Best non-cinavia Blu Ray Player

[scarch]

Okay, first, I'm sure there's other threads with this question asked and answered, but I couldn't find any new ones, so I figured I'd ask again.

Basically, here's my situation:

Currently, I have a PS3 in my bedroom, with my laptop 3 feet to the left, on my desk. I am constantly streaming video from my laptop (specifically the external HDD I have) to my HDTV (right above my PS3) and/or watching netflix directly off of my PS3. Next month, GTA 5 comes out, and I plan on getting it for PS3. Problem is, I am going to be moving my PS3 to my basement, where it is more readily available for my brother to play as well. Of course, I could get it for my 360, which is already down there, but I'd much rather get it for PS3, for several reasons. Since GTA 5 would be the only game I use for PS3, there would be no point in spending $200 on a new PS3, when all I'm doing is streaming media; a blu ray player can do that just fine, for over $100 cheaper than a new PS3, most likely. So, I have decided I will move my PS3 downstairs next month, and buy a new blu ray player to replace it in my bedroom, so I can continue streaming media. Now, the question is, what is my best option for a cinavia free blu ray player. I read that all players after 2012 have cinavia, is that right? Also, what is the best one that can play .mkv files?

I'd rather not have to deal with any programs to convert files or anything like that.

Thanks.

[yoda313]

Simple, get a wdtv media player or similar unit that has no bluray entanglements. No cinivia to worry about.

[scarch]

How does it work? Only thing is, it doesn't have a BD drive.

[Kerry56]

Any blu ray player certified after February 2012 will have Cinavia. So you won't find many for sale in new condition that were introduced before that.

If you want to play from optical discs, you might look for a used Oppo BDP-93. Very expensive, but you did ask for the best. Here is the page of supported files: http://wiki.oppodigital.com/index.php?title=BDP-93_Media_Files_FAQ The Oppo BDP-95 is even more outrageously priced, so I didn't think you'd want to consider it.

[october262]

check your local pawn shops alot of these places are full of older bluray players.

[thubleau]

Ok I just have to ask as something is not quite right here.
if Cinavia is there to stop copying then how come the Japanese can do 6 legal copies for their own consumption and the rest of the world cannot??

it seems to me there must be two different things happening.
Japanese players must be encoded with a different chip for japan and the discs also must have a different coding.
If not then how can this happen using the same disc and player as the rest of the world???

[usually_quiet]

Ok I just have to ask as something is not quite right here.
if Cinavia is there to stop copying then how come the Japanese can do 6 legal copies for their own consumption and the rest of the world cannot??

it seems to me there must be two different things happening.
Japanese players must be encoded with a different chip for japan and the discs also must have a different coding.
If not then how can this happen using the same disc and player as the rest of the world???

I'm not sure that you are correct about your assertion regarding fair use rights in Japan. After all, CPRM protection for recorded DVD discs was developed in Japan and has been widely used there to prevent recorded TV programming from being copied. Sony, a Japanese company, is the biggest proponent (and user) of Cinavia protection.

At any rate the players would be just the same as those sold everywhere else with respect to Cinavia detection. Cinavia detection is a requirement for obtaining an AACS license.

Blu-Ray and DVD discs manufactured for sale in Japan could be made without Cinavia protection, since they have to be customized in other ways to meet the needs of that market, and it is up to individual media companies to decide whether they use Cinavia or not and where. From what others have written about their experiences with it, Cinavia does not seem to be used much outside N. America, and is often only present in the English language audio tracks. If foreign film lovers in Japan buy imported discs from N. America, back them up and run into problems with Cinavia, that would be their problem.

[jman98]

Blu-Ray and DVD discs manufactured for sale in Japan could be made without Cinavia protection, since they have to be customized in other ways to meet the needs of that market, and it is up to individual media companies to decide whether they use Cinavia or not and where. From what others have written about their experiences with it, Cinavia does not seem to be used much outside N. America, and is often only present in the English language audio tracks. If foreign film lovers in Japan buy imported discs from N. America, back them up and run into problems with Cinavia, that would be their problem.

This.

Ways to avoid Cinavia:
1) Buy BluRay discs outside of the USA and Canada. This alone will get rid of 99% of its use.
2) Don't listen to the English soundtrack. This will avoid 100% of Cinavia's use. There are currently ZERO reports of it ever being used on a non-English soundtrack.
3) Avoid buying any BluRay released by Sony Pictures. Even in the USA/Canada this will get rid of about 98% of Cinavia usage.
4) Buy the damn disc instead of complaining about why your (probably illegal) copy won't work. Yes, we know that some of you always post here bitching and crying about how your kids screw up your discs, but most of the people who are upset and completely mental about Cinavia are having problems with copies of movies they never bought.
5) Rip the BD to MKV and play with a media player that does not officially support BD format like the Western Digital ones.

[mazinz]

it is also a strong possibility that those really no name sort of third rate bluray players that easily allow you to change regions on dvd and unlock bluray region zones, may (and again I said may) also not have Cinavia activated

I know that a particular Seiki bluplayer that does everything listed above did not seem to pick up the cinavia for something a friend of mine had, while his other mainstream players (that definitely have Cinavia activated) did pick it that protection

also I did read (in another forum) that a recent firmware came out that does shut off the Cinavia for the ps3

[jman98]

mazinz - Those are ALL older players that were made before Cinavia became mandatory. That's false hope now. I've got an Insignia BluRay player that I keep around and use only to play the occasional region B BluRay but I'm not sure that they even sell players in North America any more and even if they do, the most recent models I heard of couldn't be unlocked at all.

[tarzan54]

mazinz, Can you point me to that forum as I would like to read that.

