I’m looking for a good but affordable DVD player that will play both NTSC and PAL DVDs properly.
Can those of you who have such a player let me (and others who are interested) know what you have and if it works properly and if you would recommend buying one.
I’ve read that several of these players aren’t as good or reliable as one would want.
THANKS!
I think all the well known brands are good quality, Yamaha, Pioneer, Sony etc. They all have multi-region players. They don’t cost that much nowadays either. dvd-recorders are more expensive but the cost for them is also getting lower.
Yeah I need to get me a Multi-Region DVD Player to, at the moment Im using my xbox to play DVDs
I’ve got a ten year old TV that doesn’t even have digital inputs. Cost about 100 USD new. No way I would consider spending 700 USD on a DVD player, even if I had that much money (which I don’t).
I was hoping I could get a decent one for $100 or so.
The problem is not only do NTSC and PAL have a different number of lines on the screen, but a different frame rate. I’ve read a lot of the inexpensive multiregion players either don’t work or create a lot of “motion blur.”
I’d love to get all those Koch DVDs. Thanks for the Amazon links. Maybe someone who has one of those players can make a recommendation to me and user “me”.
You could also search the internet for reviews of dvd-players.
But a good one for around 100 dollars I think you will be able to find.
To play both NTSC and PAL discs properly you might also want to consider the option of investing into a HTPC.
And if you have TV-out in your computer, the cheapest way is just to buy a certain cable between your TV and computer and use the computer’s DVD-player. That’s how I’ve done it and there has been nothing to complain about. The de-interlacing and all the aspect ratio stuff can be done by software filters which work perfectly assuming you have enough cpu power.
I’ve 2 multi-region players. One cost €50, the other €65. Cheap and nasty, but between them they play everything I can throw at them. One thing to be aware of: there is a difference between multi-region and region free. Some mult-region players don’t play all regions, while region free will play everything. I buy mine from amazon. Checking out the buyer comments will give you a good idea what’s to be avoided.
Thanks to everyone for the links and advice.
Most DVD players are capable of being made multi-region with a hack. Just type into google - dvd manufacturer, model number, and the words multi-region hack - (eg. philips dvp3020 multi-region hack) and you should be directed to the information. In order to watch both PAL and NTSC discs you must have a compatible TV. If you haven’t the picture may appear in black and white or not be viewable at all, but most UK tvs these days seem to play NTSC discs ok, so I presume US tvs will play PAL.
Most DVD players can be “cracked” but still you need to worry about the NTSC/PAL conversion issue.
I watch all my non-NTSC and non-region 0/1 discs on my computer.
Computers are able to display NTSC & PAL correctly unlike TV sets in America.
By default, DVD-Rom drives will “lock up” after you change the region code 4-5 times, however, to override this you can simply download a region-free patch for like 700kb. That’s less then a megabyte folks!
Cracking a DVD-Rom drive in a Mac is way more complicated compared to a IBM compatable PC.
Where are you Mortimer ???
We haven’t heard from you in months!!
Yeah did you ever get the dvd player?
Once you’ve found your multi region DVD player hack and implemented it (pressed a sequence of buttons on the remote to access a hidden menu) and have a PAL & NTSC compatible TV (MULTI), remember to set your DVD player’s Video Set-up TV Type to MULTI. I don’t leave my DVD player on standby when not using it so this setting reverts back to PAL after being switched off. If I forget to change it back to MULTI and play a NTSC disc the picture is noticeably jerky. I’ve found the above method to work perfectly on a variety of machines. If you’ve a DVD player that is unable to play PAL/NTSC discs give it a try. Also I’ve heard that SONY DVD players cannot be hacked, so be sure and check that the machine will play both the format and region of discs you have in your collection, if you are considering purchasing one.
Phillips DVP642 is cheap and is great (even though my first one didn’t work properly). You can find it at Wal-Mart and a lot of other stores. Very popular model. I paid $60 Canadian for it, shipped and including taxes.
I decided to give in and purchase another player. I had owned a previous region-free player in the past which was abouslty terrible and cheap made.
This time around i purchased a pretty bad ass platform.
http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/pioneer46.html
$375
^^ This is one of the best region-free players available the moment.
Congratulations, a birthday present to yourself 
Wow thats beautiful
Whats some good dvd players you can hack into?
I picked up a portable DVD player for work which arrived two days ago and wow, its simply amazing. Philips PET1002, which offers a 10.2" screen. Normally portable players have around a 7" screen, however, I wanted something with a wide angle and much larger viewing display specifically for subtitle reading. Before taking the plunge and purchase this expensive bad boy - $270+(including shipping) - I picked up a Philips model from Wal-Mart which totally sucked for the price. I returned it the very day I bought it.
I looked online at videohelp.com and it’s totally hackable. I already switched region code to zero and tested it out by watching a PAL region 2 disc. It played flawless. I assume portable DVD players have the ability to convert to PAL/Mult/NTSC. At least the portable DVD player I have allows the switch. Very neat considering I own PAL DVDS along with NTSC DVDS.
According to cnet.com, this player is listed as the number 1 portable DVD player on the market currently given a ranking at 8.2 (not that high actually). Ironically customer reviews only tally to around 6.2 Odd eh? Cnet - 8, customers - 6. Owners of the player are scoring the player a bit low due to poor audio or at least thats the common complaint I read from multiple ppl.
This Is Where I Get All My Code-Free Players From:
www.220-electronics.com.
They Have A Huge Selection Of Players & Their Service Is Excellent.
I Have A Toshiba(Similar To The SD4990)& I’m Upconverting To 1080i.
By Using This Mode You Get Near HD Quality Out Of Your SD Dvds,But Your T.V.
Must Also Have A 1080i Mode & You Have To Use A HDMI Cable To Get These Results.