube TV. More important than the age of the Sony is that you use composite instead of HDMI. HDMI is more fussy than composite that it has the correct signal, using composite you may get a B&W rolling picture but HDMI would probably just display noting but a error.
hech54, what you quoted is correct, the EH-59 will not convert from PAL to NTSC, when playing a PAL disc you need a PAL compatible TV, which the OPs apparently has not, but in this case it sounds like he is just trying to play a commercial region 1 NTSC DVD but the player is set for PAL operation. The major problem is to change it back to NTSC one needs to see the menus, which in the PAL mode are displayed in PAL

[Maldez]

[QUOTE=jjeff;2164916]

Unfortunately. all three TVs in my house are SONY, two of which are Hi-Def. But I'll take a shot at your suggestion with the older Sony.

Just as long as the Sony is a LCD and not a tube TV. More important than the age of the Sony is that you use composite instead of HDMI. HDMI is more fussy than composite that it has the correct signal, using composite you may get a B&W rolling picture but HDMI would probably just display noting but a error.
hech54, what you quoted is correct, the EH-59 will not convert from PAL to NTSC, when playing a PAL disc you need a PAL compatible TV, which the OPs apparently has not, but in this case it sounds like he is just trying to play a commercial region 1 NTSC DVD but the player is set for PAL operation. The major problem is to change it back to NTSC one needs to see the menus, which in the PAL mode are displayed in PAL

The older Sony is a tube TV, so you're saying that wont worker either? I also have a small portable Radio Shack TV around here somewhere, but of course it's not LCD. Would that work?

[usually_quiet]

The older Sony is a tube TV, so you're saying that wont worker either? I also have a small portable Radio Shack TV around here somewhere, but of course it's not LCD. Would that work?

A N. American tube TV won't work. You need a N. American flat screen TV that supports both PAL and NTSC. The problem is that most big-name flat screen TVs sold in the USA do not support PAL.

jjeff gave you a list of makers that sometimes do offer PAL support in their flat screen TVs sold in N. America. However the feature is often not documented in the TV's specs or manual.

[orsetto]

The EH59 is marketed as a "global" recorder specified to work with both PAL and NTSC for play/rec over line inputs/outputs. It should be inherently "region free" to the extent it is multi-format, but this doesn't always work out quite as easily in recorders as it does in simple players. I don't own an EH59 but have been strongly considering it for the past several months based on good recommendations from VH members I trust (jjeff, etc).

I have looked at the instruction manual several times to check on some features, and can suggest a couple things to try that might help. Note I am interpreting your problem as others above have assumed: you are unable to play normal USA commercial "Hollywood" discs on your new EH59 into your Sony CRT TV. It might help if you mention the titles of these DVDs that don't play, so we can check if other people have reported the same specific incompatibility.

Anyway here's my take: no matter what its manual overall settings, the EH59 *usually* auto-switches its line output signal from PAL to NTSC upon detection of what format is on the loaded DVD. This would work fine in the case of your home-burned DVDs, as you have seen: they have no region code, so this doesn't interfere, and the unit smoothly switches to NTSC during playback. However, commercial Hollywood DVDs contain a Region 1 code flag: this might throw off the automated format switching of the EH59 outputs. Most EH59s sold by places like B&H to USA buyers are pre-set to overall NTSC mode, but a few may slip by at the original overall PAL setting. If set to PAL, the EH59 will auto-play NTSC burned discs but perhaps not NTSC Region 1 discs: its circuitry detects the Region 1 code, knows that is an NTSC code, then chokes because it also knows itself to be currently set to overall PAL operation: the Region 1 code on the DVDs conflicts with smooth auto-format-playback. You might be able to fix this by manually resetting your EH59 to overall NTSC mode: this can be done "blind" using the front panel buttons, a PAL TV is not necessary.

To do this, with the unit turned on (but not playing or recording) press the STOP button and while holding it press and hold the EJECT button. Keep both buttons pressed for about 7 seconds, and the machine will switch orientation from PAL to NTSC. This should clear up the mismatch between the Region 1 commercial DVDs and the auto-playback-format-detection.

If this doesn't help, if it makes matters worse so you can't see *anything* on your TV, reset the recorder a second time: it may have already been in NTSC mode and I just had you switch it to PAL, which wouldn't help. Reset it again so it goes back to NTSC mode, and we'll try to come up with other troubleshooting ideas.

