[jakesjag]

We are back to dealing with this again. The Samsung DVD-V6700 Tunerless DVD VHS Combo Player we purchased after moving back to US stopped working. I got it on Amazon thinking we had the hack to be able to watch our UK DVD's and videos but never could get it to work. Now it has died after very little use so am shopping again. This time I want to make sure that we can set it to watch now only our UK videos and DVDs but are US ones.

We are looking for player that does both because we still have so many VHS videos.

I am using videohelp site to check players I find to see if there is a hack for it. Just found this Samsung DVD-VR375 on Amazon that has hack on the videohelp. So when I do the hack for it, it should be able to play both UK purchased videos and DVDs along with US ones?

I can see now it would probably have been best to rid ourselves of all these before we moved but we have so many that our daughters really love and at time it seemed possible to work this out.

[YankeeDaz]

It's a little more complicated than that.......I know it's frustrating.

DVDs are region locked, but they're also encoded, as either PAL or NTSC with respect to the UK and USA.

Videos and DVDs from the UK are encoded in PAL format, so you'll need a DVD/Video combo that has a PAL decoder and either outputs a PAL signal (for a UK or Multisystem TV) or converts the PAL signal to an NTSC signal (for a USA TV).

The DVD player you quote will not show those PAL Videos or PAL DVDs.

This place has the multi-system DVD players and Video players:-

http://www.world-import.com/

but it all about weighing up the cost and deciding if you think its worthwhile. Can those Videos be bought as USA DVDs or are they personal home movie stuff, which you can't lose?

Anything with PAL output will need a PAL to NTSC converter to play on a USA TV, unless the TV is multi-system and recognises all coding/input formats, sometimes DVD players have these built-in, but most times they do not.

I converted all my home videos on VHS to DVDs in the UK before I left as I knew getting something to play PAL VHS would be very hard to find. I also bought my collection of 300+ UK DVDs with me to the states and I just play them on my laptop with WinDVD and DVD Ghost (multi-region fix for any USA DVDs I purchased.).

You have a few options, but don't waste your money if you don't have too. Look at the DVD player specs. It has to have PAL playback. If it doesn't have NTSC output for the PAL decoding then you'll need a multisystem TV or a PAL to NTSC converter.

I bought something similar to this, for my son to play his UK DVDs:-

http://www.amazon.com/GPX-PDL804-Mul...sr =8-2-spell

Works out a little cheaper as well.

D.

[jakesjag]

Thanks for writing.

Are you saying, even with the dvd/video player, we need to have a TV that plays PAL.
I checked the link you sent and found these combinations
http://www.world-import.com/Pal_NTSC...R_Combos.h tm

Would these work?
Thanks

[YankeeDaz]

The first one:-

http://www.world-import.com/daewoo_dv-6t955b.htm

Will play PAL and NTSC DVDs to an NTSC TV, which is what you want, but will only play NTSC videos to an NTSC TV, which isn't want you want, ie you'll not be able to play those PAL videos.

The 2nd one:-

http://www.world-import.com/V8726W.htm

Will play PAL DVDs and Videos to a PAL TV (UK or multi-system TV). To output to an NTSC (USA) TV it needs one of the converters from http://www.world-import.com/samar.htm

Likewise with the rest, its a mix and match. Some can play PAL, but then they need a PAL to NTSC converter to get the signal to the USA TV or you need a Multisystem TV.

This looks like what you need, and they have a small deal going:-

http://www.world-import.com/Set2_DVD...nd_NTSC_TV.htm

It needs a HD NTSC TV. Do you have one?

BTW. I have bought 2 Multi-system TV's from World Import without any problems.

HTH.
D

[jakesjag]

YankeeDaz -

This is link to the TV we got
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIER.../ref=de_a_smtd

Below is more information from it. It doesn't look there is a hack either to make it multi-regional.
Thanks


It looks like it has everything put the PAL
Technical Details
Display Area: 32"
Display Type: LCD
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Contrast Ratio: 10000:1
Response Time: 8 ms
Signal Compatibility: 720p
Input Video Signal: ATSC
Input Video Signal: QAM
Input Video Signal: NTSC
Screen Refresh Rate: 60Hz
Condition: New
Features: PC Input
Speakers: 2
Inputs: PC
Inputs: Composite
Inputs: HDMI In
Inputs: Component
Inputs: SD Memory Card Slot
Outputs: Analog Audio
Outputs: Digital Audio Out
HDMI Ports: 2
Power Consumption: 120W

[YankeeDaz]

Thats a nice TV. Yes its NTSC only, but has HDMI which will work with that last 'deal' link.

There are usually no hacks to make TVs multi-system as its more to do with the electronics and signal processing. NTSC and PAL are completely different ways of encoding signals so each type basically needs its own circuitry. Region locks are just silly pieces of software to try and curb piracy and annoy honest people.

D.

[jakesjag]

Just showed the link to my husband and came to the conclusion that it is not worth it! I thought we had a lot of UK videos but as it turns out, it is not that many that we purchased there. We had a video there that would play the US videos.

Thanks so much for all your help.

[YankeeDaz]

Yeah, no problem.

I know its annoying.

Good luck.
D.

[james]

We bought a Philips DVP3140 DVD player. Plays all our UK & US dvds no problem. Just search multi-region dvd on amazon.
such as this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVP396.../dp/B000SKTAZ8