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Emigrating DVD's? 94

Posted by Cliff from the regionless-DVD-players dept.
RenHoek asks: "I found the love of my life on the internet, and I'm about to emigrate from the Netherlands to the USA. This leaves me with a big problem. My carefully collected DVD's are region 2 (Europe) and the USA is region 1. So except for buying a new DVD player (220 volts in Europe, 110 in the USA) does this also mean I have to sell my entire DVD collection here, and try to buy everything together in the US? It would seem I have a legal right to watch my legally bought DVDs, but region locking prohibits this, and circumventing region locking carries stiff penalties. Emailing the MPAA resulted in deafening silence. So what does the slashdot community advise? Should I follow the new American dream and start suing the moment I enter the US for the fact that the MPAA is either taking away my rights, or forcing me into a DMCA crime?" Thank god there are regionless DVD players! For those who don't know about them, which ones do you recommend and where are the best places to buy them?
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Emigrating DVD's? More

Emigrating DVD's?

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  • DVD on Mac (Score:2, Informative)

    by TomSawyer ( 100674 )
    I've easily found regionless hacked versions of Apple's DVD player software online. While I haven't used one myself, all reports point to the regionless part of the equation working while the playback quality depends on hardware/software version.

    • Re:DVD on Mac (Score:5, Informative)

      by Howie ( 4244 ) <howie@thi[ ].com ['ngy' in gap]> on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @07:11PM (#2776169) Homepage Journal
      For Windows, DVD Genie [inmatrix.com] is the answer for most software solutions, including the popular WinDVD, and PowerDVD, and Remote Selector [visualdomain.net] does the same for the Sigma Designs Hollywood Plus (aka VideoLogic DVD Player), and Creative's DXR2/3 amongst other hardware decoders.

      I've used both with great results playing Region 1 disks on my (theoretically) Region 2 PCs.
      • Lets admit it. Most of your PC is Region 3. Some of it may be made by cheap labor in Region 6, and the sand might come from Region 1 or 5. But region 2? I dunno..
        • "Tee-hee, you misunderstand me for comic effect."

          I never really thought of it that way :) I meant that it is situated in the UK, part of Region 2.

          The drive is a Toshiba drive, which might also be manufactured in Region 2 (Japan), although probably as you say, in 3 and 6.

  • How about a voltage converter (Score:3, Insightful)

    by m_evanchik ( 398143 ) <michel_evanchikATevanchik...net> on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @07:01PM (#2776102) Homepage
    Couldn't you use your old DVD player with a voltage converter? Admittedly, it's a bit of a kludge, since you'll need a new player to play US bought DVDs, but it should tide you over in the meantime. Radio Shack sells plenty of them for less than $40.
    • You could, but then you have to worry about PAL vs. NTSC as well.
      • Well, Radio Shack stocks signal converters too:

        http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5F na me=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F002%5F002%5F012%5F0 00&product%5Fid=930%2D0616

        But it costs $60, which is starting to beg the question of the cost versus the benefit.

        Still, it's a technical possibility in a tight jam.
        • chances are, he has a TV that supports PAL input...

          the PAL issue is more important than the regional encoding issue, since even with a region-less (or region-settable) DVD player, the digitized data on the disk is PAL format video, not NTSC, so he'd have to watch the DVDs he already has on his old TV.

          I have seen PAL-to-NTSC signal converters for sale, but they are not cheap (on the order of $400, iirc).
          • The digital data is PAL? News to me, and my computer (which doesnt use PAL or NTSC). The standalone player may very well output PAL only, or it may autoswitch, but just looking at a few of my region 2 dvd's, no mention of PAL on there at all. If he does use his old dvd player then he'll have problems unless he runs it through a cheap video with ntsc or pal inputs and ntsc output. Sell your dvd and TV here in europe and get a multi regional one in the US - if you cant find one tide yourself over with a DVD rom and set it to region 2.

            • Re: "digital data is PAL?" (Score:2, Informative)

              by brion ( 1316 )
              Technically speaking it's not "PAL", but it is 720x576 at 25 frames per second rather than 720x480 at 29.976 frames per second. Depending on the player, it may or may not be able to output PAL-ish data as NTSC. If not, he can just bring his TV with him or look around for a multi-system set (or just use his computer).
            • i have a DVD that I bought in Barcelona that is definitely encoded in PAL -- and even though it is a "Region 0" DVD, it won't play on my DVD player (a Sony DVP-S500, which was one step down from Sony's top-of-the-line when I bought it). i may have been generalizing too much when I said that the data on the disc was in PAL...it's possible that the data (for a movie, for instance) could be in a neutral format, and the output ciruitry on the DVD player coverts the signal to PAL-*, NTSC, whatever. the disk I have may have failed to play for other reasons...I wish I knew why my DVD player refuses to even recognize it.

