Multi region playing blu ray...

[Reid Malenfant]

Ok, who's got a multi region capable BD player with blu rays, not DVDs?

I'll be honest & say i know i do & i wouldn't go back to just a region B player 3413

Nearly all of my blu rays are bought on ebay & quite often the region A (USA) encoded discs go cheap due to the vast majority not being able to play them :eyebrows: Apart from that it gives me the opportunity to import them myself which i have been known to do on quite a few occasions.

I think i got my first simply because i saw a Panasonic (DMP-BD80) advertised at a superb price so snapped it up. Upon plumbing it all in my jaw hit the floor due to the vastly better picture than what i was using previously (Sony BDP-S550) :) A little later i purchased another from a different seller & have been very happy ever since.. The Panny also upscales DVD very well indeed, in fact i'd go so far to say it's pretty astonishing.

So, can you play region A, B & C blu rays? If so i guess it's possible i might be bidding against you one day :eyebrows: Sorry ;)

E2A:- Both my Panasonics have the ICOS mod, to change between regions i simply press a button on the remote before powering it up.. strangely 1 = A, 2 = B & 3 = C...lol

[Audiocom AV]

Ok, who's got a multi region capable BD player with blu rays, not DVDs?

I'll be honest & say i know i do & i wouldn't go back to just a region B player 3413

Nearly all of my blu rays are bought on ebay & quite often the region A (USA) encoded discs go cheap due to the vast majority not being able to play them :eyebrows: Apart from that it gives me the opportunity to import them myself which i have been known to do on quite a few occasions.

I think i got my first simply because i saw a Panasonic (DMP-BD80) advertised at a superb price so snapped it up. Upon plumbing it all in my jaw hit the floor due to the vastly better picture than what i was using previously (Sony BDP-S550) :) A little later i purchased another from a different seller & have been very happy ever since.. The Panny also upscales DVD very well indeed, in fact i'd go so far to say it's pretty astonishing.

So, can you play region A, B & C blu rays? If so i guess it's possible i might be bidding against you one day :eyebrows: Sorry ;)

E2A:- Both my Panasonics have the ICOS mod, to change between regions i simply press a button on the remote before powering it up.. strangely 1 = A, 2 = B & 3 = C...lol

Hi

I was using an Oppo BDP-83 which was Multi-Zone Blu-Ray. You change the zones from the remote control.

Now using an Oppo BDP-93EU, just waiting on the Multi-Zone kits in 2-3 weeks.

The BDP-93EU with the latest firmware is excellent, Oppo have worked hard to get it right, improve performance and for less cost than the 83.

[MartinT]

Yes Mark, as previously mentioned I have a multiregion Sony BDP-S300 capable of region A/B Blu-rays and 1/2 DVDs. I frequently buy discs in the USA when I'm out there. ICOS mod on mine too.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

ICOS mod? What's that?
I think mines a bdps500 ... Or 550 ... How do you make it region free ... Does it apply to DVD and BD then?

[MartinT]

I bought mine from Multiregionmagic, complete with the mod installed. I'm not sure if the mod can be retro-fitted, but you could ask him. Very friendly chap (Paul Taylor) to deal with.

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/

[Audiocom AV]

ICOS mod? What's that?
I think mines a bdps500 ... Or 550 ... How do you make it region free ... Does it apply to DVD and BD then?

The ICOS HD region free mod works by allowing the user to change the Blu-ray zones, A, B & C from the remote control. DVD regions are automatically selected.

Mod chips like ICOS are relatively easy to install. Some region free mods require soldering and may invalidate the manufacturers warranty.

For the Sony BDP-S500 an ICOS mod chip is available but apparently extremely hard to install.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Bugger ... Its def a 550 I have ... Ah well ...

[Jac Hawk]

Got a Samsung SH-B083L internal Bluray in my PC, it's multi region so no worries there :)

[mattross]

I have a hardware modded multiregion Oppo BDP-83 and don't see any reason to upgrade yet. As I have no interest in 3D films (and prefer a plot!) there does not seem any justification in spending more money. I'd say I use it more for playback via USB than Blu-ray with a 120GB 2.5" HDD attached. Just wish they would add support for something better than FAT32 though.

[Mark Grant]

Just wish they would add support for something better than FAT32 though.

The OPPO 93 and 95 support NTFS formatted drives.

[mattross]

Hmm...I didn't know that. Right, I'm going to fire off an e-mail to Oppo asking when it will be available for the 83. I bet they will say the license would be too expensive for an obsolete product blah blah blah.

[mattross]

Not the reply I was hoping for from Oppo:


Unfortunately no. The BDP-83 will not support NTFS as the player lacks Unix capability which is required for emulating NTFS.

[Reid Malenfant]

Sorry to hear it Matt :(

I'm still waiting for a reply from a certain Mr Grant to find out if the 95 fully decodes the DTS-MA & Dolby equivalent rather than just this lossy bit of it which I have experienced for myself on my Panny. He's waiting for the main man to get back off of holiday or somesuch thing. Alright for those than can afford a holiday :D

I hope I get a bit more satisfaction :scratch:

[Vinyleyes]

For what it's worth guys .. I have the Oppo license free BD95 .... It will do absolutely everything I have thrown at it so far and sounds at least as good as my old stand alone CD player.
I also use it as a music streaming device controllable from the remote and visible on the TV ... It will see my NAS and it will also stream movies off it.

I have plans to upgrade the audio/DAC part of the player even further and from all I have been told the CD sound alone will be as good as similar priced CD only players .. when you throw in the fact that it will play absolutely everything else ( hopefully at a better than modded SBox / Caiman quality) then it is a no brainer for me ... unless you are seeking CD only replay quality of the very highest order.

Oh . and it will also now see MP3's .. a recent firmware upgrade ... :cool:

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Brian, you see the thing is is this. My Panasonic will play just about anything to, but it doesn't decode DTS-MA fully. That may sound odd but I think it was Stewart (Lodgesound) that made a note of this. He found the difference between internal & external decoding via a proper cimema pre amp was vast.

Apparently my Panny will only decode part of it & frankly it should be blinding, but compared to the same stereo track there is a huge & I mean huge difference in sound quality between DTS-MA & stereo.

Apparently you need to pay licensing fees to use the proper DTS-MA & Dolby equvalent & very few stand alone players have payed these fees so they only do half the job :rolleyes:

Before i blow nearly a grand on a player I need to know it will fully decode it & the Dolby equivalent :eyebrows:

That's why a certain Mr Grant is on the case to Oppo, hopefully I should hear back shortly :cool:

[Vinyleyes]

Hi Mark .... sorry but I can't answer that one .. I have no bleedin idea even what it is .. :doh: ... Could you enlighten me ??
I have mine hooked up also to an old Yamaha 2 channel processor to play the back speakers .. and I have it set so that the front channels come through my main hifi amp and speakers .. so for 2 channel audio it effectively plays through my main hifi .. I only bring in the surround sound for movies ... and music DVD's sometimes. :cool:

[Reid Malenfant]

It's the latest high quality surround sound found on quite a few blu rays as opposed to just DTS, DTS-MA is DTS Master Audio which is uncompressed. It's most often in full 24 bit depth & can be up to 192KHz sampling frequency on up to 8 channels (7.1).

[Vinyleyes]

Sounds cool .. I don't need all the other channels but definitely up for more quality on music DVD's ... .. I will get going on Google and gen up on this ... thanks .. :cool: