All-Region DVD and Blu-ray Player Advice

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BrightEyes23 · #51 Post by **BrightEyes23** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 3:37 am

Ok, so I made the plunge and bought an Oppo (my gf needed a DVD player to play Robin Hood: Men in Tights, so I gave her my cyberhome).

So far here's what I think of it...

The picture is STELLAR on my Samsung 50" DLP. Watched Repulsion (R2) and Shindo's By Player (R2) on it yesterday and both looked tremendous.

Here's some beefs with it though, however I have a feeling I have a defective unit and I might need to send it back and get it replaced.

It's been skipping occasionally. It wouldn't even play the Mexican Bunuel DVDs, and it skipped like 3 times for just a few seconds during "By Player"

It does NOT like DVD-R's, and I've only gotten it to play one burned DVD-R thus far, "Insect Woman" It reads them and starts skipping and then freezes. Both of these issues sound like isolated events from what I've read on the AVS forums, so I think I just got a dud out of the box.

My other complaint is that when I press the DVI button, the screen goes black, but I don't see what resolution it's been changed too, and I know its supposed to pop up in the top left corner for a second. The only time I've seen it was when I was messing around and put it in PAL mode and saw the PAL 500somethingP. But standard I can't get it to display if its in 480i, 480p, 720p, or 1080p. I've got it hooked up with the DVI out and am using their HDMI adapter to go into my TV.

Anyway, that's my experience with it so far, anyone have any advice on the problems, or should i just contact customer service and get the ball rolling on a replacement?

subliminac · #52 Post by **subliminac** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:43 pm

I've had an Oppo for about four months now and have run into no problems whatsoever, regardless of title or format. My only recommendation would be to check their website for firmware upgrades, which seem to be offered every few months or so. As far as the DVI problems, I'm sure you probably know this but you need to stop the disk before you change the output level, if it is playing it won't work.

I hope these issues you're having are resolved swiftly, this player really is quite wonderful when in full working order.

yumitree · #53 Post by **yumitree** » Thu Sep 15, 2005 10:47 pm

how is the oppo's divx/xvid playback?

scotty · #54 Post by **scotty** » Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:09 am

I recently got a Region 0 double sided PAL/NTSC dvd, and both sides play fine on the player in my Dell Inspiron 5160 notebook. I'm assuming, however, that the player will not like a PAL disc that is Region 2 encoded. Do I understand this correctly? If the region number is 2 I'm facing a hack, even if PAL works? I'm wanting that bfi Bunuel set.

TedW · #55 Post by **TedW** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 3:00 am

JVB Digital should be added to the list to check out. I have an SDI-mod Denon on the way from them now... I will report how it performs if anyone cares.

AZAI · #56 Post by **AZAI** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 4:04 am

I'm still looking for a decently priced DVD player that has incremental zoom out, available on the European (esp. Dutch) market. Anybody got any idea?

HarryLime · #57 Post by **HarryLime** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:05 am

It's been a while since I've read anything new on this post. My Philips region-free player just crapped out...that's my second one of those in the last two years. Anyone have any ideas about the best region-free player currently on the market? I'd gladly pay more for something higher quality...and longer lasting.

TedW · #58 Post by **TedW** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:07 am

I still go back to my cheapo Malata DVP-520, which I'm not sure they make anymore. It has performed flawlessly since I got it. Even better than the modified Denon I subsequently bought.

Multi-Region · #59 Post by **Multi-Region** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:23 am

Another interesting address for a region free (firmware) upgrade.

shearerchic · #60 Post by **shearerchic** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 3:39 pm

i'm buying a 40" lcd hdtv next month and i was wondering are there any nice region free home theatre systems available?`

Multi-Region · #61 Post by **Multi-Region** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 1:07 am

shearerchic wrote:i'm buying a 40" lcd hdtv next month and i was wondering are there any nice region free home theatre systems available?`

Please, look here (page 2).

shearerchic · #62 Post by **shearerchic** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 6:07 pm

Multi-Region wrote:
shearerchic wrote:i'm buying a 40" lcd hdtv next month and i was wondering are there any nice region free home theatre systems available?`
Please, look here (page 2).

i found a system i liked, especially since the speakers are wireless!!

rumz · #63 Post by **rumz** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 4:50 pm

Shopping for a new region-free player. There's some faint praise for OPPOs here, but I'm wondering if there are any recommendations for one of two specific OPPO players:

OPPO DV-981HD

OPPO OPDV971H

The former is a newer model, and seems to have some compatibility issues with Samsung HDTV sets, which I have, and the latter seems more stable from what I can tell. I'm not so concerned with upconversion and fancy schmancy chip sets, just the ability to enable multi-region playback and HDMI/optical audio output.