            • The digital data is PAL?

              DVD-Video discs contain instructions as to what video formats players may output. If a player doesn't support PAL, it can't play discs that require PAL. (I found this in a manual for a TV-out card.)

    • I don't know if they have any for European Appliance to use US style electricity though. All of the ones that I have seen are for using US Appliances in Europe.
    • A region 2 DVD player is probably also PAL or SECAM instead of NTSC so you'd need such a TV too; also not easy in the US.
  • Can't you just run XINE or something?

  • Wait a sec... (Score:4, Funny)

    by 42forty-two42 ( 532340 ) <bdonlan.gmail@com> on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @07:10PM (#2776160) Homepage Journal
    For those who don't know about them, which ones do you recommend and where are the best places to buy them?

    How would I know, I don't know about them, right?

  • Just buy a new player - but don't sell your old one, leave it at your parent's house, or put it in storage. In two years you'll be back home. :)
  • Well, most likely any attempt at prosecuting you would fail. However IANAL so don't trust me on that one. You should be all right if you keep a low profile, but then again you've posted on slashdot already so that's out of the question. At least you'd have the comfort of knowing that if they did try to book you on DMCA infringement you've have the entire Slashdot Crowd <sup>TM</sup> behind you :)

    Pardon the inline HTML but the slashcode seems to strip the <sup> tag.

    --MonMotha

    • Re:Penalties (Score:3, Funny)

      by Howie ( 4244 )
      you've have the entire Slashdot Crowd behind you

      That, or it'll be the far more serious charge of conspiracy to deprive Walt Disney's frozen head of his rightful cash cow.
  • If you can convince the other person to move to the Netherlands instead of yourself moving to the USA, then this is a nonissue, with the added benefit that you don't have to worry about the DMCA, UCITA, SSSCA, or ATA (or illegality of DeCSS either).

  • Not region-free... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Howie ( 4244 ) <howie@thi[ ].com ['ngy' in gap]> on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @07:18PM (#2776193) Homepage Journal
    Be wary of getting a 'region-free' DVD player, as opposed to a region-switchable one. I seem to recall that some recent discs have a slightly different region-check that doesn't like region-free players, but is fine if you have a player that can be set to the correct region.

    Wish I could remember what it was called, but I think Gladiator and some versions of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon were the two movies mentioned at the time.

    That said, I have a region-free DVD player (Wharfdale DVD-750) and I've yet to come across a problem disc (apart from some VideoCDs, but that's another story).

  • Buy a Playstation 2 (Score:3, Informative)

    by iforgotmyfirstlogon ( 468382 ) on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @07:21PM (#2776207) Homepage
    There's several hacks available to make it play DVD's from anywhere. There's one built into the hardware of some of them as illustrated here, [megagames.com] or you can buy a disc to do it like this. [modchip.com]

    - Freed

  • Rights? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Otter ( 3800 ) on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @07:26PM (#2776222) Journal
    It would seem I have a legal right to watch my legally bought DVDs, but region locking prohibits this, and circumventing region locking carries stiff penalties.

    I don't know about Dutch law, but in the US I don't see any reason why you have a legal right to watch DVDs in a different region. In general, there seems to be a lot of confusion about what "fair use" entails -- it frees you from liability if you do certain things that might otherwise constitute infringement, but it doesn't create any responsibility for the copyright holder to enable you to do anything.

    Should I follow the new American dream and start suing the moment I enter the US for the fact that the MPAA is either taking away my rights, or forcing me into a DMCA crime?

    RenHoek, I think you'll fit in well in our country! Hopefully, someone will have a legal solution for you. If not, if I were in your position, I'd use a mod or whatever illegal circumvention you had in mind, on the principle that it's a violation of the letter but not the spirit of the law in this case. Despite the hysterical, paranoid ravings you read here, you won't be facing any "severe penalties" if you're a user, not a mod reseller or a large-scale pirate.

