Thanks so much for watching my video! You can find the Region Free blu-ray players mentioned in the video through these links: (US) SONY Region Free Player - amzn.to/3qbnQtz (US) LG Region Free Player - amzn.to/2OyunAF (UK) LG Region Free Player - amzn.to/2NjPgPw (UK) SONY Region Free Player - amzn.to/3d7lt7m *Disclaimer - any purchases made through the above link do help support the channel at no additional cost to you. I thank you for the support as always*
Another option is to go for a PS3 and jailbreak it. It works on all the original fat PS3 and most of the slim PS3 (not superslim). Another option is to install PS3Hen and run Multiman on any PS3. There's options to switch to any DVD or Blu ray region.
When the blu-ray format first came out the cheapest option was to buy a ps3. I also bought a ps3 from the U.S at the same time & covered my region locking issues that way 👍
@@andersmelchiorsen6739 I was literally about to post the post the same thing. I modded mine about 2 years ago and a mates last year, that way I could have multiple places to watch my Region Bs
@ElliotCoen do these players play 4k or do I need to look for a specific 4k player ? if so can you recommend a 4k player to purchase in UK. I have some Region A 4K UHD Blu-ray's that will not play on my XBoxSeriesX or PS5. People say the 4K Blu-rays are Region Free but that has not been my experience. Maybe I'm missing something and misunderstood. Any help would be very much appreciated as I'm a bit lost now.
I can't say it'll work for every player, but there's also the Top Menu trick to play region locked films on non multi-region players. Basically, you put in your region locked Blu-ray, press stop to stop the disc, then press the Top Menu button a few times and the disc will jump straight to the menu.
Also, if you do have a multi-region player that's able to be connected to Wifi, NEVER update the firmware as this can render any modification to play other regions redundant. I found that out not long ago.
My friend bought a Sony region free player which was modified by a third party to be a region free player. He told me that it’s extremely important to turn off the automatic firmware upgrade feature of the player. If you were to allow the player to automatically upgrade the firmware, it would automatically wipe out the region free firmware installed by the third party and replace it with the region specific firmware
I bought a multi-region player a few years ago from a store called multi-region magic here in the UK, and it's great. It might be worth noting for anybody thinking about getting into 4K that multi-region versions are available of some of those players. 4K discs are supposed to be region free, but a few scattered examples of region-specific discs have been noted, so worth bearing in mind just in case. It's true that multi-region capability is not quite as straightforward as with chipped DVD, but on mine I just have to press one of the coloured buttons (with no disc loaded) - red (region A), green (B), or yellow (C) to select what I want, so no great faff.
@@RogieVixen It was a Panasonic DMP-BDT380EB. That model is no longer available though. Unfortunately I've run into a problem in that a month or so back I tried to watch a region A disc and my player would no longer read them. I've no idea what's happened as I certainly haven't upgraded the software on the player (whether it did it without my knowledge is another matter). I haven't approached the company about it yet as I'm wanting to get a 4K player soon. Perhaps when I do that I'll raise the other matter to see what they say.
@ShanghaiRooster Thanks for replying! Ah I think that's the one I was looking at last night after reading your comment. That's such a shame, hope you can find a good replacement or the company can help you
@@RogieVixen Thanks. Hope you can find what you're looking for. You won't regret it, although your bank manager might be heard grinding his/her teeth. 😂
And I bought spongebob the complete tenth season in dec 2019 and did not watch it all and we left in dec 31 or 30 2019 so I can’t play the disc in my region
I'm across the pond. I went region free last fall and have been going crazy playing "catch-up" with UK releases ever since. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.
Thanks for bringing this to people's attention. For me it's absolutely necessary for a player to play discs from every possible region. I'd never buy a region-locked player. I own three players and all three of them are multi-region. In my opinion, if you love movies, it's ridiculous to lock yourself to just those movies that are being released in your own region. You'd miss out on so much great stuff. I own movies from all over the world and even though I'm in region B, I think I own more region A and region C discs than I own actual region B discs. Just last week I ordered another region A disc from Hong Kong. I really couldn't live with a region-locked player.