BTW, the seller B&H has been in business forever and sells BOTH photo and video gear to professionals and consumers. They are not incompetent, as nobody selling production suite consoles can be completely clueless about video. However, the EH59 is an oddball type of "only in New York" foreign-tourist product that really very few Americans buy for use in America. I'm sure its a very low priority for B&H to inspect every single one they sell and change its preset to NTSC, when the the majority of their customers who buy it are foreigners who want its PAL capability. If you can't get it to play commercial NTSC discs by switching formats as I described, maldez, its either a defective unit or you have some seriously wonky DVDs with poor region coding. The odds of the machine being truly defective in regards to *only* the region issue are vanishingly small: I would recommend you get your money back and not try another EH59. If the problem discs played OK on the Magnavox while you had it, and play OK in a standard American DVD player, they may require a strictly USA/Canada recorder to play them. Either learn to tolerate the Magnavox, or keep the EH59 strictly as a recorder and use a separate dedicated player (which we recommend anyway to avoid unnecessary wear on the recorder laser).

[jjeff]

Great post Orsetto, I was kind of thinking the EH-59 might have a hidden way to switch systems but wasn't quite sure how to do it. And I also totally agree with your point that the EH-59 automatically outputs NTSC when the DVD is NTSC but as you said if it's a region coded disc it might get confused being set to PAL but trying to play a region 1(NTSC) DVD.
Maldez, as Usually Quite said, basically the only N. American tube TVs that would display would be a muti-system TV which were quite rare and always identified as such, LCDs(and maybe plasmas??) would be the only ones that might play PAL but not be documented. It's also possible a NTSC LCD may not be multi system but at least display enough of a picture to move around in the menus(using composite not HDMI) I don't think you'd get anything on a tube TV.

[Maldez]

....
I have looked at the instruction manual several times to check on some features, and can suggest a couple things to try that might help. Note I am interpreting your problem as others above have assumed: you are unable to play normal USA commercial "Hollywood" discs on your new EH59 into your Sony CRT TV. It might help if you mention the titles of these DVDs that don't play, so we can check if other people have reported the same specific incompatibility.

Anyway here's my take: no matter what its manual overall settings, the EH59 *usually* auto-switches its line output signal from PAL to NTSC upon detection of what format is on the loaded DVD. This would work fine in the case of your home-burned DVDs, as you have seen: they have no region code, so this doesn't interfere, and the unit smoothly switches to NTSC during playback. However, commercial Hollywood DVDs contain a Region 1 code flag: this might throw off the automated format switching of the EH59 outputs. Most EH59s sold by places like B&H to USA buyers are pre-set to overall NTSC mode, but a few may slip by at the original overall PAL setting. If set to PAL, the EH59 will auto-play NTSC burned discs but perhaps not NTSC Region 1 discs: its circuitry detects the Region 1 code, knows that is an NTSC code, then chokes because it also knows itself to be currently set to overall PAL operation: the Region 1 code on the DVDs conflicts with smooth auto-format-playback. You might be able to fix this by manually resetting your EH59 to overall NTSC mode: this can be done "blind" using the front panel buttons, a PAL TV is not necessary.

To do this, with the unit turned on (but not playing or recording) press the STOP button and while holding it press and hold the EJECT button. Keep both buttons pressed for about 7 seconds, and the machine will switch orientation from PAL to NTSC. This should clear up the mismatch between the Region 1 commercial DVDs and the auto-playback-format-detection.

If this doesn't help, if it makes matters worse so you can't see *anything* on your TV, reset the recorder a second time: it may have already been in NTSC mode and I just had you switch it to PAL, which wouldn't help. Reset it again so it goes back to NTSC mode, and we'll try to come up with other troubleshooting ideas.

...

Well, Orsetto, you've done it again, and you're quite the genius. Once again you've gone way beyond the call of duty by unleashing the full force of your quite considerable technical skills upon my problem at hand and I thank you, sir!

First off, YES!, pressing the STOP and EJECT buttons simultaneously worked like a charm and the EH59 switched itself from PAL to NTSC mode. The signal was then accetable to my Sony TV and I was able to see all of my Menu screens again. How the hell did you figure this out?

