[2bigears]

  these words ,, "non US format" are making me wonder if I need a special player ?
      I made the mistake of buying a tv series with this format. Will a Sony ps3 play these DVDs
         or will a new Oppo play these ? Thanks for any words on this ,, 

[Bemopti123]

If it is a DVD, remember that US is region 1.  All others are coded differently.  Older Oppos, the 980 etc...had a overriding code that can be done via remote.  The series newer than that the 83 and 93?  Might have the functionality but the really newer and expensive ones, the 103 and 105 do not.  There is a seller from NYC that does modifications on the newer ones.  If you do not want to invest too much $$$ get one of the older ones if someone is selling them.  I have the 983?  which I have had for almost 7 years and when optical mechanism failed...I sent it to Oppo for a swap.  It is a wonder they maintain all parts on older DVD players. That tells you a lot about the company and their products.  PS3 BluRay drive is locked on Region 1....you might be able to override it but the older Oppos are a safer bet.

If you live closer to a large city, such as NYC, you might even be able to go to Chinatown and purchase a unlocked DVD player....But as of reliability....I would not be sure. 

[2bigears]

    I do have a couple older original 980 Oppos.... The seller says the DVDs
         are region 2.   . I guess I can buy a cheapo unit like a 50 dollar Samsung
           Just to play this series.... 

[Doublej]

I don't know if it's still the case but at one point Windows let the user change the region code on their machine a few times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK-NM_iZWZo

I think B&H Photo sells multiregion  DVD players but they are a lot more money ($200+) than a single region one.

[Phil A]

I made my Oppo DV980H region free this way - http://www.multi-region.net/oppo_dv-980h

[2bigears]

  ohhhhh,  thanks so much.  Ill give her a try. I scooped Malcolm in the Middle
          and it's region 2 ..  I never knew till I bought it.  Ha I'm such a doof... 

[Phil A]

I found out when someone gave me a non-US disc.  Was going to try to view it on the computer.  I also was going to sell by Oppo DV980H as I have so many things.  I used the 980H for years as a source in the master bedroom system in an old house and then upgraded and had it sitting in another system and not being used.  The code can toggle on or off region free.

[2bigears]

 .  Well I'm glad you showed me the trick Phil.  Very glad. I phoned Oppo and the law is the law.
            They have to abide with our zoning. Do you need to toggle every time you power up or down ?
                Or does it simply stay zone free,,,,  thank you again.. 

[FullRangeMan]

What color format are you referring??

[2bigears]

 .  Region 2 ,, UK ....

[FullRangeMan]

Seems its German PAL system.

[Phil A]

.  Well I'm glad you showed me the trick Phil.  Very glad. I phoned Oppo and the law is the law.
            They have to abide with our zoning. Do you need to toggle every time you power up or down ?
                Or does it simply stay zone free,,,,  thank you again.. 

It stays the way you toggle it

[Phil A]

Oppo is a wonderful company for customer service.  I have

DV980H'
Modded BDP-83
BDP-93
Two BDP 103Ds

I have the above in 4 separate systems

[jarcher]

  FRM : DVD regions are different from broadcast standard (PAL / SECAM / NTSC / ETC).  It's a digital rights management code on DVDs devised by hollywood that they brewed up to try to control DVD sales distribution.  It has no technical reason or merit such as PAL / SECAM / NTSC etc other than to try to increase hollywoods control & profits - which is largely irrelevant in this era of internet piracy.

See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code

When I lived overseas I specifically bought a Philips DVD player that could be flashed with a universal remote to be "region free".  It had the added advantage of being NTSC & PAL, and cost all of $70.  I still have it in case I ever need to watch foreign DVDs.   

 

[JohnR]

I don't understand why Cambridge Audio can sell region-free Bluray players but Oppo can't.... I guess it's because they are UK-based but surely the laws of the country of sale apply? Dunno 

Anyway, I'm not sure it's been mentioned that regions for DVD and Bluray are different. So making your player region-free is (probably) a different process for DVDs and Blurays. While I haven't done it myself, my recollection is that for the current Oppos making it region-free for DVD is simply a matter of burning some download onto a disc and playing it. Making it region-free for Bluray requires an additional piece of hardware, which you can install yourself, or get installed, or purchase already installed in a "pre-modded" unit.

I opted for the last for my BDP-103. It plays DVDs from all regions fine, but to be honest I've never actually tried the Bluray region-free function since for Blu-ray, UK and AU are in the same region! (I guess I could have saved some money - oh well, you never know when I might need it).

[Bemopti123]

.  Well I'm glad you showed me the trick Phil.  Very glad. I phoned Oppo and the law is the law.
            They have to abide with our zoning. Do you need to toggle every time you power up or down ?
                Or does it simply stay zone free,,,,  thank you again.. 

Solve this toggling issue by putting 0 for the zone.  I think it is unlocked for ALL regions, for what I can remember.

[FullRangeMan]

FRM : DVD regions are different from broadcast standard (PAL / SECAM / NTSC / ETC).  It's a digital rights management code on DVDs devised by hollywood that they brewed up to try to control DVD sales distribution.  It has no technical reason or merit such as PAL / SECAM / NTSC etc other than to try to increase hollywoods control & profits - which is largely irrelevant in this era of internet piracy.

See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code

When I lived overseas I specifically bought a Philips DVD player that could be flashed with a universal remote to be "region free".  It had the added advantage of being NTSC & PAL, and cost all of $70.  I still have it in case I ever need to watch foreign DVDs.   

 

Yes they are. I think the Non US Format title are referring to the color system.
Region codes restrictions are solved by replacing a chip inside the player.

[2bigears]

 .  I will try the Oppo trick and pray to the good Lord it works.
           There are regions 1 to 9 ,,,, I think.
               And now the color chart regions ,,,,  hummm .  Come on Oppo trick,, please work.. 

[2bigears]

   OPPO is the greatest. Got the region free going ..  Sooo dam cool. Just had to do the 9,2,1,0 trick .  Full 'Malcolm in the Middle' series up and running from the UK.  Thanks everybody..  People here are so dam smart sometimes I can believe.  Love this place called AC's !