Why can't there be a proper region free hack for BD?

[Sephiroth666]

All I see is these bullshit mods requiring putting in remote codes and rebooting the player. Is it seriously not possible to make a player just play any BD you pop in regardless of region like you can on a PC with AnyDVD? WHY? What's the reason behind this? Are hackers just lazy nowadays, or is there really some technical barrier here? I thought I read somewhere that BD region locking is handled entirely through player software anyway, not the optical drive firmware itself like DVD was.

Arguably, If I'm getting a PS4 at some point... I might as well just import a UK one to have a dedicated region B player, since the games are completely region free anyway. I just don't know how that would handle region 2 DVDs. You'd think HDTVs would be able to handle both NTSC and PAL input for SD content.

[Brad]

The disc checks the player's region. You can't make a player that responds, "I'm whatever you want me to be, baby."

AnyDVD guesses wrong all the time; check their forum. You wouldn't want something so inconsistent in hardware that can't be constantly updated - that's even if it could be programmed to be as sophisticated as the methods AnyDVD uses to check which regions the disc will accept. Ultimately, AnyDVD implements the same manual option as players: selecting the region the disc is from.

Besides the normal method, region checking can be implemented in custom BD-J code that could potentially differ with every single disc. Determining the correct region involves following all of the branches and trying to determine which leads to a playlist that isn't the regular menu/movie.

[Sephiroth666]

The disc checks the player's region. You can't make a player that responds, "I'm whatever you want me to be, baby."

AnyDVD guesses wrong all the time; check their forum. You wouldn't want something so inconsistent in hardware that can't be constantly updated - that's even if it could be programmed to be as sophisticated as the methods AnyDVD uses to check which regions the disc will accept. Ultimately, AnyDVD implements the same manual option as players: selecting the region the disc is from.

Besides the normal method, region checking can be implemented in custom BD-J code that could potentially differ with every single disc. Determining the correct region involves following all of the branches and trying to determine which leads to a playlist that isn't the regular menu/movie.

Well, there are only 3 regions. Why not just start with A and see which one lets the disc load? Moreover, I don't see why it's necessary for all the mods to reboot the damn player to change the code. Why not hack it into a menu or something for quick and easy switching?

[jman98]

I have an Insignia BD player that Best Buy sold some time ago that could be modded by consumers to be region free for BD and DVD playback by downgrading the firmware. The unit shipped able to switch between BD and DVD regions out of the box and just needed the right firmware to activate this feature. There was no "reboot" necessary. You could switch at will between DVD and BD regions with a live player. I own one and have done so. I can't speak to the reasons for your anger but maybe some of the hardware mods do require a reset on some models.

All I can tell you is that I know that BD is as far above DVD as DVD is over VCD and I have the impression that it's incredibly complicated to deal with changing BD regions. I've never heard of any hardware player that can do so without entering a code EVERY time you want to change. With DVD players it was possible to just unlock them once and get on with your life (assuming you didn't have region 1 DVDs with RCE to play), never again worrying about the player, but then again DVD is a lot simpler than BD.

[Brad]

Why not just start with A and see which one lets the disc load?

Say Region A loads a playlist containing a 5-minute looping video for the menu. Regions B and C load a 5-minute looping video for the screen telling you the region is wrong. Can the player tell the difference without human intervention? It's not like DVD where the player is what halts playback.

I don't know anything about this rebooting hack business. I have a Seiki player that lets you change the region from a hidden menu (for sale, if you can find a universal remote to go with it).