software mumbo jumbo

[topsy99]

i have some region 1 movies but my two dvd players (stand alone not computer) are region 4.
a lot of software on the web claims to be able to make region 1 into region free disks or you can set the target region to whatever you like.


after trying about 20 different types of software i have found no software that will do the above on my dvd players Panasonic dmr-ex75 and dv nc100 (sharp).

i have solve the problem by buying a $47 dvd player at woolworths that will play anything that is put into it.

why is there such torment out there with this type of thing.
the software makers wont answer my inquiries why does a penny dreadful machine play stuff that a $1000 machine wont. why arenet the purchasers advised of the limitations on their purchases when buying them.

there is no law against a region free machine.
maybe there should be and that would prevent a lot of pain.

[Gary D]

Do your DVD players have the NTSC/PAL option?

Just switch from PAL to NTSC. Otherwise the DVD format will have to be converted from NTSC to PAL.

[paglamon]

Do your DVD players have the NTSC/PAL option?

Just switch from PAL to NTSC. Otherwise the DVD format will have to be converted from NTSC to PAL.

Sorry Gary D. I have to differ with your opinion/advice. Region free hack has got nothing to do with PAL/NTSC. What topsy needs is a hack to make the player region-free.

@topsy99
Check here:http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214212

[atifsh]

Panasonic EX75 uses a special service remote to make it region free.

for sharp try this...
Power the player On and Open the tray
Using the remote press 3, 3, 0, 8, 8 and 0
Close the tray and power the player Off

This is the region free hack for a different Sharp DVD player

[topsy99]

i guess what i was trying to suggest is that instead of driving ourselves crazy looking for hacks and conversion programs and wasting days and days of time and dvd disks it is easier to go out and buy a cheap dvd player that will play everything without any region restrictions.

[admin]

Luckily here in Australia, even many of the brand name players are region-free because our consumer watchdog ruled that enforcing region control was anti-competitive. And once one major company started selling region-free players, every other company started to do so due to competition.

The US seem to take region control much too seriously, with the big companies afraid the MPAA will go after them if they drop region protection like the smaller companies. The ironic thing is that region protection is useless in the US because it already has the best and cheapest movies available at the quickest time ... the only reason someone in the US would want to watch movies in other regions is not due to cost savings, but due to movies being unavailable, which costs studios nothing and actually make them more money globally.

I can understand Australia having region control because some movies that are on DVD in the US haven't even reached cinemas here yet. And in the UK, where movie prices are expensive compared to the US.

[topsy99]

whether australia should have region protection or not is beside the point.
the fact is that many software makers offer programs that imply that they can remove the protection when actually they do not.

you can buy dvd machines off the shelf for as little as $47 that play all regions
whereas the big name brands are region protected.

one in particular that works on all divd's is jvc which is big brand.

the selling agent should advise the consumer that the product they are buying is region protected.

e.g. i bought the f troop series off ebay which is region 1
it used to play on my sharp 60meg hard drive but when that broke i bought a panasonic dmr ex-75 which wont play the f troop disks.
i can play these on my computer though.

[atifsh]

same here we get all brands region free.

[admin]

I think in the US, unless it specifically says "region free", you have to assume it isn't. As for software to unlock movies, there are some that work on computers by unlocking the DVD-ROM drive, or some that allows you to make a copy of the movie that is region-free (very troublesome, IMO).

The standalone players that can be unlocked usually have a remote code built in by the manufacturer, or was hacked/modified with extra hardware to get rid of region coding.

If there are software that claim to be able to unlock standalone players, then that sounds a bit like a scam to me (they probably end up selling you a free DVD copy software or something).

I have to blame the MPAA and the US DMCA legislation for forcing region locked players to exist when most other countries around the world have given up on region protection (and many studios too like Universal, Warner, Paramount, who are now releasing Blu-ray movies region-free).

[Budreaux]

whether australia should have region protection or not is beside the point.
the fact is that many software makers offer programs that imply that they can remove the protection when actually they do not.

you can buy dvd machines off the shelf for as little as $47 that play all regions
whereas the big name brands are region protected.

one in particular that works on all divd's is jvc which is big brand.

the selling agent should advise the consumer that the product they are buying is region protected.

e.g. i bought the f troop series off ebay which is region 1
it used to play on my sharp 60meg hard drive but when that broke i bought a panasonic dmr ex-75 which wont play the f troop disks.
i can play these on my computer though.

I disagree actually. You seem to be posting based on anger. The anger seems to stem from your lack of success using software or other means to hack your machine. Now, I'm a long time hacker/reverse engineering on several platforms, of which I will not discuss. But, the ability to resolve your particular issue is rather remedial when it comes to hacking. You just have gotten frustrated because you have yet to find the simple solution. Though it may be right under your nose already. Lastly, these devices usually have a maintenance code that allows field technicians to perform various levels of resetting/testing, which can be done by yourself, once you get your hands on the information. The U.S. companies are covering their own rearends, but still legally giving us a backdoor to correct these issues ourselves.

[topsy99]

Irritation rather than anger but whatever.

My gripe is that if software is intended to make my dvd rom region free then that is not what they imply I understood it to mean the dvd itself once copied by the software would be region free and play on any machine.

I never intended at any time to try and hack my machines. I was really only doing what i thought software said it would do.

If the software only works on computers then they are not saying that.

By believing that the software would make the copies region free then i have wasted a lot of time as i havent found any that do that.

I have bought a cheap jvc that plays all regions. It is no dearer than a piece of software and takes no technical knowledge to use and i dont have to wait two hours to copy a disk and then find out it hasnt changed anything.

My reason for posting was not to express anger as such but to find out if software does fix it or if someone out there has some knowledge to share.

[Chewy]

we don't discuss protected dvd copying/ripping anymore here

however a little research will show you that region free is almost a standard feature of those programs we don't discuss

[Budreaux]

Irritation rather than anger but whatever.

My gripe is that if software is intended to make my dvd rom region free then that is not what they imply I understood it to mean the dvd itself once copied by the software would be region free and play on any machine.

I never intended at any time to try and hack my machines. I was really only doing what i thought software said it would do.

If the software only works on computers then they are not saying that.

By believing that the software would make the copies region free then i have wasted a lot of time as i havent found any that do that.

I have bought a cheap jvc that plays all regions. It is no dearer than a piece of software and takes no technical knowledge to use and i dont have to wait two hours to copy a disk and then find out it hasnt changed anything.

My reason for posting was not to express anger as such but to find out if software does fix it or if someone out there has some knowledge to share.

Yes, ther is software to make the DVD region free, but you do have to go through a process to do so, and you won't be using the "original" DVD to watch on the standalone anymore. The simpler, quicker, and most efficient manner is to change the player. It's called hacking, but that term has received so much negative publicity that folks stray from it at times like these. Start by reading at this link: http://www.dcevolution.net/panasonic...d=32&Itemid=54 If that page doesn't scare you away, then you are on hte road to success.

[topsy99]

i am now playing region 1 on my new jvc cheapie.

this issue is fixed as far as i am concerned. but i wont be going down the software path again.

best wishes and thanks for help and advice.