All-Region DVD and Blu-ray Player Advice

[perkizitore]

yes. I 'admitted' it. So what's the problem? I'm not trying to mislead anyone here.

If you are not sure of your player's multiregion capabilities, don't proclaim them!

[manicsounds]

OK, got confirmation that the TMY (Japanese Momitsu-looking clone) can use all the Momitsu region codes, so it definitely is the same machine inside.

So currently, I have 2 multiregion DVD players, 1 at home and 1 at work.

Anyway, about PAL to NTSC conversion, on 1 player, when I play a PAL disc, the image is jittery, and when there is the color of red, the red itself jitters all over. In addition to that, every once in a while, if I have subtitles on, the subtitles fuck up and I have to rewind it to read it.

On my other player, it smooths out the image fine. No jitters, but jagged lines are visible. if for example there is a diagonal line on the screen. Occasional jittered subtitles too.

I am seriously considering the Momitsu (or clone) for an upgrade in the future, but for owners of that machine, how does the PAL to NTSC look? Any problems or does it look as smooth as native NTSC?

[unclehulot]

So currently, I have 2 multiregion DVD players, 1 at home and 1 at work.

Anyway, about PAL to NTSC conversion, on 1 player, when I play a PAL disc, the image is jittery, and when there is the color of red, the red itself jitters all over. In addition to that, every once in a while, if I have subtitles on, the subtitles fuck up and I have to rewind it to read it.

On my other player, it smooths out the image fine. No jitters, but jagged lines are visible. if for example there is a diagonal line on the screen. Occasional jittered subtitles too.

I am seriously considering the Momitsu (or clone) for an upgrade in the future, but for owners of that machine, how does the PAL to NTSC look? Any problems or does it look as smooth as native NTSC?

It doesn't answer the question directly, but if you're concerned about PAL conversion issues, a better route is to have a display that accepts native PAL in addition to NTSC. My cheap-ish Olevia LCD does this, and when I set my Oppo to PAL (or AUTO) output, it's far better than asking the player to internally convert PAL to NTSC (none of the jerkiness associated with conversion). I just got a Momitsu clone (VisionQuest) and it seems to automatically output PAL as PAL on DVDs...perhaps someone else can confirm what I seem to remember reading on another forum, that either these players don't convert PAL to NTSC, or there is a setting to do so that's at the very least, not default, but perhaps it's just not an option. Sorry for speculating, but I haven't had much time yet to play around with these options, and since I CAN display native PAL it's not a problem I've tried to sort out.

[Sanjuro]

I've been using my Oppo set on 'NTSC' and haven't noticed any problems with PAL playback so far (although I haven't tried too many discs so far). I've just switched to PAL/NTSC auto as I realise my display can do both, and I guess it's better to avoid conversion. Looks good either way though.

[nsps]

A Blu-Ray Player thread would be good, so we can compare notes and folks can check out what's good for what region, and size up their options if entering the market. I hope there isn't one already, or I'm going to look rather foolish. For the record, I'm very happy with my new Philips BDP3000; it's cheap, user-friendly and multi-region for SD and for BD (when hacked; easily done).

Also multiregion BD? And if so, how?

Quick google on the subject turned up a forum post that says it only works for DVDs. Not really surprising…

[perkizitore]

A Blu-Ray Player thread would be good, so we can compare notes and folks can check out what's good for what region, and size up their options if entering the market. I hope there isn't one already, or I'm going to look rather foolish. For the record, I'm very happy with my new Philips BDP3000; it's cheap, user-friendly and multi-region for SD and for BD (when hacked; easily done).

Also multiregion BD? And if so, how?

Quick google on the subject turned up a forum post that says it only works for DVDs. Not really surprising…

Finally, a confirmation of my above posts! =D>

[unclehulot]

I've been using my Oppo set on 'NTSC' and haven't noticed any problems with PAL playback so far (although I haven't tried too many discs so far). I've just switched to PAL/NTSC auto as I realise my display can do both, and I guess it's better to avoid conversion. Looks good either way though.

I leave mine set to "Auto". Might as well if your display deals with both formats. Most PAL discs seem to do ok on my Oppo 980, back when I used to convert to NTSC, but my 970 definitely had noticeable jerkiness in that mode. Either way, native PAL was a noticeable improvement. I don't know the technicalities involved in it, but often, on PAL discs, I have to set the de-interlace to "Video" to avoid combing.

[Oedipax]

Has anyone tried the Curtis Mathes CMMBX130? Apparently it's another all-region Momitsu clone, done with the remote code hack. It also upsamples standard-def DVDs and can do the region-free thing there too. You can get one for $99 - I'm very tempted to give it a shot, but would love to hear someone else's opinion. It does lack the 2.0 profile with BD-Live - is that anything I should care about?

[gordonovitch]

So currently, I have 2 multiregion DVD players, 1 at home and 1 at work.

Anyway, about PAL to NTSC conversion, on 1 player, when I play a PAL disc, the image is jittery, and when there is the color of red, the red itself jitters all over. In addition to that, every once in a while, if I have subtitles on, the subtitles fuck up and I have to rewind it to read it.

On my other player, it smooths out the image fine. No jitters, but jagged lines are visible. if for example there is a diagonal line on the screen. Occasional jittered subtitles too.