220-electronics out of Elk Grove, IL is where I bought my modded region free Sony S5100 blu-ray player when I got my 1080p tv 9 years ago, still works to this day.
Same. On a Sony s3700. Works a treat for imports outside USA. The players can get pretty up there in price though when all is done. I took a slight upper player with a few bells. Vs bare bones. For me, I need another player like a hoarder I am lol. I got 6 ray players. 19 dvd players and 3 4k players. Course only a few are running. I wanted to mod a 4k player at 220, but high price. I fig 4k is already region free on a 4k disk so why. Most Sony upscales good enough. My 4k is a X800. I just needed something to watch region locked at time so, went with the 3700. Comes with all factory stuff in orig box. Lifetime on the region free. Player is all free- DVD and A,BC ray. Cost ran me with discount at 149 shipped. Solved my issues so I fig money invested well. I am curious though as to how they mod said players. Chip or firm. I fig with the bulk volume in sales it is not chip. Just a simple modded firmware they came to create or trick etc.
Very helpful video, Elliot! Thanks! What I learned is that companies do not make region-free players. I thought they did. That insight helped explain why I was finding the same models some marked as region-free and others not; it was quite confusing to me. Thanks for explaining! Also, for the very tech-minded, TechMoan and some others have tutorials to do it oneself; hint, it also involves soldering if one is so inclined
Found this channel last week and it’s really refreshing. Collected DVDs years ago but since then - streamed my way into 2001. Bought my first Blu Ray last week - 12 Angry Men from Criteron. Considering getting a multi region and building a small collection but can’t decide on a tv. I’m not sure I want to spend as much as 1k on one but at the same time - feel like I’m not going to be making the most of Blu Ray and 4K especially if I don’t. Advice on this would be awesome! Especially in time for Memories of Murder in April ❤️
I just recently got a Sony A8H and absolutely love it. It is on the pricey side though. Was also considering an LG CX and a Samsung Q90T. They were both cheaper, but went with the Sony because of it's excellent color reproduction. I learned a lot from watching the channel Stop the Fomo. Also picked up a region free player from 220 Electronics in Chicago. Went with an LG UBK90. So far, it's been great.
Region coding was NEVER about protecting the poor rights holders, nor was it about "promoting friendly competition". It was always about giving a small group of people all the power to decide who in the world gets to see what content, how, when, through what means, and in what form (uncut or censored).
I bought a region free Blu-ray player on eBay brand new. Very cheap. Took me a little while to understand it but now I enjoy watching content from other regions.
I have a large collection of DVD's of TV programs from the UK, Australia and New Zealand. I learned some years ago that the PAL format DVD's of the UK would play on zone-free DVD players, which I was able to purchase from Amazon. So I am able to play any of these discs in the US. I love UK programming. I have never had to enter a code in any of the zone-free DVD and BluRay players, but then I was only interested in playing the NTSC and PAL formats.
The days when you bought a DVD player from Aldi or Lidl and just put a 4 digit code in using the remote or buying a hack remote for the premium brands.
Finally, a great overview of the whole confusing mess CLEARLY explained! I payed $680 for the latest high tech 4K twin tuner 500GB Panasonic Blu-Ray HDD Player/rec(PWT550) assuming it was already a multi-region BLU-RAY player, but it wasn't!!! arrhh. I think what they meant was it's just a multi-region standard dvd(non blu-ray player)?
Yes I was suckered in about 10 years ago, purchased a Sony region free blu ray player that only played region free DVD’s now have a LG that I purchased from Amazon for $139 happy with that, many of my favorite noir’s only available in the UK on blu ray, great informative video
I got the Panasonic UB820 region free 4k player from an EBAY store. Works perfectly. Really happy with it. Great player. Region free is definitely the way to go.
I live in Bangkok and had that issue but researched found a exceptional quality DVD all region player. My daughter brought it to me a few years ago. It's upverting too it plays a great quality too.
