I have no 4K discs yet (and I might never buy any), but I'm trying to do some future-proofing nonetheless. I'm looking for something that will play NTSC and PAL, all regions, 4K Blu-rays, Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs, DVD-Rs, CD-Rs, etc., etc. Basically, it must be wide open. I don't want to face any region or format incompatibilities. That essentially rules out Sony, but Philips and Pioneer often offer such players, along with much lesser-known brands. At least, usually one can enter a code in order to unshackle region restrictions.

Any recommendations?

Oppo is the only player to do all of that at this time. Just make sure to set aside about $550 for it. I'm guessing once more UHD players start getting released, more will get modded to suit your needs.

Oppos aren't region-free unless they're modded, are they?

How about this region free 4K player for $459?

http://www.220-electronics.com/samsu...esolution.html

or you can get this just blu ray region free player for $164 and get stand alone 4K player later (4K is still evolving)

http://www.220-electronics.com/sony-...-built-in.html

Thanks a lot for the advice, guys. I'm rather out of the loop with 4K. I might just buy a good region-free Blu-ray player after all, soundman2. Unless they start releasing a lot of ultra-obscure non-recent movies on 4K, which is improbable, chances are I won't ever have the impetus to get a 4K or 8K player.

No mod needed, they're built that way, to always be region free.

But yeah, a good region free blu ray player, which is cheaper, will suit your needs. Just get a UHD player down the line when they're cheaper.

^ wait, what?

My Oppo (BDP-103) was not region free out of the box. I could use a "Super Disc" to make it region free for DVDs, and I installed a mod chip to make it region switchable for Blu-ray, which meant inputting a code anytime I wanted to change the region setting...

Are you saying the latest Oppo (UDP-203) is region free across the board? or just for DVDs? or just for UHDs? Seems like the Blu-ray spec is the most strict on this topic so I'd be happy if Oppo is now able to offer full-on region free capability without issue.

^Interesting question, Dan. Plus, there must be alternatives. Is Oppo the only one?

UHD's have no region code, they play anywhere in the world.

I regards to the 203, I'm basing my comments on the thread over on AVS forum. I haven't read any details on it, as I'm not interested in paying that much for it.

Other UHD options? Yes, definitely. Personally, I have the Xbox One S for that. It isn't region free for regular Blu-ray or DVD, though. That's one reason I haven't tried to sell my Oppo.

Oh, okay. The way I understand it then, is that the 203 is region free for UHD, region locked for Blu-ray (unless you get a mod chip), and region locked for DVD (but can probably be easily unlocked with the right disc). I haven't read the AVS thread, though, so I could be wrong.

But I know Blu-ray is (or was?) the 'hardest' of the bunch to unlock since the BDA was so strict about it... which is why we have players that can switch Blu-ray regions back and forth with a remote code, but can't be outright region free since it's "against the rules" or whatever.
If the BDA changed this requirement for hardware manufacturers (along with announcing that UHD wouldn't have the same locking at all), then that's awesome. I haven't done the research to see if that's the case, though.

edit: Yup... found the thread.
- UHD - all discs are region free, so no worries there
- DVD - region locked, but Superdisc used once will unlock it.
- Regular Blu-ray - still region locked. There's a mod kit for it though, which looks identical to what was available for the BDP-103. Still requires manual switching between regions, though. Otherwise, not bad.

I'm holding off on the 203 anyway... No real need for it.

No, I meant other good Blu-ray player options, in terms of region-free, etc.