Anyways, that has cleared me through the first and most important hurdle, but I am now facing the question of what caused the EH59 to switch itslef from NTSC to PAL in the first place? The commercially produced DVD I entered into the drive was a brand new, just out of the shrink-wrap copy of "Locked Up Abroad". I tried several other commecrially produced DVDs from my library and about half of them would result with the EH59 not playing them ("No Play" is displayed on the front panel) while the other half would play. All of my home burnt DVDs play fine.

Do I have a defective EH59 which needs to be returned?

Once again, Orsetto, thanks for coming to the rescue!

[orsetto]

Glad to hear the reset worked for you, Maldez! So many problems we hear about are so complicated, its a relief when a "simple fix" actually does work!

I don't think you have a defective EH59, I think the situation was as I suggested: these units all come from the factory preset to PAL mode, as most are sold to Middle Eastern countries. Sellers in North America often open the box and reset the units to NTSC when they know the purchaser lives in USA, but sometimes they forget. You probably just got an EH59 that was set at the original PAL format, now that you've reset it to NTSC it should stay that way unless you override it again. Try loading and playing a couple minutes of every commercial Region 1 dvd you have in your house, and turn the EH59 off and then back on after every 5 or 6 dvds. If it remains good, the machine is fine, but if it flips back to giving you that "can't play this disc" alert then there's something funky in its format setting system. Unlikely, but possible: multi-region recorders are very complex and can get confused. As I suggested previously, this may just be normal behavior for an EH59: you may need to occasionally "remind it" you want NTSC mode. Getting another EH59 would likely result in the same behaviour.

But it should probably be fine now and remain in NTSC mode unless you change it back to PAL intentionally. Any format incompatibility that pops up now would be the reverse of what you had earlier: if you happen to load a Region 2 or 4 PAL dvd, the EH59 would now complain it was not compatibly set to play those. You would need to switch it to PAL, and also have a PAL-compatible TV connected. Odds are you won't encounter this, since you don't mention having any commercial PAL dvds and your CRT television can't play them anyway.

Note this whole mess is centered around the stupid Region Code nonsense on commercial discs only, the EH59 handles user-burned discs and recordings completely automatically and without fuss. No matter if the unit is set to primary PAL or primary NTSC, the input signal format is detected automatically and recorded in the proper mode on the HDD or DVD. So even if your unit should randomly set itself back to PAL, it will still record NTSC from any connected source and play any NTSC recordings or burned discs as NTSC. You should only ever need to futz with the format setting if the unit balks at a region code on a commercial DVD during playback. (Also theres a small chance that a power outage or surge might reset an EH59 back to PAL mode, which is the original factory setting.)

[Maldez]

Glad to hear the reset worked for you, Maldez! So many problems we hear about are so complicated, its a relief when a "simple fix" actually does work!

I don't think you have a defective EH59, I think the situation was as I suggested: these units all come from the factory preset to PAL mode, as most are sold to Middle Eastern countries. Sellers in North America often open the box and reset the units to NTSC when they know the purchaser lives in USA, but sometimes they forget. You probably just got an EH59 that was set at the original PAL format, now that you've reset it to NTSC it should stay that way unless you override it again. Try loading and playing a couple minutes of every commercial Region 1 dvd you have in your house, and turn the EH59 off and then back on after every 5 or 6 dvds. If it remains good, the machine is fine, but if it flips back to giving you that "can't play this disc" alert then there's something funky in its format setting system. Unlikely, but possible: multi-region recorders are very complex and can get confused. As I suggested previously, this may just be normal behavior for an EH59: you may need to occasionally "remind it" you want NTSC mode. Getting another EH59 would likely result in the same behaviour.

But it should probably be fine now and remain in NTSC mode unless you change it back to PAL intentionally. Any format incompatibility that pops up now would be the reverse of what you had earlier: if you happen to load a Region 2 or 4 PAL dvd, the EH59 would now complain it was not compatibly set to play those. You would need to switch it to PAL, and also have a PAL-compatible TV connected. Odds are you won't encounter this, since you don't mention having any commercial PAL dvds and your CRT television can't play them anyway.

Note this whole mess is centered around the stupid Region Code nonsense on commercial discs only, the EH59 handles user-burned discs and recordings completely automatically and without fuss. No matter if the unit is set to primary PAL or primary NTSC, the input signal format is detected automatically and recorded in the proper mode on the HDD or DVD. So even if your unit should randomly set itself back to PAL, it will still record NTSC from any connected source and play any NTSC recordings or burned discs as NTSC. You should only ever need to futz with the format setting if the unit balks at a region code on a commercial DVD during playback. (Also theres a small chance that a power outage or surge might reset an EH59 back to PAL mode, which is the original factory setting.)

