Region Free seems important but why?

[hardwork12]

I read alot here about hacks and firmware upgrades to get the standalone DVD to be region Free.

I just am not sure what this really means or why I might need it. I am looking into a new standalone DVD as I type.

My main interest is NTSC CVD, SVCD etc. Does region free mean basically that I can play both PAL and NTSC? My TV is NTSC only as I live in the USA.

Do I need region free to get CVD to work for example?

Would just like to understand this. Thanks

[Baldrick]

Region free is only important if you want to play commercial dvds(only dvds) from different regions(dvd region1=usa, dvd region2=europe and so on).

[donpedro]

Region free is only important if you want to play commercial dvds(only dvds) from different regions(dvd region1=usa, dvd region2=europe and so on).

Just a practical example. So it is important for people that live in US but they are comming from outside (Europe for example) and they want to watch DVDs in their language or for poeple outside of US that don't want to wait until DVD movie is released in their country or you might be interested in some rare (let's say French) DVD that is not widly distributed. If you don't fit into these categories, I beleive that you should not worry about Regions at all.

[yg1968]

Just to add to what Don Pedro said some DVD players can play PAL and NTSC because they have an NTSC to PAL converter. The units that have this feature usually can play VCD. Many commercial VCDs are in PAL format. If you are interested in importing DVD from other regions, a region-free DVD player is an important feature to have. However, a region free player cannot necessarely play NTSC and PAL. In North America, only a handful of DVD players can convert PAL to NTSC. So you have to be careful which one you chose. You also have to choose one that has a region free hack (see DVD hacks in the menu on the left of your screen). Unfortunately, most of these DVD players cannot do the proper anamorphic 16:9 to 4:3 conversion when playing a PAL disk on an NTSC TV. The image appears slightly stretched. If you are intetrested in such a player, you can consult this website:

www.nerd-out.com

P.S. An example of such a player is the Philipps DVD-724. Another one is the Apex-1500.

[SingSing]

I would like to think the player encodes the mpeg signal into NTSC directly, even with PAL, 25 FPS movie. The fact is 25 FPS is very close to NTSC Flim rate, and we agreed DVD players can rescale vertical size on the fly.

I have a Pioneer DV333, Sony TV, Toshiba projection TV = all NTSC equipement from BestBuy ( Large U.S. electronics retailer ). I can play all the PAL VCDs I bought from oversea trip. These VCDs are factory pressed at Malaysia, Singapore....

We also know Japanese animationation and Veggie Tale on NTSC VCD are popular in South east Asia. Thus they must be able play NTSC in PAL DVD players.

VCDs has lower video quality but they cost less than DVD. At least I am paying for them instead of thinking ripping DVD disc that I don't own.

[yg1968]

SingSing,

The DV333 is a bad example as it can play PAL and NTSC signals but most North American DVD players can NOT play both signals. The problem isn't the fps but the PAL signal comes up in black and white.

See this article, for example:

http://www.ecliptic.ch/Sound/LG/

Many low-end DVDs players that can play VCDs are made in China and can often play both NTSC and PAL. These features will often (but not always) be advertized by the company. Given that many VCDs are in PAL, this kind of goes hand in hand. These DVD players are often the ones that can be region hacked through a special sequence on the remote control. For example the Prima-1500 and the Apex-1500 advertize the fact that they can output both PAL and NTSC. They can both play VCDs and can both be region hacked. It has been said that the low-end Chinese DVD players have more in common with computer DVD-ROMs than video equipment.

[musher70]

C'MON C'MON, most of you are forgetting the most important
reason for have a code player, turning off macrovision,sampo
units are the best for that, very reliable also, if ur looking for
different region discs, look for code2 japanese discs,they cost
a lot more, but you can't generally get those films in the UK,
also code3 are very nice,theyre from hongkong, mostly action
kung-fu/anime stuff from asia and sort, then they have code 0
from hongkong/brazil,go figure, that cant play in any player
just so long theyre NTSC,cause you know the plain old discs
from US,just have english/french/spanish subs/langs, but
someone might want others from somewhere else......

