Topic Nobody in the store tells you if it's multi or not, or will just say "no". Well, I'm sure some stores will, but I don't know where any of the small shops here are yet. Name brands please. Last multi-out-of-the-box I had was Apex, and it sucked. This one looks pretty good: http://www.world-import.com/dv-354.htm I assume it's a $99.99 model that's been modified. I only own like 2-3 PAL discs, but it would be nice to have the capacity assuming Europe puts out something good before DVDs are obsolete.
don't limit yourself with Prog DVD Player mate. I have Marantz DV-18MkII factory multi-region mod player that does interlace signal only but it does it really well... I use it with my Plasma screen and the PQ is no different from using Marantz own prog DVD player... I guess it depends on the type display and how good is its internal scaler plus the DVD player. Mine was special ordered unit that the customer never picked up. I now have prog DVD player but I prefer this one over that Phillips one. best thing to do will be auditioning the combo and decide based on the PQ you perceive... cheers
the reason for Phillips DVD recorder was it was the only model at that time with the component input. Recording our Digital FTA into DVD+R looks fav! I recorded 2004 Olympic opening to DVD+R and I didn't get to see it for next two weeks as it was passed around among relatives and friends...
I can't really be any help, but check this page. http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers They have a hacks page too, but it's not working at the moment.
I'm so tired of opening stuff up, I want a hac-free region free unit. I'll give the page a look though, thanks.
most of recent DVD player can be set as multi-zone by using what they call "remote hack". Basically you need to find the code and program it into one of those learning remote thing and use to unlock the feature. Sometime the manufacturer put a slip inside the carton shows you how to turn it on... do google search to find couple of web site. I searched when I get free SONY DVD player to unlock the multi-zone thing before finding out our model is multi-zone out of box already although manual makes no mention of it and the carton's label shows it's for Region 4 only... ??? cheers
Remote Hacks rock, I came across a site which had loads but I didnt succeed in finding it again :-( Basically, what I had to do for my Finlux DVD-212 player (just a cheapo model): 1. Turn it on (duh) 2. Open the tray 3. Press "setup" on the remote 4. Enter 49540 on the remote 5. presto! an extra menu option appears which allows me to set region, turn on VCD/HDCD/WMA support (which wasnt enabled by default) and some other funky stuff
Looking on videohelp.com it seems a lot of newer real brand name (like Pioneer, Sony, Toshiba, etc.) players have region hacks, but a lot seem to be not possible through the standard remotes but only from PDAs, laptops and other PCs with IR transmitters. So there is an actual reason why pretty much every PC haves IR support - so you can hack DVD players! Also, don't listen to dj898 - assuming he's talking about PAL DVDs, PAL telecine (i.e. film converted to PAL video) results in totally progressive video (though of course if you're using a standard interlaced TV it's still gonna have the flickers), so it's gonna be pretty good anyway. NTSC telecine is very screwy, however, as trying to fit 24 frames per second into 60 interlaced fields per second requires some of those frames to be interlaced. With PAL, film just sped up to 25fps to avoid ay problems like this. Makes Lord of the Rings Sixty-Two Hour Ultra Special Edition that bit shorter, too!
mate most of my DVD collections are NTSC/NTSC-J. I do have few PAL as well but they are for missus or my daughter. With PAL prog-scan came out much later than NTSC... not sure why but it wasn't till late last year PAL prog DVD player became much more affordable. Yes living at PAL land one advantage is we can look both PAL/NTSC on our telly without any issue since supporting NTSC has been part of our telly for quite fe years now... still, the sure fire way would be test drive your choice of prog-scan DVD players with your TV and decide yourself... for multi-zone, you will probably have to remote hack your choice of DVD player... it's not that hard/difficult - in fact far easier than updating firmware i'd say... :-D cheers
Oh, I take it you're an anime person then! Should've known - it's the only reason I (and anyone I know) have region 1 players :-D I think prog scan took longer to come to PAL Land was because there's so many different countries using it, so trying to get a worldwide standard must have been a pain in the ass for all concerned. With NTSC, it's pretty much only North America and Japan (and Korea?) that use it, and no one else. Personally, though, the best TV in my house is a piece-o-crap 21" Panasonic we bought like 6 years ago - you know, back when it was still acceptable to buy a family TV set under €600? So I think I'll be waiting a while for progressive scan!
