"Partially" Region Free Player
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"Partially" Region Free Player
We have the Pioneer DVL-V888 and it'll play other region DVD's, but the picture is black and white and looks a little stretched out. Does anyone know any tricks to fix this problem. Thanks.
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Are the discs PAL? If I play a R2 PAL DVD on my Apex but don't switch the conversion to NTSC, then the picture will be black and white. And no matter what, it always looks stretched if the DVD is anamorphic, as the player isn't able to accurately convert PAL->NTSC. I'm not sure about Pioneer DVD player though. It could be an entirely different problem altogether.
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Hey, I got your e-mail.
Some DVD players have NTSC/PAL conversion built in. On my remote it is a little button that says P/N. I'm not sure if the Pioneer DVL-V888 has that or not. I searched the web, but I couldn't find anything discussing its capability to convert NTSC->PAL, though it looks like it plays just about everything ever made.
I'm not sure what the options are if it is a conversion problem and the DVD Player doesn't have built in conversion. Anybody else know?
Some DVD players have NTSC/PAL conversion built in. On my remote it is a little button that says P/N. I'm not sure if the Pioneer DVL-V888 has that or not. I searched the web, but I couldn't find anything discussing its capability to convert NTSC->PAL, though it looks like it plays just about everything ever made.
I'm not sure what the options are if it is a conversion problem and the DVD Player doesn't have built in conversion. Anybody else know?
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If the DVD doesn't have conversion, then you'll need to get a TV that does. My TV has a NTSC viewing mode, but no NTSC -> PAL.
Most TVs sold in Australia now have PAL and NTSC, so DVD manufacturers don't need to have an inbuilt convertor for us. If your equipment doesn't support either, you can get a NTSC -> PAL and vice versa convertor which will do the trick for you. Not sure of the price, but I imagine it shouldn't cost too much.
Most TVs sold in Australia now have PAL and NTSC, so DVD manufacturers don't need to have an inbuilt convertor for us. If your equipment doesn't support either, you can get a NTSC -> PAL and vice versa convertor which will do the trick for you. Not sure of the price, but I imagine it shouldn't cost too much.
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thanks for the input guys, i really appreciate it. i think i'll just have to go out and buy a real region free player. does best buy carry any good cheap ones? i have a $50 gift card from them. also, i know this may seem a little shady, but is it possible to "make a backup copy" of a PAL or different region DVD and have it work on a standard player?
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Best Buy carries the Toshiba SD-4900 that with a simple free hack can be made region free and it does very good PAL to NTSC conversion. It's a good player. Also has DVD-Audio. They sell them for $90.
There is software than you can use to burn DVDs that removes region coding. It's perfectly legal to do this as long as you own the disc you are copying and don't sell off or loan out the original disc or the copy (but you could loan them out together).
That doesn't mean however than you can convert PAL discs to NTSC with this software, only remove the region coding.
There is software than you can use to burn DVDs that removes region coding. It's perfectly legal to do this as long as you own the disc you are copying and don't sell off or loan out the original disc or the copy (but you could loan them out together).
That doesn't mean however than you can convert PAL discs to NTSC with this software, only remove the region coding.