IF ANY OF YOU NEED THESE, AND ARE IN THE US GO HERE..
http://www.mailordercentral.com/laser/departments.asp?dept=17

Oh did i mention they have laserdiscs for 5 bucks?

[hardwork12]

I think I understand now will have to reread some of the info. Thanks

Now this Macrovision hear alot about it but why do I want to get rid of it?

I am assuming it is some sort of copy protect capability but do not see that explicitly stated in the posts I have read. If it is copy protect then how much of an issue is it?

Thanks

[geek rock]

I think I understand now will have to reread some of the info. Thanks

Now this Macrovision hear alot about it but why do I want to get rid of it?

I am assuming it is some sort of copy protect capability but do not see that explicitly stated in the posts I have read. If it is copy protect then how much of an issue is it?

Thanks

yep, macrovision basically makes the picture on your DVD go very light and very dark, rapidly, rendering a VHS/DV/whatever backup useless. (this is only when the DVD is played thru a VCR, usually. normal TV playback should be fine.)

on most DVD players it can be turned off, usually with a handset "hack".

if that's not the case a "macrovision buster" cable can be bought and connected to your DVD player.

nb. only DVD's are macrovision-protected, SVCDs and VCDs aren't.

[musher70]

Not very many dvd players have mecro hacks, i dont read every
hack sheet though, those little boxes dont work too good when
u tape a dvd either, not that we condone that ikind of thing,what
do people think of that import site? they're really helpful there
and you can buy a few real nice dvd players that have pal conver-
ters there also....now if you got a capture card that does like
macrovision theres new insight for you...

[vitualis]

I would like to think the player encodes the mpeg signal into NTSC directly, even with PAL, 25 FPS movie. The fact is 25 FPS is very close to NTSC Flim rate, and we agreed DVD players can rescale vertical size on the fly.

I have a Pioneer DV333, Sony TV, Toshiba projection TV = all NTSC equipement from BestBuy ( Large U.S. electronics retailer ). I can play all the PAL VCDs I bought from oversea trip. These VCDs are factory pressed at Malaysia, Singapore....

We also know Japanese animationation and Veggie Tale on NTSC VCD are popular in South east Asia. Thus they must be able play NTSC in PAL DVD players.

VCDs has lower video quality but they cost less than DVD. At least I am paying for them instead of thinking ripping DVD disc that I don't own.

SingSing, for the last time, stop guessing because you are completely off.

DVD players do nothing of the sort.

All DVD players can internally decode to NTSC and PAL standards, but not all can convert between standards.

That is, if you have an NTSC only DVD player and you play PAL material on it, it can only output a PAL signal. This is not conjecture. It has been proved literally hundreds of times on the forums. There are many many posts of people with problems of NTSC/PAL incompatibility (mostly Americans).

If you have a DVD player that can convert between standards (it can still be an NTSC default player), then you have the greatest flexibility. Otherwise, you need a multisystems capable television.

We are able to play back NTSC material in Asia (and indeed, pretty much the rest of the world) because unlike in the US, multisystems capable equipment is the norm. Almost all new DVD players and TVs (indeed even older DVD players and TVs) can natively playback / convert between NTSC and PAL so it doesn't matter what the source system is in.

For the last time SingSing, stop guessing. Your hypothesis are pretty much wrong and it is pretty silly to do so when these things aren't even mysterious obscure facts that nobody knows. A little bit of research will yield the REAL reasons why things are so.

The most important part of standards conversion isn't the vertical resizing. That is pretty much irrelevant. The most important is in the framerate conversion.

Regards.

[SingSing]

I bought a very common DVD player : Pioneer DV333. I also have bought PAL VCD - about 50 of them. All the PAL VCDs played on this DVD players with both of my NTSC TVs (one with color stream, one with S-video). These PAL VCD are always availabled in site like : vcdgallery.com, eurekamovies.com.... If you just want to watch movie, VCDs cost way less than DVD ( with a few extra ).

This is a good news that I can passed on to the U.S. consumers in a place named VCDHELP.COM.