I am very interested in the phenomenon you call "jittery," a version of which I'm thinking has been plaguing my playback of PAL discs on my multi-region player. What "jitters" most on my player are tight horizontal elements in the image that do indeed jitter or flutter, very distractedly, whether or not the image is static or in motion. In addition finely rendered detail of other kinds--a stone wall raked by light, for example--will also produce this kind of visual noise, especially in a pan. Further, well-edged text--like subtitles--will have an unsettled outline. A softer image, say, a catalog title that has less than optimal resolution may have little of this fluttering.

I've never thought to narrow this problem down to PAL to NTSC conversion, but I'm wondering how the hell to obtain a player that won't produce this kind of distortion. I've tried out all manner of settings for this player and none seem to make any difference, so I guess a new one is in order.

Any suggestions for a player that will not produce this phenomena, tried and true?

Gordon Thomas

[Anthony]

If this interests anyone... the Oppo BDP-83 (Blu-ray) player can be made region free for DVD and support Regions "A", "B", and "C." It just needs a hardware modification which you can do yourself. I'm not very mechanically inclined, so I had these guys do it for me:

Systematiq Corporation
724 8th St N
St Petersburg, FL 33701
tel: 813.944.3254
http://www.mySystematiq.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They charge $120 for the install with a very fast turnaround. I was very happy/satisfied with their service. Now I have a great Oppo player that plays every region of Blu-ray and DVD, with a great picture to boot!

[manicsounds]

http://www.hkflix.com/hardware/xq/asp/p ... etails.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Momitsu's new BD player, the BDP-799

It's $100 less than the BDP-899, and apparently, less options, but I haven't really compared as of what.

[perkizitore]

For Oz Buyers, the Aldi store has a "Bauhn" BD player currently selling at 199 AUD (169 at some stores) until sold out. No idea about BD live etc, but region free for SD and BD with remote hacks. More info at the highly avoidable but sometimes necessary dtvforum.

It's probably the same with the one Aldi is selling in the UK, the Tevion player.
As for the new Momitsu, it's still overpriced.

[nsps]

I report this second hand but the Bauhn apparently has a far more solid build, a tilted solid fascia, all on board built in HD audio codecs also via 7 channel PCM RCA and BD Live (as though you'ld care anyway.)

Compared to the Momitsu and its clones, you mean? Any tips for buying one in the US?

[nsps]

Nope, never even heard of it before today. Based on my googling, it appears to be a grocery store or super-store type thing (like Walmart maybe?) that has no website, so I guess I'd have to buy it IN THE STORE. Oh well.

Given the sparse region-free options available, I thought it might be worth importing or looking into. But it looks like the only non-modded/easily hackable option in the US is the Momitsu or a clone.

[Oedipax]

Well, as a follow-up to my earlier inquiry about the Curtis Mathes player, I ended up buying one and am extremely pleased with it. It is, as others have stated, basically a Momitsu clone (aside from having a different physical shell and lacking Profile 2.0 and an ethernet port). You can flash it with the BDP-899 firmware and gain better SD upscaling and AVCHD playback, but then you will need a different remote to operate the player as the Curtis Mathes one doesn't work. You can, however, switch back to the old CM firmware.

Anyway, it's a region-free Blu-Ray player that does PAL-NTSC conversion as well for $99, so it's exactly what I was waiting for.

[nsps]

Thanks for the update on that Curtis Mathes. I'm want to get a region-free player but don't want to pay too much for what's presumably a somewhat dodgy product, so the best plan may be to get something cheap. Even if I would prefer profile 2.0, I mainly want to watch the movies.

Where did you find it for $99?

[Oedipax]

Where did you find it for $99?

It was available from Target, Amazon (basically reselling Target) and Meijer for a little while, but appears to be sold out now. Seems a bit tougher to track down now, but really any Momitsu clone will do pretty much the same thing.

[manicsounds]

I have finally gone BLU.

I received a Japanese Momitsu 899 clone, the RWC RM BDP100,
the one thing that separates this from the rest of the similar models,
is that you don't need to input codes to change regions!

That's right.

I tested a US Region 1 DVD, UK PAL Region 2 DVD, and a Korean Region 3 DVD, and all of them played fine straight out of the box. (Literally, as I tried as soon as I received it)

This was my birthday present for myself (It's tomorrow, but I opened it anyway).

Now if I only had some Bluray discs to play......

[tojoed]

^ All the multiregion Blu Ray players play SD straight out of the box. It's for Blu Ray discs that you have to change the region code manually.

[ellipsis7]

Heading to Beijing soon - hope to pick a multiregion Blu Ray player there cost effectively, to work in tandem with my Region B Sony BDP S350...

[Forrest Taft]

^ All the multiregion Blu Ray players play SD straight out of the box. It's for Blu Ray discs that you have to change the region code manually.

Not mine, which is also, I believe, a Momitsu clone.

[nsps]

My understanding of the Momitsu codes:

9735AB

A = DVD region code (0 for all regions)
B = BD region code (1 for A, 2 for B, 3 for C)

I'm guessing manicsounds's player is set to 973501.

[manicsounds]

.....and after less than a week of using my region free BD Player, it completely shut down!
While watching a DVD, the lights shut off, the thing just conked out!
Tried restarting, unplugging and plugging back in, nothing.

The DVD is now stuck in there. looks like it's back to the old DVD player for the time being...

[kemalettin]

Is there any bluray player supports region free playback without entering codes ?

[perkizitore]

Is there any bluray player supports region free playback without entering codes ?

No, without modifying them. Either you get a chipped one or buy the Oppo and modify it yourself.