xxjobseyes

Well, my best buy has these and with employee cost its $79. I'm really thinking about dropping the money and picking one up. I was set on getting a Malata but from the sounds of it, this might be a better buy as far as price compared to quality. Plus i dont have an HD display...yet

Metebelis3

Hi,

Just bought a Region 1 Toshiba 3900 today based on the discussions in this forum. My main requirement was a player that would play region 2 and convert PAL to NTSC clearly.

The above mentioned hack (MENU+1+PLAY) by renaldown didn't seem to work until I modified it as TOP MENU+1+PLAY, then it worked flawlessly, as did the mentioned MARKER+CLEAR hack to remove the onscreen message.

This player successfully played six PAL discs, both Region 2 and Region 0, including discs with Macrovision.

However, it will not play one disc: 'Doctor Who - Ark in Space'. This is particularly frustrating, as the player has no problem playing 'Blackadder 3' which is also a BBC release, and also in PAL/Region 2.

As an alternate hack I have tried unclehulot's suggestion of DISPLAY+selecting a title+PLAY. This doesn't work, however, the region warning disappears from the screen and the display shows the selected chapter stop number and 00:00 timer.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to play tricky discs like this one?

Thanks in advance. The contributor's to this forum have been very helpful in highlighting that this player was even available as multi-region hackable.

Cheers.

Furious

Hitting Top Menu repeatedly has helped with some finicky titles I have.

Metebelis3

Thanks Furious, but no joy with repeatedly pressing Top Menu.

I've tried this option in various combinations, before and after TOPMENU+1+PLAY, and also retrying DISPLAY+select chapter+PLAY, and can't get any response either.

One thing I have noticed however with the SD3900, is that you don't necessarily have to rekey the hack every time you insert a disc. If the subsequent discs you play are Region 0/PAL they just automatically play.

Any other suggestions for playing this cursed DVD?

raining_helper

Metebelis3, I am having the same problem as you. I can't get my region 2 PAL copy of Bend It Like Beckham to play no matter what combination of buttons I try.
Other discs I've tried work fine, but for some reason this disc is being very stubborn and won't load.

Hopefully someone can come up with an alternative route to get stubborn discs to play, cause I sure as hell haven't been able to figure it out.

AEspinoza1

Hello all,

I just wanted to chime in since this thread helped in my choice to purchase a region-free player. I picked-up the Tosh from Best Buy and hooked it up to my Pioneer RPTV HD 53-inch.

Wow! I was impressed. My primary player is the Panny RP-91 but the picture from the Tosh is really amazing!

First I put in Hero (Edko 2 disc) used the manual hack and voila! Great picture and audio through the progressive scan out. It was nice to read the opening subtitles (which are not on the Region 0 disc).

Bend it Like Beckham - I was very worried because of the problems I read above. I put in the disc and used the same procedure and again it worked. Now the disc I received from DVD Asian is the 2 disc region 3 ( http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvda...ml?id=aENp7PbI) but on the back of the dvd case it says Region All. I did have to enter the manual hack or else it would not play.

28 Days Later - I loved this movie!
The PAL to NTSC conversion is really good but then I don't have anything to compare it to. Although the coming attractions/previews for Resident Evil sounded different than the normal voices I have heard from my Region 1 dvd.

Anyway, I'm so excited I found this forum/thread because my weekend at home was very satisfying. This player is definitely worth the money and I believe is a good way to jump into the multi-region DVD world.

Now I can't wait for Flash Gordon and Nid De Guepes to arrive!

Thanks again!

DVDude!

I have yet to buy a PAL DVD because I'm worried about whether or not the PAL speedup would bother me. "Sounded different"? Was it annoying or just different?

I wish there was some way to simulate the PAL speedup with a normal DVD. Hmm...

raining_helper

I just watched 28 Days Later, and was also not sure what to expect with regards to the PAL->NTSC conversion. But my fears were not realized: the film looked and sounded normal, and by that I mean I was never aware of any 'speed up' or odd sounding dialogue. This was the first time I'd watched a PAL DVD, and I'm extremely pleased with the picture quality of the DVD player as well. I've got the SD3900 hooked up to a 34" Toshiba Widescreen (34HDX82) connected by a 1 metre component Monster cable.
Also, I didn't notice any audio problem with the Resident Evil trailer etc ...

