multi region dvd players

[lily1]

can anyone recommend a quality multi region dvd player, preferably with a dvd recorder, though just the player is fine. but a multi region is key. thanks.

[ratioci nation]

http://forums.dvdfile.com/interactive/forum/showthread.php?t=29988&highlight=multi+region

[lily1]

thankie. looks like this norcent thing is the way to go. i'm not going to be using it a lot, once a week at most.

[ggw]

What does "multi-region" mean?

[vansmack]

Another DMCA fault.  I hate that law so fookin much.
 
 Using a multi-region DVD player is against the law.
 
 That's why I own one, but never use it.

[lily1]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  What does "multi-region" mean?

nstc and pal format. ie, i can watch us dvd's and dvd's bought in europe.

[ggw]

Originally posted by lily1:
   

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  What does "multi-region" mean?

nstc and pal format. ie, i can watch us dvd's and dvd's bought in europe. [/b]

There's a difference?

[lily1]

yes indeedy. say you bought season 1 of the office in london. you would be able to watch it a the ggw family mansion in america because it was formatted for a different region. but if you bought matrix reloaded at best buy, you could watch it.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by lily1:
   

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  What does "multi-region" mean?

nstc and pal format. ie, i can watch us dvd's and dvd's bought in europe. [/b]

It's a little more than that, but that is the essential difference:
 
 Region 0 - plays in all regions
 Region 1 - U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
 Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
 Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
 Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
 Region 5 - 5: Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
 Region 6 - Peoples Republic of China
 Region 7 - Reserved
 Region 8 - Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)

[lily1]

wow, never knew there were that many region designations. region 1 and 2 is all that is really needed so i can finally order the cold feet series on dvd since i can't find a vendor in the us or canada for it. so its amazon in the uk.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
   

Originally posted by lily1:
   

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  What does "multi-region" mean?

nstc and pal format. ie, i can watch us dvd's and dvd's bought in europe. [/b]

There's a difference? [/b]

The main difference is the way the colors are encoded in Digital boradcasts over PAL and NTSC.  
 
 Lily is looking for a NTSC decoder that has PAL output.
 
 They're illegal in the US because of licensing rights for selling DVDs.  DVDs are cheaper in other countries because of licensing costs and in order to get US consumers to pay US prices, the DMCA makes it illegal to play NTSC and other regions on US DVD players.

[lily1]

so smackie, can you hook me up with some suggestions?

[markie]

there are two issues here......
 
 pal vs ntsc
 
 and regional encoding.
 
 Pal and ntsc have different amount of lines, American TV is lower resolution that that in the UK, lower number of lines.
 
 Regional encoding in encryption to prevent films out on DVD in the us being watched in the UK, where perhaps they are not even out in the cinema. For example.

[vansmack]

Originally posted by lily1:
  so smackie, can you hook me up with some suggestions?

I used to use my laptop.  With the installed DVD playing software (I think it was WINDVD by intervideo), I could change the region 5 times, then it would set the default to be the first region I selected.  A simple uninstall and re-install of the software would fix that limitation.
 
 Then I bought a software program that played all regions and that worked fine, but my laptop didn't have a video out, so I brought a DVD player back from Europe (picked it up in Hungary) that had played PAL and NTSC but had NTSC playback (I think I might have mixed those up in a previous post - PAL is Europe and AUS, NTSC is the rest of the world).
 
 I've never picked one up in America, but you're essentially buying an imported model.  My friend picked up a Norcent model in Canada like ratioci's post recommended.  It was the Norcent 215 model and he has no problems with it.  He says you can get them for about $90 in the states.  Apparently they have an office in So Cal where he lives.
 
 Check them out http://www.norcent.net/ or call them and ask them.

[lily1]

bugger, figures that model would be out of stock. only $130 too. i'm assuming that's a good price?