    Besides, now that you're in a relationship, you won't be watching your beloved collection much anyway. Brace yourself for a lot of Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts and *gag* Hugh Grant.

    • Re:Rights? (Score:2, Insightful)

      by danielrose ( 460523 )
      I don't know about Dutch law, but in the US I don't see any reason why you have a legal right to watch DVDs in a different region.
      Your ability to watch DVD's which you have purchased, wherever you choose, constitutes fair use.

      • Re:Rights? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Otter ( 3800 )
        Did you read to the next sentence? I explicitly mentioned fair use.

        Like I said, fair use potentially means that he can engage in activities that would be otherwise illegal. It does not mean what I understood him to be saying -- that he is entitled to be provided with a way to watch his old DVDs on a North American system.

      • Your ability to watch DVD's which you have purchased, wherever you choose, constitutes fair use.

        Under United States copyright law (which does not apply outside the United States), fair use is a defense to copyright infringement. It is not a defense to access control circumvention. Access control circumvention is a separate offense, completely orthogonal (i.e. perpendicular, or separate) to copyright infringement.

        And yes, the consumers approve of this. They show their approval by continuing to purchase DVD players and discs.

  • NTSC issues to consider??? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by PD ( 9577 )
    If you bring your DVD player from Holland, you'll also need to bring your TV set. Presumably the DVD would emit a PAL compatible signal, right? Or does that S-video thingy get around that problem..?
    • Well, I've got a region-free DVD-player (a Samsung DVD-909 or something, for those who want to know) connected to a PAL TV. I buy most my DVDs from the US (region 1) because of a lower price, larger selection, better extras and earlier release date. I don't experience any problems when playing off these NTSC-DVDs, so I guess the player has some sort of built in conversion-system. I think most, if not all, players have this conversion - none of my friends have this problem either, with other DVD-players.
      • I don't experience any problems when playing off these NTSC-DVDs, so I guess the player has some sort of built in conversion-system.

        My understanding is (and someone correct me if I'm wrong) but the actual image data on a DVD is system independent. Nothing is encoded on the DVD as NTSC or PAL or SECAM. Its the player itself that takes the MPEG stream and converts it to the appropriate signal, thus the reason for region encoding in the first place. Back with VCRs the movie studios had market seperation because the "data" on a tape is tied to the system its recorded in. This all goes away with DVDs (and is IMO one of its strengths) but, of course, removed the barriers between each of the TV systems. Region encoding is a way of artifically keeping those barriers up.

        I feel the orig poster's pain. I'm heading back from the UK tomorrow and I've purchased a few Region 2 DVDs that you cannot get in Region 1 versions (Billy Conelly vids). The new iBook's DVD-ROM drive gets a firmware update when I get home to make it region free.
        • You are wrong.

          Most DVD players are NTSC/PAL/SECAM agnostic- If the region coding allows the disk to be played, the player dumps the signal out to your TV using whatever format it is encoded in.

          IOW, if you have a 'no region' DVD disk with PAL content, it still won't play on the average North American NTSC television.

          Playing a DVD under MS-Windows to a VGA monitor ignores the encoding, and some DVD decoder cards for PC's (e.g. DXR2 or Hollywood+/DXR3) will convert the signal between PAL and NTSC before output to your TV.

          http://www.techtronics.com/uk/shop/87-00-video-sta ndards-ntsc-pal.html [techtronics.com]

          • You wrote: Most DVD players are NTSC/PAL/SECAM agnostic-

            Isn't that pretty much what I said?

            Nothing is encoded on the DVD as NTSC or PAL or SECAM.
            • FatRatBastard writes:
              You wrote:
              Most DVD players are NTSC/PAL/SECAM agnostic-
              Isn't that pretty much what I said?

              Yes and no. The DVD player just takes the signal on the disk and dumps it out to your TV, projector, etc. Generally the player doesn't care if the signal on the disk is PAL, SECAM, or NTSC.

              Nothing is encoded on the DVD as NTSC or PAL or SECAM.
              Wrong. My research and experience confirms that the disk itself is encoded as NTSC, PAL, etc.

              That is to say, I live in the USA, and I personally have a copy of ' South Park: vol 4 [amazon.co.uk] ', as released in Region 2. This disk is clearly labeled as 'PAL'.

              I can play this disk in a 'region free' Apex player on my NTSC television, and it works fine because the Apex internally does the conversion from PAL to NTSC.

