The HD News & Technology Thread!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Oct 2008, 10:55

saltysam wrote:you don't want much for £129 do you

I paid £500 for my player remember.

Markgway wrote:The problem is it's not £129 for coded and say £179 for free. It's two or three times the price. Outrageous.

Outrageous yes but worth every extra penny.

Region locked players just aren't worth the risk IMO. I was luck that we managed to find a region hack for the BH200 but today I'd go straight with a multiregion model.

p.s - Pedantic hat on, none are region free.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 06 Dec 2008, 19:50

I just noticed this and it struck me as rather innovative:

Samsung has released a firmware update that will allow Netflix customers to stream movies through their Blu-ray players.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/ ... ayers/2309

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Dec 2008, 17:47

If you live in North America (maybe just America) it is pretty cool. LG did something different and released a new BD Player (the BD300) a few months before, it too could stream Netflix SD Movies.

They don't have hard disks though, so it's strictly streaming only. It's still a cool idea though.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 11 Dec 2008, 14:09

Multi-region panasonic BD £269...not bad

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/product_i ... cts_id=991

luckystars · Post by **luckystars** » 12 Dec 2008, 22:35

Hey,

How does MR generally work? Does it imply I have to do the remote hack for every time I switch discs for different regions?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 12 Dec 2008, 23:46

Yes, pretty much. You press a button to switch between regions. It then remembers the last region you set. I believe that's how it works.

Whether it's one button or several I'm not 100% sure. With my BH200 I have to access a hidden menu but I bet MRMDVD have a more efficient process to go through. AFAIK there is no such thing as a Region Free BD Player. All the solutions you have to switch between the regions. Considering many discs are unlocked anyway I don't consider it a big deal. I leave mine on Region A and switch for the odd Region B disc I have.

p.s - The DMP-BD30 is Profile 1.1 for those interested. I'd say it's a fantastic price. Profile 1.1 + Multi-region.

The DMP-BD35 is £361:

http://www.mrmdvd.com/catalog/product_i ... cts_id=981

Which is the current model. It drops 5.1 analogue outputs but instead gets an upgrade to Profile 2.0. That's also a very good price for a Profile 2.0 player. The DMP-BD55 is £468 but considering the DMP-BD35 range now has Profile 2.0 also it looks pricey (Profile 2.0 + 7.1 Analogue outputs).

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 13 Dec 2008, 00:39

I've heard that you can buy a Region B player and download US firmware from the manufacturer's website to make it Region A. Not multi-region (ie. you can't change it back). I think it was that Sharp budget player Sam posted a link to. So in effect you have a Region A player at UK voltage.

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 13 Dec 2008, 12:38

luckystars wrote:Hey,

How does MR generally work? Does it imply I have to do the remote hack for every time I switch discs for different regions?

On the Panasonics you simply put the machine into standby, then press on your remote:

- 1 for Region A
- 2 for Region B
- 3 for Region C

Thats all there is to it.

luckystars · Post by **luckystars** » 13 Dec 2008, 14:23

Thanks muchly for the comments guys. Is it naive to think non modded multi region players will be out in the not so distant future? Remote hacks to make them play all regions, without having to keep changing them back and forth?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Dec 2008, 13:23

Markgway wrote:I've heard that you can buy a Region B player and download US firmware from the manufacturer's website to make it Region A. Not multi-region (ie. you can't change it back). I think it was that Sharp budget player Sam posted a link to. So in effect you have a Region A player at UK voltage.

I can imagine that's possible. I'd only try it the once though, running firmware upgrades brings with it inherent risks.

With my LG BH200 installing USA/UK firmware doesn't alter the region coding.

luckystars wrote:Is it naive to think non modded multi region players will be out in the not so distant future?

Sadly yes

. I think it's much harder to achieve.

luckystars wrote:Remote hacks to make them play all regions, without having to keep changing them back and forth?

It shouldn't have to, unless you happen to own loads of RA and RB discs. Many discs are region free anyway.

Just leave it on RA or RB depending which you own most of.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 16 Dec 2008, 02:59

Received the blu-ray of my favourite movie,Assault On Precinct 13. an amazon.com exclusive till february,apparently (not tried it yet) despite proudly proclaiming regions A/B/C on the back it is in fact Coded A.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 16 Dec 2008, 17:28

Fuck. I was gonna get that.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Dec 2008, 19:39

When you can get MR Players as cheap as you can I don't see how it really matters.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 16 Dec 2008, 20:00

£269 isn't "cheap".

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 16 Dec 2008, 20:05

Assault is an Amazon.com exclusive until February 2009.it's possible when it becomes widely available it'll be region-free.maybe it's just amazon stock that is coded to help exclusivity? it's a great upgrade by the way,was comparing it to the SE earlier,like night and day.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Dec 2008, 20:39

Markgway wrote:£269 isn't "cheap".

You what? Compared to where they were even earlier this year that's cheap. Besides now they're at £269 it won't be long before they're under £200.

Of course £269 is a great price for a Profile 1.1 BD Player and especially when it's a Panasonic make to boot. How long do you plan to keep it? Years I imagine. You'll soon forget about that extra £69 when you've owned it a few years.

Spending too low on any kit is almost always a false economy. You only end up having to replace it sooner or have problems with it.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Dec 2008, 03:29

bradavon wrote:
Markgway wrote:£269 isn't "cheap".
You what? Compared to where they were even earlier this year that's cheap. Besides now they're at £269 it won't be long before they're under £200.

It's less expensive but not cheap. Not to me anyways. I would have to save up to fork out that kind of cash. You forget not everyone has your income.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 17 Dec 2008, 17:18

Since I own a PS3, I don't want to shell out for a multi-region BD player as well, so yeah region does matter.

luckystars · Post by **luckystars** » 17 Dec 2008, 18:07

bradavon wrote:Spending too low on any kit is almost always a false economy. You only end up having to replace it sooner or have problems with it.

Hear hear.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Dec 2008, 18:00

Markgway wrote:You forget not everyone has your income.

An odd thing to say when you don't know what my income is.

gasteropod wrote:Since I own a PS3, I don't want to shell out for a multi-region BD player as well, so yeah region does matter.

It's surprising no one has managed to work out a hack for that.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Dec 2008, 18:01

Has anyone else noticed Fox seem to be dropping region coding. Loads of new Fox titles say ABC on the rear. I wonder if they've dropped it entirely.

I didn't realise Predator 2 had been released. That one is Region Free and even has all the extras. What a contrast to the barebones region locked Predator.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Dec 2008, 18:50

Predator 2 i posted a review of about 6 weeks ago

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Dec 2008, 18:52

So you did. I forgot that. You didn't mention it had the extras or was region free though

.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 26 Dec 2008, 19:17

bradavon wrote:Has anyone else noticed Fox seem to be dropping region coding.

Yup, I was quite surprised when I noticed recently, don't know if it applies to all forthcoming releases though.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Dec 2008, 19:24

well the 2 French Connections are region free,as are hills have eyes 1 & 2.