Forum - View topicNeed help buying Region Free dvd player
|
|
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tigergal
Posts: 17 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
Hi everybody I was wondering since there are so many people that prefer Japanese imports for Anime than dubs.
Can you people tell me which region free dvd player you own? An your experience with it? How much was it? What brand to avoid if any? Oh and last but not least where did you buy it? Sorry for the many questions but I need to know since I'm planing on buying my MoM a good and long lasting Region free dvd player so she can watch all her Spanish movies and favorite Korean dramas here in the US. |
|||
|
|||
HMMcKamikaze
 Posts: 189 |
|
||
|
I've never had any region free dvd players myself, but if you look on amazon.com both Toshiba and Philips seem to have quite a few of them available and both are reputable companies.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Sam-I-Am
Posts: 121 Location: Midwest US |
|
||
|
Most of the cheaper ($30) dvd players are built to play any region's discs, the region lockout is merely a software function that can be easily defeated. If the box says something about "PAL conversion" as a feature, it'll definitely be able to play nearly any disc. Get on Google, type in the make and model number of the player you're looking at, and add either "region free" or "hack" to the search, and you'll probably find reprogramming instructions and player reviews.
|
|||
|
|||
|
Tigergal
Posts: 17 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
Uh sorry Sam I Am but I don't want to buy my Mom a cheap region free dvd player and mostly because it will be her first for viewing exclusive movies that are only available in Spain espcially older movies from her native land uh lol did I say her native land was Spain anyway she knows lot's of different languages and she's learning more everyday oh and she likes Korean dramas and she plans on buying box sets of her favorite korean dramas made with Castilian subtitles for Spain.
Well so far I have been reading reviews about lots of Toshiba region free dvd players and this is what I'm leaning towards... 1.A dvd player that will last so $30 is out of the question 2.One that can switch region all by itself once the dvd's inserted so there is no need for her to mess with menus (lol she hates going into those) 3.When it plays PAL VCD, it should fit the image so that the image is not out of proper aspect ratio. 4.You should be able to easily choose the left or right audio channel which is typical of VCD. 5.Voice Enhancer option for those many different languages (lol my MoM has wrecked TV speakers for not having this option from turning the volume as high as they can go) This is what I'm thinking but I'm still opened to suggestions so keep them coming and thanks for taking the time to read this. |
|||
|
|||
Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
|
||
|
My first region free player was a cheap RJ Tech player which would only sometimes read DVDs. I bought it primarily for UK discs which looked very poor compared to NTSC discs. It broke within a month and didn't even have digital out. I think it also had aspect ratio issues for PAL discs.
My second region free is my JVC which I bought around 4 years ago. It cost me about $150 at the time and has served me well. The PAL to NTSC translation, while better than the RJ tech, would still create some major jaggies. NTSC region 2 discs looked about as good as any other player with 480p out. My third player was my Oppo 970 which I bought about 2 years ago for around $200. I still use this player as my current primary (retired my Sony) which displayed NTSC region 1 discs very well when upscaled to 1080i. The Region 2 PAL discs are notably better than my JVC, but is still nowhere as good as NTSC discs played on this machine. I no longer use it to translate PAL discs though since it has a 576i out which can be fed into my video processor (I bought it a year ago) which does an amazing job converting to NTSC. I highly recommend the Oppo players which are really nice standalone players, and even better players if you are feeding an external scaler since it has 480i/576i out. This is definitely the player to buy if you are intending on playing R2 PAL discs. |
|||
|
|||
Rolando_jose
 Posts: 240 Location: Ahhhh it's vacation time again! |
|
||
|
I have a Panasonic and Pioneer region free DVD, but you also have to think of a multisystem (PAL, NTSC, SECAM, PAL-M) player and TV. the thing is you can have a region free DVD that can only play NTSC, and ot top of it your TV MUST be multisystem to be able to handle the bigger amount of lines that PAL has.
I myself buy a lot of DVDs from spain since I want my friends to be able to understand (and not all can read english subs). The TV I had first was a Panasonic, now its a JVC both 29 inches so you get the big picture and with SAP. Good luck with it Rolando |
|||
|
|||
|
Randall Miyashiro
Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
|
||
|
You can use any television. If you buy a multi/format region player that can convert PAL to NTSC it will scale the 576i lines down to 480i/p for your NTSC television. The only downside is that you are converting 25 frames a second to 30 frames a second which will result in a bit of screen jerkiness (most notable during credits and pans) depending on how good your player is.