              A friend of mine has another brand of 'region free' DVD player, and while the player plays the disk, his TV displays a severely distorted picture.

              In other words:
              DISKS CONTAIN PAL CONTENT, OR NTSC CONTENT, OR BOTH. A PAL DISK WILL NOT DISPLAY CORRECTLY ON A NTSC-ONLY AMERICAN TELEVISION SET.

              I know this both from references and from personal experience. If you claim otherwise, prove me wrong.

              • Hmmm.. checked your links and stand corrected. But it does bring up some issues though:

                Why have region encoding at all? If having different encoding systems was good enough to keep markets seperated with video tapes, then why not do the same thing with DVDs. Since the DVD consortium (sp) has the right to dictate what goes in a licencee's machine (and therefor give them the right to display the DVD logo) why not just mandate "DVD players sold in PAL countries can only show PAL DVDs, DVD players in NTSC countries can only show NTSC DVDs, etc." Granted, there will be those manufacturers who tell 'em to "get bent" and do it anyway, but they're the same manufacturers who are telling them to "get bent" by making region free VCRs.

                Also, the FAQ mentioned that most NTSC DVD players don't have PAL converters, but all of mine have played region 2 PAL DVDs with no problem. Granted, a few DVD players does not a sample set make, but I've yet to find any problems.
                • FatRatBastard writes:
                  Why have region encoding at all? If having different encoding systems was good enough to keep markets seperated with video tapes, then why not do the same thing with DVDs.
                  Interesting point.

                  Part of it might be lack of granuality- there are just three competing video formats in the world, but more than three regions:

                  • Region 1 :USA & Canada
                  • Region 2 :Europe & Japan
                  • Region 3 :The Orient (exc Japan)
                  • Region 4 :Australia and New Zealand
                  • Region 5 :Asia and Africa
                  • Region 6 :China

                  Another issue is that DVD are different in that they usually offer both the original soundtrack and a local dub, where most tapes were only available with the local-language soundtrack. For example, many of my US DVDs have a Japanese or French soundtrack also). Both Japan and the USA use NTSC, but they are in different regions, and Japanese releases of US movies are delayed by six months.

              • Oh, also forgot:

                DISKS CONTAIN PAL CONTENT, OR NTSC CONTENT, OR BOTH. A PAL DISK WILL NOT DISPLAY CORRECTLY ON A NTSC-ONLY AMERICAN TELEVISION SET.

                Is there any way of checking what's on a DVD disc (in term of encoding)? I have some region 2 DVDs that I would think would be PAL only (frightfully british content, never sold here) that plays fine on my region 1 DVD/NTSC only TV.

  • Apex AD-600A (Score:2, Informative)

    by arnex ( 238036 )
    If you're lucky enough to find one of the original run [ebay.com] of this Apex player, you can disable region coding altogether [nerd-out.com]. Mine plays every R1 and R2 disc I've tossed into it.

    My understanding is that having a region-free player is only half the battle... an R2 disc in PAL format won't play back on a region-free NTSC machine, but this Apex automatically senses and converts between the two formats. My one R2 PAL disc (Citizen Kane) plays fine on my NTSC television (and I would assume the reverse holds true as well) so you wouldn't have to jettison your current collection.

    Quality-wise, the machine looks a little cheesy, but the picture is great, it has component video and DTS/SPDIF audio out, and all the features you could want. Best of all, it uses a standard IDE DVD-ROM drive, so all the moving parts that are likely to go bad can be replaced on the cheap [pricewatch.com].

    You can also turn off Macrovision via the secret menu, but I've yet to feel the urge to make a VHS copy of any of my DVDs.
    • While the first AD-600A's were nice, the firmware in that particular player is very buggy. Its not really worth your time or effort to go looking for one of these, as they have a tough time with seamless branching, the mp3 playback is buggy and often have lipsync problems. However, if you do happen to buy an Apex player, there is a great scene for it. My favorite site is http://www.dvd-wizards.com/darrenk. He has all of the great firmwares. My current favorite player is the MD-1500, because its firmware is upgradeable via cdrom, and it uses an N6 like firmware that is region free, but also defeats RCE encoding. Also, it this unit does not suffer from the lip sync of seamless branching issues, and has 26 character names on the mp3 files when played. If you do happen to get a 600, its pretty easy and painless to upgrade, usually just by changing out the EPROM. You can go to N6 on most models of GK600b; either way, its better than the A-12 (I think) firmware. Also, they are of course able to switch between NTSC and PAL, and also have Macrovision disabled. Anyway, while it doesn't have the cool geekiness factor of a secret menu, the new hacked firmwares work a whole lot better. They do everything the menu players did, but work even better. I hope this helps you out.
  • I would either just get a voltage converter for your DVD player, or find one of those nice Chinese Apex DVD players that lets your turn off region coding. Or just get something similar for your computer.

