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  1. Member
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    What features , formats should I look for on a new DVD player. My current players are out of date. I have HDTV on the computer, but don't have a HDTV televison yet. One of the features I need is ability to play PAL DVDs.
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  2. Member hech54's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by didikai View Post
    One of the features I need is ability to play PAL DVDs.
    You are a couple of years too late on that one.
    1) You need a DVD player that is hackable to ignore the DVD's region code.
    2) You need that same DVD player to convert PAL to NTSC "on the fly".
    TWO hurdles you must cross. Your best bet nowadays is something Philips.....and do LOTS of homework on the player BEFORE you buy it.
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    If you are in N. America, a Philips DVP3560. The DVP3560 appears to be a good product. From what I have read about it, converts PAL to NTSC. Some sellers are offering them region-free, but the regular N. American models will play Region 0 PAL discs and are supposed to be hackable.

    The Philips DVP3620 are DVP3680 newer, but the few reviews I have seen so far are unfavorable. I can't tell you anything more about them except the specs say they play PAL. I don't know if they convert to NTSC.
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    Originally Posted by hech54 View Post
    Originally Posted by didikai View Post
    One of the features I need is ability to play PAL DVDs.
    You are a couple of years too late on that one.
    1) You need a DVD player that is hackable to ignore the DVD's region code.
    2) You need that same DVD player to convert PAL to NTSC "on the fly".
    TWO hurdles you must cross. Your best bet nowadays is something Philips.....and do LOTS of homework on the player BEFORE you buy it.
    I have a Philips player that plays PAL DVDs without being hacked. I was looking for something similar. My player also plays DivX. That's all I've needed up to now. What other formats should I be looking at?
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    If you are considering a Blu-Ray player I have been looking at an LG BP220 for myself and noticed the specs say it plays both PAL and NTSC DVDs (Region 1 and 0). http://www.lg.com/us/blu-ray-players/lg-BP220-blu-ray-dvd-player/technical-specifications

    Specialty retailers are offering them region free, but there are no published hacks. I do not know if it normally converts from PAL to NTSC, but the region-free versions do convert according to their product descriptions.
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    I bought a Philips DVP3560 almost a year ago at Best Buy (they no longer sell it, sadly) and I was able to make it region free following the directions here:
    https://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks?dvdplayer=DVP3560&hits=50&Search=Search
    The Feb. 7, 2011 instructions worked for me. The player does convert PAL to NTSC.

    There's not really anything special you need to look for in a DVD player as there are no new technologies at work there, but Philips is one of the few manufacturers who still supports old CD disc formats like VCD and SVCD, should you care about that. And this player does a pretty good job, in my opinion, of playing Divx.
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    Originally Posted by jman98 View Post
    I bought a Philips DVP3560 almost a year ago at Best Buy (they no longer sell it, sadly) and I was able to make it region free following the directions here:
    https://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks?dvdplayer=DVP3560&hits=50&Search=Search
    The Feb. 7, 2011 instructions worked for me. The player does convert PAL to NTSC.

    There's not really anything special you need to look for in a DVD player as there are no new technologies at work there, but Philips is one of the few manufacturers who still supports old CD disc formats like VCD and SVCD, should you care about that. And this player does a pretty good job, in my opinion, of playing Divx.
    Would I ever have the need for Blu-Ray?
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    Originally Posted by didikai View Post
    Would I ever have the need for Blu-Ray?
    At some point in the next few years your SD TV will die, and you will be replacing it. I guess if you shop for a TV at a thrift store, there is some chance you could find another SD TV, but a TV purchased new will be HD. You might enjoy watching Blu-Ray movies at that point. Also, Blu-Ray players are outselling DVD players. After people buy a Blu-Ray player they tend to buy and rent Blu-Ray movies when they have a choice. When DVD sales drop below a certain point, movie studios will stop releasing movies on DVD. DVD players may also disappear soon. Not as many companies are making them even now.

    There is a reason to get a Blu-Ray player now if you use DVD closed captions. The reason is that Blu-ray players can display subtitles, but not closed captions, and closed captions can't be displayed by a TV if the player is connected using HDMI. (Closed captions are strictly analog and HDMI is digital only.) S-Video or composite must be used instead. (Component doesn't usually work either.) However, per the AACS license agreement, as of next year, Blu Ray players will have no analog video connections, and there will be no way to view closed captions using those players.
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    It's hard to say if movie studios will really and truly stop making DVDs. They may stop making them for the USA while continuing to make them in the rest of the world. It's very old technology, but VCDs are still being made in Asia. If VCDs can survive, DVDs can too. There's too many variables right now to know what will happen. Some people swear that "EVERYBODY wants to stream" yet by the same token you can also hear that BluRay sales are OK but not exactly what Hollywood was hoping for. Selling media makes more money for the studios than streaming does. Sales would have to get pretty darn low for them to give it up.

    BluRay players can output an SD signal (use the setup menu) so you could buy a BluRay player without having an HDTV and use it. But you do need to get one quickly while you can still get some kind of output like composite or component that your SD TV can handle or you'll have to buy expensive converters and hope they work.
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  10. Yeah get a Philips DVD player if you can still find one, I use mine to watch a few PAL DVD's that I own. Analog video is limited to 480i as of 1/1/2011 and will be eliminated on all players starting on 1/1/2014 so you better buy one soon if you have a non-HDMI TV.

    http://news.consumerreports.org/electronics/2011/02/goodbye-hd-component-video-hello-a...og-sunset.html
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  11. Member hech54's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by didikai View Post
    What other formats should I be looking at?
    Your next step would be a Blu Ray player to take advantage of H264 type of files/compression.... but hackable ones are virtually impossible to find.
    Many people recommend a hard drive media player that you attach to your TV like a DVD or Blu Ray player....obviously it wont play DVD or Blu Ray discs though.
    Unless you are adept at decrypting DVDs and Blu Rays and creating your own files(formats)....don't buy anything.
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    I forgot about this other thread. It cofirmed the LG BP220 does convert PAL to NTSC https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/346406-DVD-Player-Recommendations?p=2165891&viewful...=1#post2165891

    ...but if playing DivX is important and you have many DivX files, the LG BP220 is probably not what you want. I forgot about that part. Although if you look at the specs, it plays quite a few other types of media files that a DVD player won't play, including HD files, the OP in the other thread who tried one says it plays XVid in .avi, but not DivX in .avi,
    The LG blu player I got wouldnt play a Dvix until I changed the fourcc to "xvid." Dont know if the brand has discontinued "Divx" support (its not listed in playable formats of current models).
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