Re: luck with 'code-free' DVD?

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In Reply to: luck with 'code-free' DVD? posted by gwlvrns on May 15, 2004 at 17:13:57:

DVD players have been hacked to play more than was *allowed* from the very start.
Not all hacked or modded DVD players are equal - and I'm talking here about what they can/can't do, not about the quality of the picture.
A modded player may do some or all of the following:
- Play DVD's from any Region.
- Play NTSC andPAL video
- Output PAL from a NTSC DVD (i.e. convert)
- Output NTSC from a PAL DVD
- Output PAL Progressive scan
- Disable Macrovision (most won't care, but some projectors and TV's are bothered by Macrovision)
Note that a DVD player that is *All Region/Region Free* is only of limited benefit. An All Region player that could play only NTSC would limit it to DVD's from N.America (NTSC video Standard) and Japan (NTSC) and a few other places,...but would NOT play DVD's from any countries with the PAL video standard (most of Europe, Australia etc.).
In addition, there are machines that will be Region Free, will play both NTSC and PAL,...but they will only output a PAL video signal from a PAL DVD and NTSC from an NTSC DVD (i.e., it won't convert one video standard to the one needed by your TV).
Many/most video projectors don't care what kind of video they get, so they don't necessarily need a machine that will convert PAL-->NTSC. But, if you have a TV that will play only NTSC video or only PAL, then you will want to make sure that the All Region DVD player you buy can play both PAL and NTSC ...and also that it can convert one to the other.
Many DVD players can have all the features needed openned up by just entering codes via the remote - no openning of the box, soldering or messing with the internal parts.
I'm not up on what's out there now, but last year the Cyperhome 500 was selling at around $70 from Best Buy and online and it was easy to hack.
The Philips 963sa can be modded pretty easily, and it will play PAL progressive scan (not many all region machines can do that) and it's a decent CD/SACD player. Only issues with this one are that it will only convert PAL->NTSC output if using the Component video outs (Composite and S-Video jacks don't have the conversion as part of their circuitry) - And the hack is a little more complicated (need a Philips pronto or other means of sending an RC-6 code to the machine, as well as entering the codes from the remote.
I'd say to do like the other poster suggested, find the DVD players you're interested in first, and then search and see how hard/easy they are to mod (Google),...and make sure to see what abilities the machine will have after it's modded (as you see from above, not all modded players can do all the same things).
The www.AVS-forum.com is well worth searching for tips on a specific machine, search the DVD Player page ...

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - luck with 'code-free' DVD? - gwlvrns 17:13:57 05/15/04 (8)

You don't have to order from Asia... - Harmonia 19:06:13 05/19/04 (0)

Re: luck with 'code-free' DVD? - Jack G 07:14:46 05/19/04 (0)

Thanks, guys....now, - gwlvrns 17:04:48 05/16/04 (2)

Re: Thanks, guys....now, - Andrew T. 15:45:42 05/17/04 (0)

Re: Thanks, guys....now, - TA 20:54:43 05/16/04 (0)

Re: luck with 'code-free' DVD? - Andrew T. 16:00:34 05/16/04 (0)

Re: luck with 'code-free' DVD? - monk 15:35:06 05/16/04 (0)

Re: luck with 'code-free' DVD? - Peterloplop 19:14:30 05/15/04 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: luck with 'code-free' DVD? - monk 15:35:06 05/16/04 (0)

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