    As for having rights to the movies, I think the MPAA has stated that you are only purchaseing the rights to view them under certain regions, so their stance is gonna be to just buy them all again. But then again in my opinion the MPAA sucks the large one.

  • Check out this site... (Score:3, Flamebait)

    by Polo ( 30659 ) on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @09:16PM (#2776663) Homepage
    The site vcdhelp.com [vcdhelp.com] is a good site that lists just about every dvd player with it's ability to play stuff from different regions. Just about every player has a "region hack" that allows a different region to be selected.

  • It's a stupid law. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Wakko Warner ( 324 )
    Break it. Buy a chipped player.

    - A.P.
  • You won't be needing all that pr0n once the two of you live on the same continent, will you?
  • For those who don't know about them, which ones do you recommend and where are the best places to buy them?

    Because everyone knows that people who don't know about them have the best opinions, as they are not prejudiced by "experience" or "knowledge"...

  • my solution (Score:3, Informative)

    by jbridge21 ( 90597 ) <jeffrey+slashdot ... g ['reh' in gap]> on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @09:55PM (#2776818) Journal
    Get a computer DVD drive made before Jan 1, 2000. You'll have to get it used, of course, but I got mine from a Dell Optiplex PII-450. The key thing here is that it must be RPC-1.

    Then, install Linux on the computer with the drive, and use XINE or XMPS or any other fine DVD playing software, none of which care about region codes. Just plug and play! You can even get a video card with TV out and watch it on your normal movie viewing device.

  • DVD players... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by shub ( 88921 ) on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @09:59PM (#2776831) Homepage
    I am an American citizen, living in Belgium. I brought over with me the Pioneer DVD/LD player I had bought a long time ago, and I can continue to play DVDs that are bought for my by friends & family living in the US.

    However, I also recently bought a local DVD player because of all the local DVDs I've wanted to buy or rent, but couldn't see because they were not only region-2 encoded, but because they are in PAL format and my DVD/LP player is NTSC-only.

    My advice would be to do the same in reverse for your situation -- buy a DVD player in the Netherlands or the UK that can either accept a region mod or is already region switchable. Make sure that it can output both NTSC and PAL format, because TVs in the US are NTSC-only. If you can't get a European DVD player that can output both NTSC and PAL, then you'll need to get a European TV that can handle both NTSC and PAL input that you take with you (with any luck, your existing TV will be able to handle both NTSC and PAL input).

    Just keep in mind that you'll probably need a 240VAC@50Hz/120VAC@60Hz voltage/frequency converter to handle any European video equipment that you bring over with you. Make sure you get a high-quality model, not one that does only the voltage side and skips the the frequency conversion part, because that will be likely to fry your sensitive eletronic equipment. I've found good ones over here in Belgium (they tend to work both ways), but they are hard to find and expensive.

  • Ah, my favorite christmas present... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by boopus ( 100890 ) on Wednesday January 02, 2002 @09:59PM (#2776834) Journal
    I got a DVD player for christmas, and of course picked one that made changing the regions very easy. So far, I highly recomend the Daewoo 9000n. Dolby 5.1 decoding on board, progressive scan composite out, digital audio out, and user upgradable firmware. The one thing I havn't tested is PAL on NTSC, and havn't heard any reports for or against. For $150 on amazon, it's the best deal around as far as I'm concerned. Once you get over the legal issues involved, head ove to http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/ for all the information on picking out a DVD player and how to upgrade it.