I have been looking to get a region free Blu Ray player, so this was very helpful! I am so frustrated with certain movies only being available on Blu Ray in another country but not mine, or the Blu Ray of a movie in another country has a better quality transfer than the Blu Ray available in my country. I want to actually be able to watch what I want to watch lol.
It's also worth noting that historically some film companies have secured financing for the production by selling the foreign distibution rights. There's also some anime Blurays thay try and get around region free players by reading the player's default language setting rather than the region code.
I have an OPPO UDP-203 that I purchased in the USA and I ordered an all region kit that I installed myself. The kit consists of just a small circuit board which is about 1/4 in wide and a half in long and it gets plugged into an open plug on the main circuit board of the OPPPO. A simple and very easy installation. This kit does not require any entering of codes or anything out of normal. I just put in different region Blu Ray disk and they play right away. Since The OPPO 203 is no longer made - I think this conversion kit is no longer made.
I found my native NTSC DVDs looked so much better after changing my DVD player's settings to NTSC rather than buying a British version of the same disk (I live in England). This only encouraged me to buy American DVDs for the American shows I wanted to buy. Today's LCD TV's don't care what you give them, they will just play them. The reason is obvious, the best NTSC quality comes from watching the format nativity, the same is true with PAL. And before people message me... Yes, the PAL vs NTSC formats still matters today, but not as they did before the predigital days.
Great rundown Elliot, this was a good video and visual to show the variety of looking into a region-free player. Keep up the excellent content my friend, cheers!
I've had a region free blu ray player for ages since my brother got one back then and advised me to get the same model. I love it to bits, as I like to purchase releases from all over. I mostly use it for region A blu rays, though currently I am also watching an Australian dvd release on it (I'm in Germany). Though I never knew that it was modded, I just thought that's how they were made.. It actually makes sense though and I think it's pretty neat somehow. Also, I actually kinda like having to put in that code and choosing the region myself ^^
DVD players can often be changed to region 0 with just a (manufacturers) numerical code from the remote. I was hoping your video would provide the same option for Blu-ray players.
Great video, Ive got the oppo like yourself. They seemed to of topped the bluray player standard then disappeared, quite expensive now. The region locking nonsense of blu rays always seemed to be at the industries detriment as it would just force people to illegally download in my eyes although that fine for most people who enjoy the physical media seem to suffer. Whats your thoughts on the criterion channel locking their services in a similar fashion? Even with express VPN I cannot subscribe as they seem to be looking at credit/debit cards aswell. Seems to be taking it a bit too far in my opinion... Dont they want money? lol
Very informative and clear video. I bought a collection of discs from someone leaving the USA for Mexico and included in the collection was a 2008 Coppola Restoration Blu-ray slip-covered set of "The Godfather" (3 movie discs plus a supplement disc) that appears to be (and probably is) still in its original sealed shrink wrap. But because it's sealed, I can't actually look at anything on the blu-ray cases themselves as to what region they are from, and nothing on the slipcover (which keeps me from seeing the back side of any of the discs) has this information either. But there are clues (like the round sticker on the slipcover that signifies this set is suitable only for those 15 years of age or older, and the statement on an end panel that this was to be "Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment (UK), that it's a UK edition, hence Region B, while in the USA my potential clients (because I intend to resell this on eBay and usually only sell to USA buyers) are in Region A. I was hoping there was some kind of a workaround that I could share with a buyer that didn't involve getting all new hardware, and after watching this video I know there is are two: (1) the simple one -- but I don't intentionally purchase discs that are not Region A, and rarely buy discs for personal use, so I can't justify spending $150 or more USA to buy a multi region player; and (2) to rip a region-specific Blu-ray to a Blupray optical drive that can record as well as play Blu-rays, and then watch it from the drive attached to a computer, but that won't help me in dealing with region-specific sealed--package Blu-rays (and even if I had a blu-ray player that also recorded in blu-ray, I wouldn't be transferring the movie content to a blank blu-ray and then repackage the item as "new" for enhanced resale value, as that would violate various laws as well as being unethical, and likely get me in trouble with a buyer if they opened the case they'd bought from me and didn't find a direct printed on label on the recordable disc inside). Anyway, didn't have the information I hoped to see, but I was in no way misled by the title of the video, and did enjoy how the information was presented. Thanks!