Well, Orsetto, as much as I would like to believe that all is well with my EH59 now that I've set it to NTSC again, your logic seems a little flawed to me. If the unit came already set to PAL, then wouldn't all of my personally recordings have been in that PAL format? And wouldn't I then be unable to view them on my Sony TV?

I think the unit came set as NTSC, and, for whatever reason, the "Locked Up Abroad" DVD caused the EH59 to switch over to PAL, which then made the signal from the unit unviewable. I made a few test recordings to the hard drive once the system broke down and once I got it up and running again, those recording thumbnails were just grayed-out and attempting to play them gave me a message about system incompatibility with my TV.

But these are just the musings of an amateur....you're the expert. I'm at work at the moment and can't test the unit with the DVDs that wouldn't play before, but I'd bet anything attempting to play them again will result in the same flip from NTSC to PAL.

Thanks for all your contributions!

[Maldez]

Update...trying to play the DVD that originally started the EH59 to malfunction now results in a message "The disc can not be played in your region".

But, the unit continues to operate otherwise. I can see the menus.

http://www.amazon.com/Locked-Abroad-Artist-Not-Provided/dp/B001MYIQKE/ref=sr_1_1?s=mov...317753&sr=1-1/

[orsetto]

Well, Orsetto, as much as I would like to believe that all is well with my EH59 now that I've set it to NTSC again, your logic seems a little flawed to me. If the unit came already set to PAL, then wouldn't all of my personally recordings have been in that PAL format? And wouldn't I then be unable to view them on my Sony TV?

Not quite .

It is very hard to explain the internal (infernal?) "machine logic" used by a multi-standard digital recorder like the EH59. A machine doesn't necessarily "think" like we do, so some of its behavior comes off as nonsensical or irrational to us. The confusion over EH59 behavior stems from the stubborn conflict between "multi-region" and "multi-format" as applied to a recorder vs a dedicated player.

Unlike many dedicated DVD players, the EH59 recorder has no capability to convert PAL to NTSC, or vice versa: none. It processes all signals straight thru as either one or the other. Most of the time, it doesn't even matter what default format the EH59 is set to: it automatically detects the format of any incoming or outgoing signal, and switches itself to that mode for that signal for however long that signal is being used. So if you took it out of the box and didn't realize it was set to PAL operation, normally you would have no indication because it would detect your line inputs as NTSC and record them as NTSC. Ditto the playback of those recordings. Where this gets all screwed up is thru Hollywood paranoia and those damned Region codes: a dedicated multi-region multi-formnat player will just ignore those, but Panasonic recorders go into a schizophrenic panic if the loaded disc has a region code that doesn't jive with the operation mode its set to.

I think the unit came set as NTSC, and, for whatever reason, the "Locked Up Abroad" DVD caused the EH59 to switch over to PAL, which then made the signal from the unit unviewable. I made a few test recordings to the hard drive once the system broke down and once I got it up and running again, those recording thumbnails were just grayed-out and attempting to play them gave me a message about system incompatibility with my TV.

This I have no explanation for, it doesn't correlate with reports from other owners who say it doesn't matter what mode the machine is in when recording: it records the signal in its original format. So the HDD recordings you made with the EH59 in PAL mode should technically be recorded as NTSC on the HDD, because NTSC is the only signal available in North America from broadcasts or cable/sat decoder box outputs. I'm at a total loss as to why those recordings are locked out now that you've switched over to NTSC-priority mode: this isn't normal. Unless you have a one-off EH59 that does actually convert formats internally, there is no conceivable way those HDD recordings are in PAL. Your issue may be compounded by use of an analog CRT TV and analog connections: most reports I've read might be from owners using HDMI connections on new TVs?

You are going to need to spend a good weekend playing around with various possibilities so you can nail down exactly what your EH59 will do when set to either mode. I can only guess that perhaps Panasonic changed the interface at some point, so that all recordings are marked with a flag telling the EH59 what mode it was in at the time even if that mode was opposite that of the recording itself. If you switch machine modes after the recordings, it may well then assume the recordings are not playable in that mode even though they actually are. The workaround would be to switch back into PAL mode to make those grayed-out HDD recordings available again, burn DVDs of them to get them off the HDD, delete them from the HDD, and switch back to NTSC mode. From that point onward, all should work normally as long as you never load a commercial disc with a region other than 1.