Now if only I could get my PAL2 Bend It Like Beckham to work ...

AEspinoza1

I can see why it would be annoying to others if it was the entire movie but as it was only a dvd coming attraction I did not mind. In the preview the voices had a higher pitch (Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez to be specific).

In my opinion if you are a real home theater enthusiast you will notice the difference if you are watching a movie/tv show you know and so it may be distracting.

I have yet to play any other PAL DVD's but will do so soon and will report back.

Let me just say again though that for the price the picture, audio and build really can't be beat and you would enjoy watching other region discs.

DVDude!

Thanks for the comments raining_helper and AEspinoza1. I think if it's a movie you're not familiar with, the speedup may be easier to deal with. Dunno. Haven't experienced it myself. I'll be curious to hear your further reports, AEspinoza1.

I'm just worried that it'll be too distracting. Maybe I should just bite the bullet and order a PAL DVD to see for myself. *shrug*

hobbes4444

Just picked one of these puppies up today and been playing around for a little while with it. I can vow to the fact that the 3900's PAL>NTSC conversion is much much much more smooth than APex 1200 i've been using!!!! No more Mr Roboto Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express!!! And the problematic dvd-r or two that troubled either my Toshiba 4700 or the Apex play without problem on the 3900. Very good news indeed!

However, one thing I noticed was that the 1.85:1 aspect ratio movies seem to be framed higher on the TV screen (regular old 4:3) when played back on the 3900 in comparison to the 4700 and the Apex. In other words, there is a more narrow bar up top compared to the bottom. Panavison/2.35:1 movies look normal (the bars are pretty much equal in width top and bottom and the picture is framed pretty much dead center). Wondering if this is a TV calibration issue, or whether it might have something to do with improperly decoding anamorphic discs. But then again, with 1.85:1 movies, it seems to be an issue with both anamorphically enhanced and non-enhanced discs. I can certainly live with this, but just wondering if I have a unit that is not quite up to spec. Anyone else notice this???


Any thoughts?? Guess I better get a Video Essentials disc to check things out a bit. . .

Thanks to those who found out this baby was region-free!!!!!
Dave

renaldow

I've noticed this on a few different region free players. It's not a calibration issue on the TV. It's never bothered me as the picture is still OAR, it's just a little more black on the bottom. I believe it has to do with the conversion process, but that's just my theory.

renaldow

Yes, order a PAL disc and see for yourself. No one can tell you what you are going to hear, you have to hear it for yourself. Honestly, most people don't notice it with a good soundtrack, even if it's a movie they've seen over and over again. It's only a 4% speedup, most ears won't notice it, at least in dialogue. Where you may hear it is with musical scores. If you have a receiver that lets you adjust pitch then that can solve the problem.

I've seen Ed Wood at least 100 times. After buying the Ed Wood R2 DVD I did not notice any difference in audio. If it was a musical or a concert DVD from your favorite band, you may be disappointed. But, The Commitments is a movie I've also seen at least 100 times, and I still enjoy the music in the R2 DVD. Doesnt' sound bad at all.

The only discs it has ever stood out on for me are TV shows for some reason. But it's not really annoying, it's just very slightly higher pitched.

Metebelis3

Just thought I'd chime in here with my two cents on the PAL conversion speedup thread.

I've been playing the Region 2 version of 'Blackadder 3' and can't notice any video or audio speedup whatsoever, and this is a television show I know well, so I would expect it to be very noticable if it seemed different somehow.

If I didn't have to punch in a code to hack the disk, I wouldn't even know it wasn't a Region 1.

In my humble opinion, and at least with MY disks, it's the closest to flawless I've seen in on-the-fly PAL conversion.

CloudVader

Quick question for those of you with the Tosh 3900...

I have a lot of homemade SVCD encodes from over the last couple years that my Pioneer DV-333 has played without a hitch. Has anyone tried an SVCD in this Toshiba player and if so, does it work normally? I've seen conflicting reports about it on vcdhelp.com and would like to know if anyone here has had any experience with SVCD and this player.