Otherwise there isn't any reason to buy a multi region player for PAL, and you might as well just buy any player from the UK and hook it up to your 576i/p television if you have a television that can accept PAL signals. The whole point of getting a PAL/NTSC player is so you don't need to buy an import or specialty television which would cost a bunch for overseas shipping. Some newer televisions (my video processor accepts them) can even accept 24, 48, 72Hz signals along with the standard 50 and 60Hz which is nice, especially since the new HD formats are encoded in 1080p at 24 frames a second. If you have an HD set make sure you get a player that can upconvert the signal to an HD signal especially since PAL does have more lines than NTSC. This way your player can translate those 576 lines of resolution into 720 or 1080 lines, instead of degrading it to 480 (NTSC) for your television to upscale. |
|||
|
|||
|
Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6921 Location: Kazune City |
|
||
|
|||
|
|||
|
Tigergal
Posts: 17 Location: Virginia |
|
||
|
Im back and this time I have information on my MoM's TV
to help us. Full Specifications: Sanyo DP23625 LCD Television Key Features Screen Size 23 in. Television Technology LCD Supported Resolution 720p Form Factor Widescreen Connector Types Audio line-in, Audio line-out, Composite video/audio input, Component video input, S-Video input Sound Supported Stereo Display Features Aspect Ratio 16:9 Contrast Ratio 800:1 Brightness 500 cd/m2 Viewing Angle 170 degrees Display Resolution 1280 x 720 Widescreen Modes Full, Zoom, Natural Wide, Normal Tuner Features Number Of Tuners 1 Audio Features Audio Format Supported Stereo Audio Controls Bass, Treble Additional Features Parental Lock Yes SAP Yes Closed Caption Yes V Chip Control Yes Additional Features On-screen Menu Accessories Remote Control Remote control Connectors Connectors Audio line-in, Audio line-out, Composite video/audio input, Component video input, S-Video input S-Video Connectors 1 x S-Video input ( 4 pin mini-DIN ) - rear RCA Connectors 2 x composite video/audio input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - rear, 1 x audio line-in ( RCA phono x 2 ) - rear, 1 x audio line-out ( RCA phono x 2 ) - rear Component Connectors 1 x component video input ( RCA phono x 3 ) - rear General Product Info Subcategory LCD TV Television Type LCD TV Weight 16.5 lbs Also known as Sanyo DP23625, DP23625 Manufacturer Part No. DP23625 UPC 086483053344 Company Info Sanyo Dimension 7.1 in x 27.2 in x 15.2 in (HxWxD) |
|||
|
|||
|
Sam-I-Am
Posts: 121 Location: Midwest US |
|
||
|
The $30 players only need to be reset once to be all region, you're just changing the same setting that a factory worker adjusted to make the machine a single region player. Once it's reset, it will hold that setting for the rest of its life, and will automatically adapt to whatever disc you put in, be it PAL or NTSC, from any region.
The cheap players aren't necessarily less reliable than the name brands. Chances are, the drive in the cheap player was made in the same factory as the drive in the expensive player - there's lots of brands and models of players, but the number of factorys that actually make the hardware is more limited. My Cyberhome 300 lasted over two years as my primary player, running 3-4 hours a night, and taking over for a much higher priced Sony that flat out refused to read many R1 discs. The Cyberhome was just recently replaced with an Insignia NS-DVD1, partly because the Cyberhome had become hesitant about reading discs, but mostly because repeated plugging and unplugging of the cables had caused the video output jack to become electrically unreliable. Both units originally sold for $30. Most of my complaints about both of these units are related to minor things, like the layout of buttons on the remotes, and how they handle slow-mo/freeze frame. The Cyberhome was sometimes hiccupy on menus, and the Insignia is a bit slow loading overall, but I'm willing to live with that. I watch on a 25" CRT tv, sitting about 10' to 12' back, so my viewing image is relatively small (going larger would require both a new entertainment center cabinet and moving four fully-loaded bookshelves, not to mention the expense of the screen). Even with a cheapy player doing NTSC/PAL conversion and feeding the signal down an RCA composite cable, I get video quality at least as good as a VHS player, and usually better (most of the difference seems to be on a per-disc basis, and is probably related to source material. Some of my R2 discs are old low-budget British TV sci-fi series, and they weren't very high quality to begin with). For some people, the image errors will be unnoticable, for others, the errors will be unforgivable. If you're concerned with image quality and pixel counts, or if you like the perceived higher reliability of a more expensive player, perhaps a $30 player is not for you. If you just want to see what's on a disc, they're an option worth considering. |
|||
|
|||
stormcrow22
 Posts: 97 Location: Long Island |
|
||
|
I bought the Oppo DV-981HD from Amazon for $229.00 about 9 months ago. I like it, though it was a bit pricey. It's nice cause it'll play just about any file format and upconverts to 1080p. I buy a good amount of Japanese DVDs, so it comes in really handy. No real issues, though it did lock up once while I was trying to fast-forward through the Gladiator DVD.
Supposedly, Oppo's customer service is pretty good if you ever have any issues. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group