Blu Ray Multi Region Player - do they exist ??

[Grey Ghost]

I've been asked to drive my BiL to a couple of AV shops tomorrow with the express aim of him buying a Blu Ray player that can play such discs from all regions.

I didn't think this sort of machine was available as the coding on the discs and that installed by the manufacturer prevented this from happening. I've done a bit of research via Google but the adverts that came up are a little mis-leading and suggest the machines in question can play normal DVD's in multi region mode but not Blu Ray discs. They are cleverly worded but none appear to be fully clear that the machine can play Blu Ray discs from any region.

So......do they exist, where should I point him and has anyone got a Sony one to recommend as his other AV stuff is all Sony.

Cheers in advance

[mp3manager]

Oppo BDP-83

The only BD/DVD/SACD/DVD-A/CD player you will ever need.

And it can be made region-free for BD & DVD.

http://www.crtprojectors.co.uk/region_free_bpd-83....



ETA - Some Panasonics from Movietyme

http://www.movietyme.com/catalog/default.php?cPath...

Edited by mp3manager on Friday 18th December 15:02

[bogie]

yeah, sure, you can get them in a number of places ...

Ive had one for over a year - a Panny DMPBD55 in multi-region on blue ray and DVD, it works great, and saves me the hassle of having to worry about regions when I buy blu-rays ...I travel a lot abroad, and im always picking them up at airports and such like .....

[phumy]

A cheaper option is to get region free Bluray DVD's, which I am able to get in Vietnam.

[telecat]

It is possible but most are region free for DVD only. It usually costs to get a BD region free player.

[bogie]

yes, Sony did a good job on protecting them and making it hassle for us, so no easy software hacks, its a hardware mod and costs £75 ish

if only Toshiba had won with HD DVD (a region free format), we wouldnt have this hassle

[BigBen]

Quite a lot of Blu Ray disks are not region coded even if the packaging may indicate that they are, still means you have to do homework first to find out so ruins spur of the moment shopping.

I am fairly keen on getting a multi region BR player but they are still a little rich for my pallet.

[mp3manager]

bogie said:

yes, Sony did a good job on protecting them and making it hassle for us, so no easy software hacks, its a hardware mod and costs £75 ish

if only Toshiba had won with HD DVD (a region free format), we wouldnt have this hassle

I'm not so sure on that.

HD-DVD *did* have region-coding, it just wasn't implemented and it was just a mandatory firmware upgrade away from being locked down.

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/05/26/hd_dvd_to_...
http://www.dvd-recordable.org/Article2710.phtml

[Deva Link]

bogie said:

yes, Sony did a good job on protecting them and making it hassle for us, so no easy software hacks, its a hardware mod and costs £75 ish

Richer Sounds are sdvertising a (as it happens) Sony Blu-ray player for £80 or multi-region for £100 in their Boxing day sale.

I know some people love Richer Sounds but I find them annoying - local branch *never* answers the phone and twice I've been there for advertised stuff and they just laugh as if I was mad to assume that something they advertised would actually exist.

[telecat]

Deva Link said:

bogie said:

yes, Sony did a good job on protecting them and making it hassle for us, so no easy software hacks, its a hardware mod and costs £75 ish

Richer Sounds are sdvertising a (as it happens) Sony Blu-ray player for £80 or multi-region for £100 in their Boxing day sale.

I know some people love Richer Sounds but I find them annoying - local branch *never* answers the phone and twice I've been there for advertised stuff and they just laugh as if I was mad to assume that something they advertised would actually exist.

It will be "region free" for DVD only.

[bogie]

Deva Link said:

bogie said:

yes, Sony did a good job on protecting them and making it hassle for us, so no easy software hacks, its a hardware mod and costs £75 ish

Richer Sounds are sdvertising a (as it happens) Sony Blu-ray player for £80 or multi-region for £100 in their Boxing day sale.

I know some people love Richer Sounds but I find them annoying - local branch *never* answers the phone and twice I've been there for advertised stuff and they just laugh as if I was mad to assume that something they advertised would actually exist.

I think you will find it states "with DVD MR playback" - so its like most of the others - multi region by software hack, on DVD only ....NOT blu-ray

hence the DIY hardware mod kit for the Oppo posted above

a number of companies do hardware mods ( you change blu-ray zone by remote control)

list here http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=22_9...

I have a Panny DMP-55, about 18 months old, hardware modded from those guys

Sony made it, so that you couldnt software mod the blu-ray zones.....

Edited by bogie on Wednesday 23 December 09:40

[allgonepetetong]

Here is a list Bluray titles and if they are region coded or not. You will notice most are not, so check before buying and there shouldn't be an issue.

http://bluray.liesinc.net/index.php?region=b

[Deva Link]

bogie said:

Deva Link said:

bogie said:

yes, Sony did a good job on protecting them and making it hassle for us, so no easy software hacks, its a hardware mod and costs £75 ish

Richer Sounds are sdvertising a (as it happens) Sony Blu-ray player for £80 or multi-region for £100 in their Boxing day sale.

I know some people love Richer Sounds but I find them annoying - local branch *never* answers the phone and twice I've been there for advertised stuff and they just laugh as if I was mad to assume that something they advertised would actually exist.

I think you will find it states "with DVD MR playback" - so its like most of the others - multi region by software hack, on DVD only ....NOT blu-ray

Yes, you're right. It doesn't mention that limitation in the email but clicking on the link it does specifically state that it's not multi-region for Blu-ray: http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/sony/b...

[bogie]

yeah, to be honest, if I didnt already have a US blu-ray collection, i wouldnt have bothered

its not like in the early days of DVD where movies were released in the US 6 months earlier on R1 ..or had loads of features that were not in the R2 release ..

I was an early adopter though, and had loads of BR discs Id bought from various places on my travels, and it was a pain when they didnt play

Im sure by the next time I upgrade BR player, multi-region on DVD and blu-ray, will be a lot more common ....

[LeoSayer]

Another option may be to rip the blu-rays to hard disc on a pc and then play them back via a media player.

I have no idea if it will work, but it might be cheaper option that shelling out for a multi-region player.