My 2 year-old Pioneer DVD player will not play all region discs. It can be cracked, but that requires an internal modification. I found a company in Switzerland that will “chip” it for about $4,000 NT with guarantee. I understand I may be able to do the same in Taiwan for cheaper. Someone in this forum mentioned a video rental shop in Shida that would do this, but they showed no interest when I asked them. I believe that’s because they have to send it elsewhere, and so the shop doesn’t make much on the deal. My alternative is to buy a new, cheap locally-made all region player, or one that can be cracked just through the remote control.
My exisitng player (Pioneer DV-533K) is very sleek and plays all media types but was expensive at around NT$15,000, so I’m reluctant to part with it. Also, according to the reviews, it offers superior quality images and sound. Of course prices have tumbled over the last two years, so perhaps I just got burned. A friend has a very cheap locally made region-free one (Kolin) , but the build quality is poor and it jumped several times during playback. Perhaps that’s not representative though.
So the question is, do I modify it or spend the same on a new one? And if I choose the latter, will it match the quality?
Just another option…do you have a PC with a good video card? If you have a good video card, you could region free your DVD-ROM drive, connect the Vo to the Vin on your AV system and pipe the sound from the SPDIF output of your sound card (if it has one :shock: ) as well. Probably too much trouble…but would save cash if you have a PC that’s already up to it.
Also have you checked out the info. that’s available on the web? Google search for “DVD region free” and at least 2 really informative sites will pop up.
Soddom, i’m very surprised that the place off of Shita Rd would n’t fix your player; a friend of mine had his done only a few weeks back. Are you sure it was the right place? I’ve been to a place on Pate Rd that also says that they’ll do it for NT$1,000-1,500. I can’t remember the exact address but it was a DVD player shop on the North side just east of Jin Shan.
By the way, a friend just bought a new Panasonic player from 3C and when he asked for a multi region player they just gave him the number of a man who could ‘fix’ his new player for a NT$1,000. You could just go in there an ask for the same number.
DVDRhelp.com has a section for your question. Many players can be turned regionless with the ordinary remote control. Check to see if yours is listed. My brother has a KOSS system and it works well.
The cheap(<NT5000) DVD players are pretty much all going to have poor build quality compared to your Pioneer. The reason why they’re so cheap is because of practically non-existent quality control.
A good DVD player will still cost around NT10,000. Get a good one that can be hacked with a remote. Most hi-end shops will be able to help you with that. Much safer than getting it “chipped”.
Did you get this answered… this came up on the books thread and I thought I would bump this for his info (plus I am interested cause I have a 4 year old high end Pioneer DVD) with all Japanese instructions so I am not sure if I can crack it via RC.
The instructions won’t tell you if you can change it, it’s not supposed to changable, that is part of of the DVD standard. They can’t publically annouce that is it region free, or nasty things will happen to them (ie, not be allowed to make DVD players anymore) But sometimes they ‘accidentally’ let the info leak out.
If you want to tell us what model pioneer it is, we can search for it on the interweb, or you can do it yourself.
Did you get this answered… this came up on the books thread and I thought I would bump this for his info (plus I am interested cause I have a 4 year old high end Pioneer DVD) with all Japanese instructions so I am not sure if I can crack it via RC.[/quote]
No I didn’t. I took a good look at the DVD player crack sites, and my model requires major surgery. I’ve opted to buy a computer DVD drive instead. I read that all the LiteOn models can be easily “fixed” with software.
That’s a pretty good way to do it, updating your DVD-drive BIOS is a bit scary, Then get a copy of Power-DVD and DVD-Genie from inmatrix.com/genie/ so you can change the region that Power-DVD uses (Both the drive AND the software check the region) And you’ll be all set.
Why? I have 2 chipped players (and one I sold) and there is nothing unsafe about getting it chipped.
In Malaysia the modification was included in the price and in Australia cost me AUD50 only.
Here in Taiwan I use a locally purchased Shinco which is multi-region out of the box, i.e. does not require shipping nor handset hacks.
Performance is fair if you use a standard TV and not some high-end projector.
Many DVD players sold in the UK are cheaper than here and are multi-region out of the box. Of course we know Taiwan is very active in protecting intellectual property rights, so two cheers for their preventing me from playing my full-price British DVDs here.
You guys should find the HiFi area just off of Chunghwa Rd. kind of across from HsiMenTing. All of the DVD players there are region free, and they have Pioneer, Panasonic etc. It is not necessary to Chip or Mod your DVD players and it is not necessary to buy a “no name” brand, but if you want, they can be had as well. Price are very good and slightly negotiable, so ask around. A friend of mine just purchased a top of the line slim Pioneer progressive scan model for about NT$5,000, and of course it plays MP3 CDRs as well.
[quote]But I tried a British dvd in it, and to my delight it played, but in B&W only.[/quote]Yes, that’s because it’s PAL, the colour part of the signal is on a different frequency.
You’re lucky that’s all that’s wrong, usually it scrolls like a mad scrolly thing too because it’s at 50Hz instead of NTSC’s 60. You either need a multi-system TV (this is best), or a DVD-Player that can do the conversion. If you want a suggestion, I need to know the make and model. Even then I’ll just search for it on the interweb.
That is the THIRD time this week someone had asked for advice on their specific DVD player without telling me what make it is
[quote]But I tried a British dvd in it, and to my delight it played, but in B&W only. Region 2, I think, but PAL format…
Any suggestions? It’s a color DVD itself… and I know it plays in color![/quote]
Matthew is spot on by suggesting a Multi-System TV (usually the more expensive models have this function) but there is another alternative: if your DVD Player has a Component (YUV) output and your TV/display has a YUV input, you can also enjoy PAL DVDs in color.
However in any case the player needs to support PAL explicitly - most players here sold are based on US/Japanese models and hence play NTSC only.
[quote]if your DVD Player has a Component (YUV) output and your TV/display has a YUV input, you can also enjoy PAL DVDs in color.[/quote]Would a S-Video connector work too ? Doesn’t that use different wires for something intead of putting it all on one wire ?
Nope, unfortunately not. Component (aka YUV/YPrPb/YCrCb) and RGB (Red, Green, Blue - which is common in Europe) are technically both component formats and thus seperate the color information, hence they are not affected by the PAL/NTSC issue.
S-Video seperates chrominance and luminance only while composite mixes the whole shit, thus providing the worst signal quality but both still carry PAL or NTSC signals.
Note that YUV and RGB are not compatible, even though YUV uses red, green and blue as color for the connectors.