I think this type of post fit the name/purpose of the site perfectly.

Anyone who own a DV333 in U.S. can insert a PAL VCD ( or make one with the PAL VCD sample here ) and report the outcome.

This is about the fact what this model and most like many/a few other players can do. This is not about "thinking".

[vitualis]

You were trying to generalise your experience with all NTSC equipment (read your OWN post up this thread) with your completely inaccurate theory.

Yes, your equipment can play back both PAL and NTSC and that's great for you. However, this is not the case with a lot of American TVs and DVD players. Your suggestion otherwise is the WRONG emphasis. A lot of American TVs and DVD players are incapable of playing back PAL standard video.

The point of this thread was on multizone DVD players and someone highlighted the importance of having PAL/NTSC compatibility (by having a player that can do the conversion) as well. PAL/NTSC compatibility is important with you want discs from other parts of the world. Your good fortune of just happening to have equipment that can do it in the US is not necessarily representative and this is an important issue for people to consider when they buy a new player.

For goodness sakes SingSing, please read the whole thread and understand the POINT of the thread before posting irrelevant or misleading info. You have done this multiple times in several threads and I and other mods are getting sick of having to post follow up posts to prevent beginners from being misled.

Regards.

[SingSing]

I always mentioned Pioneer DV333, that qualified me for "not generalised".

I did not said anything about NTSC TV playing PAL signal becuase DV33 put out NTSC signal.

I did not "theory", "empahsis", I post a fact what DV333 do.

This thread is about about playing both PAL and NTSC material, and DV333 can.

The site is about give a "thump up" to good stuff. DV333 qualified.

Maybe you should get use to how Americans embrace truth and fact, than debate, and post essay size reply.

[vitualis]

Perhaps you should learn the universal ability of reading and understanding and not having a selective memory.

I would like to think the player encodes the mpeg signal into NTSC directly, even with PAL, 25 FPS movie. The fact is 25 FPS is very close to NTSC Flim rate, and we agreed DVD players can rescale vertical size on the fly.

This is before you mentioned anything about your Pioneer player and is definitely incorrectly. Indeed someone else (who obvious has the ability of reading) tried to clear the misconception immediately:

The DV333 is a bad example as it can play PAL and NTSC signals but most North American DVD players can NOT play both signals. The problem isn't the fps but the PAL signal comes up in black and white.

If you "embrace truth and fact" then perhaps it is time you do some research to learn some facts.

Do you still think that your "NTSC-only" hardware can play PAL as well?

Regards.

[pbhalerao]

The forum thread has gone slightly tangent to the main question raised by hardwork12. SingSing has definitely generalized on "all" US DVD players based on his experience of Pioneer DV333. I travel to the US often and I found that most salesmen at BestBuy, Circuit City, etc. do not understand what I mean when I mention the words PAL/NTSC, MultiSystem, Region Free, etc.

However, to get back to the original question, hardwork12, wrote:

I read alot here about hacks and firmware upgrades to get the standalone DVD to be region Free.

I just am not sure what this really means or why I might need it. I am looking into a new standalone DVD as I type.

My main interest is NTSC CVD, SVCD etc. Does region free mean basically that I can play both PAL and NTSC? My TV is NTSC only as I live in the USA.

Do I need region free to get CVD to work for example?

Would just like to understand this. Thanks

My 2 cents worth. Hardwork12, you can ask yourself these questions:

a) Will I travel abroad and buy DVD/VCD from foreign countries?
b) Will I be getting foreign DVDs as gifts from friends or relatives?
c) Will I be ordering foreign DVDs from the web, especially those that are not available in USA (unlikely for Hollywood movies)?

If the answer is YES to any of the questions above, then please buy a DVD player that is Region Switchable, capable of playing PAL and NTSC DVDs on your NTSC TV, and perhaps Macrovision disabled.

Else buy a DVD player from your local BestBuy/CC/Fry's. This player will guaranteed to be Region 1, NTSC, Macrovision enabled.

[SingSing]

I always mentioned Pioneer DV333, that qualified me for "not generalised".