Question About Buying A Region Free DVD Player

[jlurban6731]

Greetings, I am hoping that someone can provide me with their expert opinion
on this question. I live in the state of Pennsylvania in the USA. There are several
movies that I would like to purchase, watch and add to my collection. I have not
purchased anything yet put have run into problems while conducting research on
the matter. Most movies I want are German, region 2, Korean, and Chinese. So,
I understand there are region free and code free DVD players that you can plug
into our walls here in the U.S. The problem that I now see is that 99% of televisions
will not allow us to view those DVDs. Another brick wall. So, is it possible to get
a region free, code free dvd player that will accept our U.S. electrical current with
an HMDMI port? Also, if so, can you then hook it up to a U.S. compatible computer
monitor and then watch the foreign dvds? I am absolutely lost so I appreciate any
help anyone can provide me with. Thank you.

[october262]

this is a good place to start start - https://www.220-electronics.com/region-free-dvd-players.html

[jlurban6731]

Thank you, I appreciate the link.

[jagabo]

You want a player that's region free and converts PAL to NTSC.

[jlurban6731]

I imagine that NTSC makes it so you can view the dvd in a region free player provided I can find an American screen to watch them on?

[lingyi]

+1 to october262's recommendation. 220-electronics.com is highly recommended here.

I recommend spending a bit more and getting a player that does region-free Blu-Ray also since it's nearly impossible to hack one after the fact.

From my experience with Asian DVDs/Blu-Rays (which is 99% of what I collect/watch), since South Korea, Taiwan and Japanese were NTSC, most releases are NTSC. Likewise, releases from Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia are usually PAL, though often have alternative NTSC versions. Also, most Asian DVDs/Blu-Rays (except for Japan) aren't region-locked if if they have a region code on the cover.

If you only plan on getting a few discs, you might be better off ripping the discs which will remove the region lock and burn to a blank disc or play the rip directly on a dedicated media player.

[netmask56]

The other alternative is to put the DVD, any region in a MKV folder using MKVToolNix (free program). No loss of quality.

[jlurban6731]

Thank you both for your input. I kind of feel more comfortable with something more dummy proof like a player.
Also, I don't think my laptop even with a terabyte could download entire movies. I am really not that computer
savvy. A person listed above gave me a link to this place in Illinois. I asked them the same question that I asked
you all. They're telling me their players are guaranteed to play discs from other countries, PAL, etc. and will play
on all American televisions. Is this true? I read an article that said 99% of our televisions will not allow us to
view movies from an all region player. Thanks in advance.

[jlurban6731]

One DVD I keep ordering and cancelling is a region 2 German movie. It's old, so if I don't buy it soon I
probably will never get the chance again. But if I will never be able to watch it, then what's the use in
buying it? Thank you all again.

[netmask56]

One DVD I keep ordering and cancelling is a region 2 German movie. It's old, so if I don't buy it soon I
probably will never get the chance again. But if I will never be able to watch it, then what's the use in
buying it? Thank you all again.

Try MakeMKV on any DVD you own and see if the resulting file plays ok on your laptop. The file will be free of region coding and will play in VLC if you have it installed. The file will be the same size as the DVD

[hech54]

One DVD I keep ordering and cancelling is a region 2 German movie. It's old, so if I don't buy it soon I
probably will never get the chance again. But if I will never be able to watch it, then what's the use in
buying it? Thank you all again.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, now live in Germany.
PM me if you need help.

[jlurban6731]

Thank you hech54 I appreciate that.

[lingyi]

In addition to 220-Electronics, Amazon has a number of region-free players.

The article you refer to must either be really old (pre HDTV) or just biased again region-free DVD players since modern HDTVs/monitors will display any HDMI signal (which is fully digital) fed to it. I suspect the primary reason jagabo recommends a player that does PAL to NTSC playback is because PAL DVDs are 25fps and both film (24fps) and NTSC TV (30fps) may display flickering and artifacts because of the different frame rates when converted to PAL.

Also, ripping DVDs and Blu-Rays is fairly easy with software such as DVDFab or DVDFAB Passkey which have free versions which will likely work for your purposes*. This is especially important since you state the German DVD you want may be hard to find. Save your ripped disc image on your hard drive as well as a burned DVD so if anything happens to the original you have two backups.

*The primary reason people opt for the paid versions is because of continually updated new copy protection. However as I stated above, most Asian DVDs don't have any copy protection and the free versions should be fine.

[jlurban6731]

Thank you Lingyi, I guess I can attempt it, but am thinking about getting a player too. Please let me know if you have any suggestions.
This place in Illinois has a good one with a PAL converter and an HDMI port, the only drawback is it will play DVD but not Blu Ray. I guess
I am just thinking about the future in a way. Thank you.

[lingyi]

The last time I actually used a standalone DVD player was over 5 years ago. It was this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AXBGZO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that I hacked to be region-free and reportedly did PAL to NTSC conversion. I used before on my tube TVs before I got my first HDTV and never had any issue playing Region 2 & 3 discs, both PAL and NTSC. Once I got my standalone media player (a WDTV, not using a couple of cheap laptops), I stopped playing discs altogether.

I'm assuming the Illinois store you're referring to is 220-Electronics. If so, they also have Code-Free Blu-Ray / Region Free DVD players starting from $100. IMHO, cheap enough to see if you like it or not.

[lingyi]

The last time I actually used a standalone DVD player was over 5 years ago. It was this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AXBGZO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that I hacked to be region-free and reportedly did PAL to NTSC conversion. I used before on my tube TVs before I got my first HDTV and never had any issue playing Region 2 & 3 discs, both PAL and NTSC. Once I got my standalone media player (a WDTV, not using a couple of cheap laptops), I stopped playing discs altogether.

I'm assuming the Illinois store you're referring to is 220-Electronics. If so, they also have Code-Free Blu-Ray / Region Free DVD players starting from $100. IMHO, cheap enough to see if you like it or not.

Should be: I used it before on my tube TVs before I got my first HDTV and never had any issue playing Region 2 & 3 discs, both PAL and NTSC. Once I got my standalone media player (a WDTV, but now using a couple of cheap laptops), I stopped playing discs altogether.

[jlurban6731]

Thank you. I am going to try to buy the best player I can find. Please let me know
if anyone has suggestions. Thank you.

[jlurban6731]

Lingyi thank you for you referring DVD Fab to me. I do have a question though.
I am unsure exactly what software I need to download/purchase in order to
rip and burn Youtube videos to DVD so I can watch them in my region one
American DVD player. There are also a few movies on the net that are simply
not in print. I would like to rip and burn them as well. Thanks in advance for
any help you could provide me with.

[Videoranger007]

Most cheaper dvd players (apex, digix, cyber home) are made out of computer dvd drives, have a simple unlock code and will automatically convert the PAL signal to your tv. If any of those 3 brands I listed has an unlock code then you'll be watching PAL dvds in no time for right around $25-40 bucks.

[jlurban6731]

Thank you for the information Videoranger. I appreciate your help as well as the help from
everyone who responded to my questions.

[usually_quiet]

Thank you for the information Videoranger. I appreciate your help as well as the help from
everyone who responded to my questions.

Before buying a cheap, minor-brand DVD player, make sure that there really is an unlock code for that model. Not all of them have one.