  • Try These Sites (Score:2, Interesting)

    by pbryant ( 65660 )
    Visit 220giftcenter [220giftcenter.com] for code-free dvd players. Grab a transformer [220giftcenter.com] and you can even bring over your old player. You'd be mad to bring a TV to the states, they're huge! Get a TV that supports PAL (so you can play it with your old DVDs/Player) as well as NTSC (for your new DVDs/Player). Try here [dvdoverseas.com] I have a similar dilemma. But mine is what to do with my NTSC/US region DVDs when I go back to New Zealand!
  • My recommendation would be to ship your entire AV entertainment collection over lock, stock and barrel and get a really decent step-up transformer. This page might help. [dvdoverseas.com]. Otherwise, you might be able to get the power supply in your DVD player exchanged for a 110V version and get a TV that supports NTSC and PAL. I assume that there isn't a little switch on the back of your DVD player that lets you choose between 110V and 240V?

    Of course, you could just sell your DVD collection and not replace it. I bet you haven't watched most of your titles for quite a while -- many probably haven't been in the deck more than once.

    It's too late for my preferred solution -- don't get tangled up in DVD crap at all. Temped as I have been, I still don't have a DVD player (despite being given two DVDs as a gift about a year ago). I might finally cave in and get a PS2 when Wipout Fusion finally makes it to Australian shores.

    • Uh, dude, I've been playing Wipeout Fusion on my PS2 since I grabbed it in a local shop a week or so before christmas...
      Run, don't walk, to get yourself a PlayStation 2, Wipeout and, if you can find one, an old, obsolete neGcon controller...
      -- kai
  • I'm in Australia - can anyone give me their opinion on what is the best DVD player to get for under $1000 AUD ?

  • Malata is king! (Score:3, Informative)

    by illogic ( 52099 ) on Thursday January 03, 2002 @02:06AM (#2777545)
    As far as I can tell, Malata [malata.com.cn] is the king of codefree DVD players. The N996 [avdeals.com] is completely region-free, is progressive scan, has a built-in PAL-NTSC converter (and vice-versa), built in Dolby Digital decoder, and is tweakable beyond belief. On the other hand, I recently bought a Philips 712 that is remotely hackable [reviewer.co.uk] (like the legendary Apex) for $179, and am quite happy with it. Check out www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk [reviewer.co.uk] for lots of good info.
  • If you are moving to the US permanently, in the long run you'll probably want to just replace your PAL disks with NTSC versions.

    Because the USA is a cultural behemoth, Europe has an ample supply of players and televisions with the ability to decode and display NTSC disks with reasonable accuracy.

    In the USA, there are very few means to play your PAL-encoded disks without distorted colors and other artifacts. The converter devices and the few PAL capable TVs sold for US use are both found in only two grades: cheaply made models with poor quality, or very expensive.

    The best solution might be to check availability of American (NTSC/Region 1versions) of movies at good prices in the USA, and sell off the easily replaceble disks before you leave the Netherlands.

  • APEX (Score:4, Informative)

    by yolto ( 178256 ) on Thursday January 03, 2002 @07:58AM (#2778212) Homepage
    I recently found the need for a region free player (mostly to import stuff from Europe/Japan). I wanted something cheap that would play a variety of formats. Did a little research, and came across the APEX AD-1500. APEX players have a long history of being region-hackable, but many of the older units are difficult to find. I purchased an AD-1500 from Circuit City (you can also get it at Amazon.com), then applied the hack I found here [dvd-wizards.com]

    It's now region free, and the hack had the added the benefit of removing macrovision. Not bad.

    The player plays pretty much anything (DVD, VCD, SVCD, MP3, CDR/RW), and also does NTSC/PAL conversion. Not bad for a unit I picked up for $80 US.

    • I got an Apex AD-1000 for Christmas. It's basically the same thing as the AD-1500, but without the built-in display. I've read that you can use the same hack on it as the AD-1500, but I haven't tried it myself.
  • A couple of posters have suggested bringing a PAL TV with you. That seems just plain silly.

    Fry's (and I'm sure other places, too) sells a NTSCPALSECAM converter that was reasonably priced. Little thing about the size of an analog cable box.