[mazinz]

mazinz - Those are ALL older players that were made before Cinavia became mandatory. That's false hope now. I've got an Insignia BluRay player that I keep around and use only to play the occasional region B BluRay but I'm not sure that they even sell players in North America any more and even if they do, the most recent models I heard of couldn't be unlocked at all.

I am almost quite certain it was the seiki sr212s deck that he had (which is the same one I own). That deck was from january 2013/end of 2012. However it may have been the previous model so will soon see

I shot him an email and will be able to fully confirm it one way or another. I had also mentioned possibly letting me borrow his disc and test it on my machine (his was a blubackup he made to an mp4- cinavia obviously survived the conversion- so if I can test it myself, it would be with the mp4 version)


To be brutally honest even though it is mandated , so is it mandated that these machines are not supposed to have codes to type in and change or shut off region locking, but they do anyway. In the US K-mart and Sears sold the Seiki player mentioned.

mazinz, Can you point me to that forum as I would like to read that.

I am looking for the thread as I type this. I do not own a ps3 but I recall reading (the post was recent) where someone was having trouble with cinavia and another poster had mentioned a hacked firmware that removed it, or shut the machines detection off. The said machine does have to be jailbroken (modded) though in order for the firmware to work. It was a quick read but I remembered the posters reply about the firmware since that caught my attention about shutting off cinavia. Now trying to locate where I read it is another story. I know it def had to be a website I do frequent. Will edit this post once I find the damn link

***Ok found where I read it, it was a private site so will send the poster a Pm and ask for you--

[mazinz]

mazinz, Can you point me to that forum as I would like to read that.

Tarzan54- sending you a PM with details

Jman98
getting closer to doing a verify- it was played off the usb port but his seiki did not pick it up (his other more mainstream players did). I will be fully able to test it with my 212 deck and let you know

[Steve(MS)]

Jman98
getting closer to doing a verify- it was played off the usb port but his seiki did not pick it up (his other more mainstream players did). I will be fully able to test it with my 212 deck and let you know

Need to point out that playing from the usb port isn't really a good standard to tell if a hardware player will detect a cinavia file.
There are relatively new blu-ray players, like LG that don't mind playing cinavia infected files from usb port though from a disc they will detect cinavia.

So the acid test is a backup disc played back, playing files don't prove very much.

Detecting cinavia from usb was added on by some players much later and afaik, LG players will still ignore cinavia from usb.

[fritzi93]

Any blu ray player certified after February 2012 will have Cinavia.

Yes, "certified". That doesn't necessarily mean that all standalones manufactured after that date have Cinavia. Older models certified before that date and still in production were unchanged. IRC, the LG BD670 for example was still available for over a year after 2/12. (My 670 doesn't honor Cinavia). Amazon still has used ones.

At least that's my understanding of it. But I should think all those older models are long discontinued by now and few NIB remain in the pipeline.

[mazinz]

Jman98
getting closer to doing a verify- it was played off the usb port but his seiki did not pick it up (his other more mainstream players did). I will be fully able to test it with my 212 deck and let you know

Need to point out that playing from the usb port isn't really a good standard to tell if a hardware player will detect a cinavia file.
There are relatively new blu-ray players, like LG that don't mind playing cinavia infected files from usb port though from a disc they will detect cinavia.

So the acid test is a backup disc played back, playing files don't prove very much.

Detecting cinavia from usb was added on by some players much later and afaik, LG players will still ignore cinavia from usb.

so for sake of argument - I can burn the mp4 as a data disc (or if I should remux it in another format let me know) and play it and test it that way. You have me more curious so let me know if that might then work for a testing verification

[Steve(MS)]

I haven't burned a cinavia mp4 data disc, the main reason being is I personally don't use mp4 hardly at all.
Yet as the hierarchy goes, a compliant blu-ray backup disc needs to tried out first.
If there was a current hardware blu-ray player that could do this, you bet it would be sold out fast.

It needs to be understood that the original goal of cinavia was to make backup discs (could be blu-ray or dvd) useless.
Then later it was added to other forms of files on certain brand/models.

As part of the blu-ray licensing, any new player after (feb 2012?) includes cinavia detection for disc playback specifically of compliant blu-ray disc
and likely dvd discs.
Any media player that doesn't have to adhere to the license likely won't detect cinavia.

[mazinz]

I haven't burned a cinavia mp4 data disc, the main reason being is I personally don't use mp4 hardly at all.
Yet as the hierarchy goes, a compliant blu-ray backup disc needs to tried out first.
If there was a current hardware blu-ray player that could do this, you bet it would be sold out fast.

It needs to be understood that the original goal of cinavia was to make backup discs (could be blu-ray or dvd) useless.
Then later it was added to other forms of files on certain brand/models.

As part of the blu-ray licensing, any new player after (feb 2012?) includes cinavia detection for disc playback specifically of compliant blu-ray disc
and likely dvd discs.
Any media player that doesn't have to adhere to the license likely won't detect cinavia.

ahh a 1:1 blu backup test I cannot do, but I can convert that mp4 to dvd (since cinavia is suppose to survive conversion) and see what happens. Also since some of these lesser players do not conform to licensing in terms of region lock codes, it stands to chance that making sure the cinavia is activated (if at all preset on the machine) might too be sketchy at best

[fits79]

Is there any CHEAP 3d bluray player with NO CINAVIA PROTECTION even we do install it the latest official firmware version?

If there is which is that 3d bluray player?

[Kerry56]

Is there any CHEAP 3d bluray player with NO CINAVIA PROTECTION even we do install it the latest official firmware version?

If there is which is that 3d bluray player?

Do a Google search on Blu-ray players from 2011 (assuming you're using HDMI connection to your TV). Find the models that fit your needs. Go to AVSforum and find the official threads for those players and ask the members there if firmware updates have added Cinavia to the machine.

[fits79]

Don't you have any model to suggest me?