Thanks for any remarks.

l'avventurist · #64 Post by **l'avventurist** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:44 pm

Just got the 971 and can tell you it works well with my Samsung DLP. I use the DVI input but the OPPO came with both DVI to DVI and DVI to HDMI cables as well as the new improved remote.

Basically it handles PAL and NTSC fine once you set it up properly and works well as a straightforward player. Overscan is slight, improved black levels, colors are somewhat saturated, but it is tweakable. Just forget about using the zoom function, it's terrible.

I'll probably still keep my Jaton for non-anamorphic dvds that need to be blown up.

For the money the OPPO's hard to beat (got mine at AMZ)

Hope this helps

Dylan · #65 Post by **Dylan** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:30 pm

Although it's working fine right now, this morning my Region free player threw the one and only fit its ever thrown in the (nearly) 3 years I've owned it, and I want to see if anybody has any idea of what was going on, and if I can expect it to throw another fit sometime soon.

The player I have is the Malata 393a Region-Free...this one:

Not the most fancy, but its worked magnificently without any problems and complications since the day it came in the mail.

Anyway, this morning when I started it up, the drive wouldn't open (I left a disc in there when I turned it off last night, as I, and I'm assuming most others, often do), and it was stuck on "DVD Loading." When I pressed the "Eject/Close" button on the remote, it would say "Open" but the drive wouldn't open. When I pressed "Eject/Close" again, it said "Closed," but of course nothing had happened. Then I tried to turn it off, but it wouldn't turn off! So I unplugged it, plugged it back in, went through the same procedure as I documented above, and still no dice. Then I unplugged it, tried everything yet again, and now it works, although I'm very suspicious.

It's not the batteries in the remote, as I was mosting using the buttons on the machine to open/close the drive and turn on/off the player (and the batteries are fairly new). It is a small player, so it's possible that its life is wearing thin, as great as its cooporated over the years.

But does anybody have any idea of what was going on with it? Thanks in advance.

skuhn8 · #66 Post by **skuhn8** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:45 pm

Yeah. I know what's going on: It's a Malata. I have the model you pic'd above and two others besides. They are quirky. Only my 520 has been operational for some four years without a hitch.

Dylan · #67 Post by **Dylan** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:15 am

My oldest friend in NYC had one which was flawless for three years and then packed up on the day it turned three.

I'll keep this in mind, I too have heard that their life expectancy isn't that high, although I've gotten a lot of great use out of mine in the last three years (every DVD I've watched at home since early 2004 has been on this Malata...and that's a lot!). For its size and value, this piece is excellent, and while I'm hoping it will last at least another year, if it's in the early stages of packing its bags then I'll make some mental notes on what to get when/if it does.

Only my 520 has been operational for some four years without a hitch.

Schreck recommends a Pioneer model a couple of pages back.

I'll keep these in mind. Thanks!

redbill · #68 Post by **redbill** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:21 pm

Anyone got the Samsung HD960 "programmed" for multiregion? I'm looking for a 1080p upconverting DVD, and if I can get it to be all-region for not much more $, that'd be great. But I'd be willing to hangon to my progressive-scan all-region player if the price is a big diff... I see regionfreecodedvd has the samsung for $189 w/ cables...

thanks

John Cope · #69 Post by **John Cope** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:01 pm

I, too, am in the market for a new player and have been struggling (ridiculously) with this decision for several weeks. I haven't had to make a change in awhile as I've been using the same Sampo DVE-611 for the last five years. I've liked it well enough, though it doesn't have progressive scan or "true" PAL conversion (to be honest, I've never really known what that meant--the Sampo has an internal converter so what makes the difference?). Anyway, a friend has the Philips DVP 5140 and recommends it highly. The attractive thing about the Philips is that it, apparently, ranks highly for its NTSC/PAL conversion capabilities and this is hugely important to me. Still, what I don't like about the 5140 is that it seems to have noticeable slow down effects when playing a DVD-R burn of a VHS. Other DVD-R burns seem to function okay so maybe I shouldn't make such a big fuss over this.