Not to beat a dead horse again, but for the sake of anyone else reading this thread for info on the EH59: it is extremely unlikely that Maldez' EH59 is defective: his problem is too specific to the region/format idiocy that plagues everything from brand-name DVD players to laptop burners. The most likely factor in this situation is the EH59 was running fine under PAL mode, handling NTSC automatically so it actually appeared to Maldez as being in NTSC mode for all practical purposes. But when a Region Coded dvd was inserted that conflicted with this preset mode, it sent the recorder into a tailspin and now its totally confused. All indications would point to the machine working consistently as NTSC going forward, now that it has been reset to NTSC priority, but it is possible recordings made prior to the reset will be in accessible and need to be deleted from the HDD. Any burned discs should be fine.

(Speaking of pounding dead horses, here's another whack of the golf club: contrary to marketing, recorders are not really intended to be used as players, and that goes double for "global" models like the EH59. Global recorders are a confusing compromise: they can be workable as recorders, but if you want to keep your sanity you should avoid loading any commercial DVDs in them. Get and use a separate player.)

[jjeff]

I believe the machine was set to PAL mode and those "grayed-out thumbnails" were recorded as PAL(even though you may have just recorded a blank screen, the blank screen was recorded as PAL) and now that your set to NTSC they will be gray and not play, this is normal. If you now record the new titles should have a thumbnail and play, just delete the grey ones.
Honestly I've never played a commercial DVD in my EH-59, like many DVDR owners(at least the ones on forums) to save wear and tear on my expensive DVDR I never play DVDs on them. I use a $50 DVD player which not only is cheaper but has many more features than found on DVDRs. Personally I'd strongly suggest purchasing a inexpensive name brand DVD player and use it instead of your EH-59 for playing DVDs and only use your EH-59 for playing any PAL DVDs you might get(although without a multi-system TV that won't really work). Again a better idea is a inexpensive DVD player that plays PAL DVDs and outputs NTSC which would work to all your TVs. Several brands will do this and many aren't much more than $50 and again have many more features than found on a DVDR.
Oppo, Pioneer and JVC are just a couple brands that generally play PAL and output NTSC. Most will need to be hacked to play ALL regions though, which is relatively easy. That or just purchase one from places like B&H or World Import that have already been hacked.

I've never had to change my units PAL/NTSC setting. It came NTSC and other than when I recorded a few PAL VHS tapes in PAL it's never switched by itself, but again I don't play DVDs and never any commercial DVDs.

Good source for region free converting DVD players
http://www.world-import.com/dvd-converter-1.htm

[Maldez]

[....
(Speaking of pounding dead horses, here's another whack of the golf club: contrary to marketing, recorders are not really intended to be used as players, and that goes double for "global" models like the EH59. Global recorders are a confusing compromise: they can be workable as recorders, but if you want to keep your sanity you should avoid loading any commercial DVDs in them. Get and use a separate player.)

.....
Honestly I've never played a commercial DVD in my EH-59, like many DVDR owners(at least the ones on forums) to save wear and tear on my expensive DVDR I never play DVDs on them. I use a $50 DVD player which not only is cheaper but has many more features than found on DVDRs. Personally I'd strongly suggest purchasing a inexpensive name brand DVD player and use it instead of your EH-59 for playing DVDs and only use your EH-59 for playing any PAL DVDs you might get(although without a multi-system TV that won't really work). Again a better idea is a inexpensive DVD player that plays PAL DVDs and outputs NTSC which would work to all your TVs. Several brands will do this and many aren't much more than $50 and again have many more features than found on a DVDR.
....

Well, OK, if you're going to tag-team me on this I guess I have little choice but to use the EH59 for just recording and replaying its own recordings. I have a nice DVD player in storage somewhere that I will have to find and incorporate into my video network. I think there's just about room on my coffee table for yet one more remote!

If nothing else, this solution puts an end to the mystery of what happens to the EH59 when I try playing certain commercial DVDs in it. It's not a perfect solution but it works for me, and I thank you both for your considerable contributions to my situation.

One last question on the EH59's performance. There is a "Skip" button that I assumed would just advance my video in 30 second intervals as my Pioneer had. But to my surprise, and delight, the unit advances through entire segments of commercials, be they two, three, four minutes or anywhere in between. How the heck does it do that?