    On the other hand, Toshiba, Princeton and I'm sure others make (or made) 27 and 32 inch "TV's" that were really multi-scan monitors. I remember the Gateway "destination" home entertainment PC came with one (Princeton) and Toshiba sells (or sold) a line called TIM that was very similar. I'm sure a 50hz PAL signal would be well within the limits of one of these (plus having a VGA input is always nice... Get an HDTV decoder with VGA out and go to town....)
  • This isn't really what your looking for, but I just bought both an LG DVD-4210 and a Cyberhome 528 DVD Player here in the UK, and have easily found multi-region hacks for both of them.
    My best advice is to pick out a DVD player that you like, then look on the net for info. (starting with Google, of course :-) A lot of new players have hidden menus in the firmware, only acsesible (sp?) using secret codes.... of course, these are widely available on the net.
    Just look around, it's easily done, fairly sure the american DVD players can't be too different from the UK ones in this regard.
    Happy Hunting
  • 220v comes into the house on 2 each 110v lines. For 110v circuits, you use the voltage between a hot and neutral. For 220v, it's the voltage between 2 hot. That's how electric ranges and all of the other heavy equipment in our houses are wired. The trick would be to change the circuit in your "entertainment room" to 220v at the breaker panel, and then change the outlets in the room to the appropriate 220v receptacles. Snip the cord ends off the European electronic equipment and replace them with American pattern. Double Pole Breaker: $10 220v outlets (3): $15 220v plugs (3):$15 Beer for an friend to do the wiring:$20 (heineken, right?) Not having a cheap xfmr/power converter set your residence and equipment on fire: Priceless Next question - is Netherland 60Hz or 50Hz, and does it patter to DVD and TV set power supplies?
  • Intervideo's Win2000 software decoder works fine without having to hack anything. I can play any region DVD without having to change the region. Matrix DVD bought here in the US - works fine. Mylene Farmer DVD (region2) from Paris - works fine. The regular dvd on my tele doesn't though.
  • DVD City sells them. Here's one by Daewoo. [dvdcity.com] More expensive than a plain old region one, but it works with NTSC and PAL, or so they say.
  • What's wrong with buying a voltage converter and continuing to use your DVD player here? Of course, there's still PAL vs. NTSC issues to contend with, but if you're bringing your DVD player I'm assuming you're bringing a TV as well. That won't help if you're planning on buying new region-1 DVD's, though.

    With DVD players being as cheap as they are these days, it almost doesn't hurt to have two of them. With a PAL to NTSC converter you could buy a new TV and new DVD player, but keep your old DVD player handy. This would only make sense if your collection is very large, however.

    Region free players aren't always the best thing. For one thing, they officially shouldn't exist, so getting support for them is difficult if you have problems. However, when they do work, they work very well.

    This is a concrete example of why region coding is a stupid, stupid idea. You legally have the right to view your DVD's no matter where on earth you wish to watch them. I wish there was other info I could give you, but short having 2 DVD players or getting a region free one, I don't have any other solutions for you.

  • Japan is in Region 2 and all of Western Japan has 110-Volt power. Japan also uses NTSC, just like the US. Depending on the TV you use your DVD Player with, you might need one. TVs with SCART ports are expensive here.

    My suggestion: Look for a Japanese DVD Player.

    NB: BTW Americans do not sue for everything. Our legal system prefers to handle things in court that Europeans like to handle by making new laws. It has to do with a philosophical preference for not restricting everyone's rights because of the actions of a minority.

    Try to make some friends while you're here.

  • If you think about it, the MPAA operates in a very similar manner to a drug cartel when it comes to "protecting their rights" on DVD.

    Let's compare them: Drug cartel is a large continental or worldwide organization distributing its product through individual agents. Those agents pay for the right to distribute the product by giving the next guy up the ladder a "cut". They enforce the exclusivity of their business agressively, immediately nuetralizing serious emerging competition. Since you can't profit from product siezed by the government, they corrupt governments by giving large bribes to border guards, police, and whoever to get their product to market at maximum profit potential.

    DVD cartel has a complex, worldwide distribution network with many agents, each paying "taxes" back to the cartel. In this case, the "tax" is in the form of the licensing fee paid for the right to decode DVDs. In exchange, the cartel aggressively "protects" their local distribution business by region coding DVDs, and paying off the lawmakers to make breaking the "region coding" system a felony offense. End result: consumer pays more for content than would otherwise be the case, especially if they do the unthinkable and move from on distribution area to another.

    Drug cartel does it with guns and violence, MPAA does it with lawyers. End result: They maintain a stranglehold on the "content" or "product" they sell, and corrupt the governments of the countries they operate in. Is there really a big difference between one and the other?
  • Some RPC-2 drives can be converted into RPC-1 ones by changing their firmware -- for example, BDV212B, that I have seen being sold for $59. And free software players -- say, Ogle that I use now, don't care about those things.

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