Metebelis3

I haven't tried an SVCD, but I've tried regular VCDs of the Star Wars Trilogy and they work fine.

Fandango

SVCD does not work, I've tried it myself, you need to do the header trick for it to work which I have not tried.

Metebelis3

On this forum, some people seem to have 100% success with the Toshiba SD-3900 hack. Others like myself have a few nagging disks that won't play no matter what.

The serial number on my player lists it as C, ie. SD-3900C. If you have this DVD player can you please post what serial number you have, and if you have any problems decoding 100% of your PAL discs.

I am considering returning my player and trying to get my hands on a player from a different shipment, if I can determine A, B, D etc. are flawless.

Thanks.

CJayBlair

I have SD-3900-S-TU

My findings:

I've been able, though not without a certain amount of effort, to finally get everything to play. I was having a problem with some discs, but the problems were solved by going into Setup and setting Autoplay to On or Off, having to vary between the two settings to make everything work.

I also have to vary between the [Topmenu/Menu] [1] [Play] hack and [Display] [select chapter] [Play] hack along with the Autoplay feature. Tricky, but it eventually works. Sometimes Topmenu has to be selected several times to make a disc work.

I have several dozen discs from regions outside of region 1. Only the British PAL discs have given me any problems so far out of about 20 discs tried up to now.

When I bought my unit at Best Buy, I went through a stack of about 10 boxes and picked the highest serial number I could find. It looked like they had 3 diffrent shipments in the stack.

It's all worth the effort since the Toshiba in my opinion puts out a better picture than either the Malata N996 or JVC 900 series regionfree players that I also own.

Metebelis3

Thanks for the alternate hack, CJayBlair.

Unfortunately, even this hack does nothing for my player.

(The box lists the player as SD-3900-K-TC, while the back of the player says its SD-3900C.)

If I am correct, the current listing of hacks available are:

1. Menu/Top Menu+1+Play.
2. Display+select chapter+Play.
3. Repeat pressing Top Menu until auto starting.
4. Repeat pressing Top Menu until arrow appears upper right, and press Enter.
5. Toggle autoplay ON/OFF and repeat all of above.

All of these result in a 'no entry' symbol (red circle with red diagonal bar thru middle) appearing in the upper right.

Maybe it's not even the player? Maybe it's a finicky disk?
Probably more than likely, considering other Region 2 disks by the same manufacturer worked fine with the primary hack.

Zodo

Will this player play all region version of Predator SE?

Deke Rivers

why go through all this hassle everytime you want to load a movie? you can still get the Cyberhome from NewEgg for 79 bucks or pay 50 bucks more and get a JVC witht he hardware mode. I can see saving money but not if you have to play with the settings everytime you play a dvd ..especially when what you have to play with isnt even consistent..it all sound slike a big pain in the ass

mapson

Sounds like the PAL discs are the "problem" discs. How does the NTSC discs from other regions fare on this Toshiba?

Furious

Because the Cyberhome is a dreadful player (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...yberHomeCH-DVD 500) , although its PAL functionality does the job and is comparable. It's not even worth comparing the two. The Toshiba is comparable to the Pantera 2 based JVC/Malata players at a fraction of the price. The JVC's hardware mod is more covenient, but really, the problems in these threads are rather insignificant in terms of the overall number of problem discs. I'd rather not pay an overinflated price for a chipped player. I have dozens of PAL titles from a variety of distributors and all play after one or two minor variations on the startup of playback. It's not much of a pain in the ass...I mean I can handle going from 1 button push to 3 pushes, but then again some people store their collections in megachangers because they hate having to move a few inches to load a disc...

Deke Rivers

I could argue that ..the Cyberhome work flawlessly for me until it fell off a shelf. I know many others on other forums with the same good opinion of it I guess what I was getting at was that it sounded like the same hack on this Toshiba didnt work all the time if you read this thread. It sounds like you have to do different variations of it depending on the "mood" of the player. I nevr had to do that with my Cyberhome nor the JVC I just picked upThats what I was basing my comments on. The Toshiba is 100..I got the JVC for 65 bucks more (not too overinflated ) and dont have to mess with anything. Just pop the disc in