At the moment I'm leaning heavily toward the Oppo 970 as I'm easily influenced by apparent consensus on these kinds of pragmatic issues and the Oppo appears to be a critical darling. The video quality is supposedly far better than most other players in its price range (would you agree with that, l'avventurist?); however, on the negative side, I have read a lot about so called "vertical squeeze" as well as that there are issues with the NTSC/PAL conversion (something to do with subs, apparently). I'd really rather not have to download a ton of firmware immediately.

I'm also looking at Toshiba, JVC and Pioneer but I've read some pretty terrible things about each of these models. I realize there will always be some problem or other but I'm looking for as few of what I would deem to be major ones as possible. Given my stated preferences, would anyone care to nudge me in a specific direction?

#70 Post by **kinjitsu** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:09 pm

Not sure if you were aware of this or not, John, but OPPO just released a new player, the DV-981HD.

Kirkinson · #71 Post by **Kirkinson** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 7:55 pm

While I haven't been using it long enough to speak for its longevity, I've had a Pioneer DV490V since Christmas and so far it has met and exceeded all my expectations. It's played everything I've thrown at it without the slightest hint of a problem, and the picture quality makes my old Malata look like a chalkboard in comparison.

What problems are associated with the Pioneer in things you've read? Anything I should watch out for?

John Cope · #72 Post by **John Cope** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:19 pm

I was looking at a Pioneer DV490V pretty seriously until I saw this...

That analysis scared me off as my primary interest is in a solid PAL conversion. Hard to know what to make of it though if you haven't experienced any problems, Kirkinson. Please share your thoughts on this.

Oh, and thanks for the link, kinjitsu. I'm not as interested in this player simply because at the present time I'm not interested in a machine whose main selling point is its excellent up-conversion to HD. I suspect I will remain in an analogue ghetto for the time being and just want something to make the most of that.

#73 Post by **kinjitsu** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 10:29 pm

You are welcome. You might consider reading this review before making your decision.

Kirkinson · #74 Post by **Kirkinson** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:32 am

John Cope wrote:I was looking at a Pioneer DV490V pretty seriously until I saw this...

That analysis scared me off as my primary interest is in a solid PAL conversion. Hard to know what to make of it though if you haven't experienced any problems, Kirkinson. Please share your thoughts on this.

Hmm, very interesting. I certainly haven't noticed any of those problems. Since both of the sets I regularly use with my Pioneer are tube TVs, it's quite likely I've never noticed the "picture shift" because overscan simply eliminates it. As to the other issues, I've never noticed anything like them, but I'll take some time tomorrow to do a few tests. I'll certainly be dismayed if I find them present -- I like to think (now perhaps too immodestly) that I'm good at spotting things like combing artefacts when they crop up. Is it possible that I don't see the motion problems because I don't have a high-end setup? Even if that can be explained away, I'm still at a loss to explain why I've never noticed anything like that layer changing problem. But tomorrow I'll make sure I test out a couple DVDs that I know to have very noticeable layer changes.

I'll see what's what and get back to you ASAP. Now I'm very curious myself.

unclehulot · #75 Post by **unclehulot** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:20 am

I've had quite a few region-free players over the years, but the Oppo (970 is what I have), coupled with a LCD (or other digital) set that accepts an unconverted PAL signal is by far the best solution for me so far. In my experience there's always been a bit of jerkiness to put up with, no matter what setup (Apex, Malata, Cyberhome, Toshiba 3900, Denon 2910) if one converts to an NTSC display. On the Oppo (perhaps other players do this?), you go to settings and tell the Oppo you are using a PAL display, and voila, motion is completely natural. You can set it to "auto" for display, but I think it looks better on native NTSC material to change it to NTSC, then PAL for PAL, etc, a minor pain, but I'm ok with that.

I'd be curious to see the 981 in action, but the upconverting seems pretty damned good on this, definitely better than I was getting with it set NOT to upconvert. The audio quality on this player is also a bonus, way above what one would expect for $150.