Import BluRay, PS3, PAL/NTSC, etc. (Help Plz!)

[Startropic1]

I have a US 60GB PS3, and I just imported the Australian (PAL, Region B) Transformers animated movie bluray released by Madman. The bluray is supposed to be region free, (I can find no region mark anywhere on the case or disc), but it wont play on my US PS3. The bluray icon shows up in the menu but I get an error message that says the video cannot be played.

The bluray is supposedly PAL, but I have an HDTV LCD. I was my understanding that when using an HD LCD & digital media, the concept of PAL & NTSC becomes moot due to PAL & NTSC being analog display types--hence the ability to play any type of media on your computer screen.

Obviously I could get a bluray burner and re-burn the disc as a type that will play on a US PS3, but the disc is already region free so I'm not entirely sure what I would need to change.

Could someone please give me some advice as to how to go about this?

Here's a link to Madman's page on this bluray:
http://www.madman.com.au/actions/catalogue.do?releaseId=12222&method=view

[Nelson37]

Don't know for sure, but I would think the statement "This disk will not work in NTSC only players" may offer some clue as to the problem.

[jman98]

One website I found says that your Blu Ray is region B. That would explain why it won't play.

It's unlikely that the main movie is PAL. It is theoretically possible to do it as 1920x1080i 25 fps, but I can't imagine why they would do that when the region A Blu Ray surely is 1920x1080 24 fps. I'm using the word "PAL" in a very vague sense to refer to 25 fps video.

You will need to buy a Blu Ray player that is capable of being put in region B mode to play this disc. Momitsu and Oppo are the ONLY manufacturers at this time who make such players and both have modified by others after manufacture to enable the players to be able to change Blu Ray regions. Buy the region A Blu Ray. It's a lot cheaper than buying a new player.
Note that the extras on your disc are in standard definition PAL and as such
may not play back on players like Momitsu and Oppo.

[guns1inger]

Is is 1920 x 1080p @ 24fps

[MOVIEGEEK]

It contains PAL video, that's why your PS3 is choking on it.
Something is weird with the ad, at the top it says Blu-ray but at the bottom it says DVD.

[guns1inger]

My bad - missed the animated bit.

If you read the advert is also says - clearly -

This disc will not work in NTSC only players.

[Startropic1]

Here's a link to a thread on Madman.com.au's messageboards regarding this bluray

http://madboards.madman.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27353&highlight=transformers+bluray

One owner said they tested it with AnyDVD and the program reported that the disc was region free.

Here are a couple other notes from the thread:
"It seems that nearly all Blu-ray disks sold in Australia are all regions. Well, mine are anyway. This probably has a lot to do with that ruling a few years back that said that DVD players sold in Australia must be region unlocked. If that's true, why does the PS3 get away with having region locks on it's DVD playing capabilities?"

And from a Madman staff person:

It is a bummer that it does not work on NTSC-J or NTSC-US PS3's, unfortunately the replicator did not have access to these when testing (Singapore).

That said, it works beautifully on all Region B players and the majority of players whether they be A or B.

Other posters reported being able to play other region free Australian (PAL) blurays on their US PS3, including the SD extra features on the discs.

I'm not sure what the problem is with this specific bluray.

Also I can't get a Reagion A bluray because there hasn't been a US bluray release of the animated Transformers film. Why do you think I imported it in the first place :P

[hech54]

Once you realize that "Regions" or "Region Free" and "PAL-NTSC are not the same thing....it will all come clearer to you.

[Startropic1]

So how could I convert the bluray from PAL to NTSC?
Most guides on here are for converting DVDs from PAL to NTSC not blurays.

I would think it's just the menu animations and the special featuers that need conversion.

[guns1inger]

Good luck with trying to re-author it.

For the 1080 material all you probably need to do is slow it down to 24 fps and then match the audio duration to the new length.

[Startropic1]

Once you realize that "Regions" or "Region Free" and "PAL-NTSC are not the same thing....it will all come clearer to you.

PAL-NTSC is not relevent anymore, I use an LCD HDTV with an HDMI cable.

First off, let me explain why you, and possibly SONY (if they told you this), are wrong. Whenever you are using an HDMI cable, the concepts of 50Hz in Europe and 60HZ in North America go out the window. MPEG-2 signals are rendered in frames of 30HZ, 25HZ, and 24HZ depending upon the source. All MPEG TVs in the world are supposed to be able to switch to all the available frame-rates and frame-formats on the fly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2#Video_coding_.28simplified.29

Tying a display's field-rate to the local AC power is an analog television concept. All high-def displays employ internally generated clocks to drive the screen at whatever rate is desired by the incoming signal. Some older hi-def televisions still employing a CRT may not be able to slow down from 30 to 25 frames per second (progressive) or 60 to 50 fields per second (interlaced). But these problems will quickly disappear as soon as people buy hi-def sets employing solid matter technologies (LCD, DLP, Plasma, etc.)

[MOVIEGEEK]

All MPEG TVs in the world are supposed to be able to switch to all the available frame-rates and frame-formats on the fly

I don't know who wrote that but they are wrong, only multi-system tv's can do that.
PAL-NTSC is relevent when playing video at 25fps or 29.97fps, only multi-system players can output both. Films on Blu-ray are 23.97fps so they will work on any player as long as it doesn't have a region code.
As I stated earlier your PS3 is detecting PAL video material and it chokes on it.

[NepSag2356]

It is a PAL / NTSC issue. I have a PS3, hooked up via HDMI to a full 1080p HD TV, have played with every setting, and even written Sony, and the issue is PAL content.

Sometimes menus, credits, or other pieces of Blu Rays are in PAL Standard and therefore can't be played.

Either way, I have tried region-free standard discs, region free blu ray discs, and every set up possible, and I get either an error code or a simple "PS 3 Can't play PAL" - it's really a shame, and bugging the hell out of me.