Explain!
OK, here goes.
I used to think that I would have to purchase a special, region free DVD player to play various region DVD's.
In fact, I did purchase a "region free player". I shelled out $70 for a "region free" Toshiba DVD player to play my DVD's from Germany, England, etc.
But, guess what, I wasted $70! Because it turns out that ALL DVD players are built to play ALL regions. That's right. Every DVD player on the planet can play all regions.
You say that can't be true. It is.
But what happens if you drop a region 1 DVD into a region 2 player? It won't recognize it, right? Right.
But why?
Is it that the DVD player is incapable of playing other regions? No. It can play all regions. So why isn't it working?
Here's why. The powers that be wanted to limit pirating of movies and other problems, so each DVD player is placed on a setting where it can only play one region, but it can play all of them!
Yes, every DVD player in your house can play every region if you know what buttons to press on your DVD player. It's kind of like an easter egg in a DVD or video game. It can do it, but the manufacturer won't tell you that.
All you have to do is Google your make and model of DVD player to figure out what code to input on your DVD remote to convert it to a region free player.
You don't have to open the DVD player or do anything mechanical to it, just input the right pattern of buttons on the remote and the player is permanantly converted to a region free player.
It is different for each DVD player, so you'll have to find out what code your DVD player requires to unlock its ability to play all regions.
I Googled and found all of the codes for all of my players, and, voila, I now not only had my original "region free" player, but within ten minutes, all four of the "non-region free" DVD players in my house (different makes and models) were playing region free clear as a bell, no glitches, no problems. Now, I can drop any DVD from anywhere in the world on any of my DVD players and it plays perfectly.
So, whenever you see "region free" players for sale on Amazon, etc., they are shafting you, because all they did was convert that player as I described. So, don't waste your money on a region free player, convert the ones you already own.
This is great for Bond and movie fans, because I buy stuff from Amazon uk, Germany, France, etc. all of the time.
For example, you U.S. citizens, Bonanza has had the first seven seasons released in Germany. The Six Million Dollar Man has the first two seasons. You can get all the Saint black and white episodes from the UK, or buy that special Bond release that comes out in the UK first.
OK Region Free is one thing, and I never had much problem with that.... But what about
NTSC/PAL?? I have a Blu-Ray player (Sony BDP-S350), and I still don't know if there's some way to play my PAL DVD's. Right now, I can play Region 1 and 4, but I can't play an 'All Region' PAL DVD, so I guess it wouldn't help me that much find out what's the code to make my player a region free.
Anybody have some information to help me with this??
Region free as in it plays all regions, that is regions 0 and 1-8. I believe Region 1 is NTSC and Region 2 is PAL. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. So far, every DVD I have from the U.S., England, Germany, Australia, etc. has played on all of my DVD players. I don't know how this relates to Blu-Ray or HD players. I was speaking of converting DVD players only.