LG BP250 multi region is NOT multi region for either DVD nor Blu-ray. it seems to be pot luck as to which player you receive when you order the "Region Free" player.
Thanks for the detailed info. Im in region C and I was going to buy a Region B disc, but I dont have any player. I like the option of buying multiple players, but as you talked about computer rom that can play all, it might be the best option for me, if that means, I can buy any region and they should all play fine on my computer? Thanks
Hi, good video. I thought 'they're cheap!', half the price of the ones I'd been looking at, and then I remembered that they'd been 4K too. So at those prices it'd be cheaper to buy a basic 4K player separately but do you have any recommendations for a 4K player that's bluray and DVD region free (and cheapish)?
You can also buy a kit that you can install into certain models of Bluray and DVD players, I’ve seen Panasonic, Sony and LG versions. The kit flashes the firmware on the device that comes from the manufacture replacing it with the modified firmware.
Great video, very informative. Are USB Blu Ray drives that can you connect to your PC multi region? Or are they locked and you have to have a multi region drive? I hope it isn’t the latter since ripping a film to watch as a file sounds wild lmao.
Great ,thanks so much for taking the time to this ,looking at the Sony 1700 and what with the option of an extra 3 year extra protection £11 could be the best way to go 😉
I noticed you haven't talked about the tangential issue of 3D Blu Rays. Some 3D Blu Rays have now been made as BC discs, explicitly denying A region users 3d copies of movies worldwide. I have a Turtle Beach DSS to convert Dobly Digital into Dolby Headphones. Any 3d Blu Ray players that convert DTS and LPCM into Dolby?
I need help with this one. Last night I tried to film on my region-free blu-ray player and it wouldn't recognise the disc. I've had her since 2017 and she works like a dream. It's just now, that she's started to give me trouble. I've tried to play the new Tiger Cage box set from 88 Films and she wouldn't recognise the disc. I tried again with the 88Films Drive release, didn't work. Thinking that it might be the discs, I went and tried them downstairs. They worked fine. I've tried two more discs on her and had no problems. I've just tried to see if the software need updating, well I can't see if she needs an update because she can't connect to the internet. Her setting is set to wired instead of wireless and I can't get to change it.
Just want to say hello and that I think you’re channel is great. Your choke up on losing Roeg made me know you are a good and genuine guy. Cheers Elliot
My experience has been that Panasonic Blu-ray players and DVD players cannot have a code that a normal person can use. A technician has a specific type of remote control that will make a Panasonic player code free. I also have experience with Samsung players and if you can't find a code that works, finding a technician who can make it code free is difficult.
I noticed a video a guy made. He came up with a hack for Panasonic players where you put a disc in from another region and it says it can’t play. He showed on the video you press Stop on the remote, then if press Top Menu if it is on the remote etc he presses a button four times. This apparently works on most Panasonic blu-Ray players (including 4K versions). Just watch the video and follow his instructions. My player is still in the box and I’m half remembering these instructions. One thing to Remeber this only seems to be for blu-rays not DVDs. I’m not sure if there is a way to get around the DVDs Anyway here is the link. I believe it works for other blu-Ray players too ruclips.net/video/rXAWeZeNzFc/видео.html
Hey how you doing I have a resume player dean Blu-ray and DVD but I bought a Blu-ray for me another country and it don't play ITIT's just for movies Fsk ab 16 Blu-ray ??? I am in the United States
Thanks for this. Does anyone know if you can use region 4 dvds in a region free Blu-ray player. I have a local movie store and I bought A Bronx Tale on DVD, but it’s a region 4 copy, which I didn’t think about due to it being a local store in America. I didn’t think they’d have dvds and blu-rays from different regions. I could return it, but it would be way easier to just cough up some extra money and never have to worry about regions again.
Very informative video. Some titles are only available outside of the country you’re in. For instance I am in the US and I collect TV titles and Hawaii Five-0 and Blu-ray is only available outside of the US for some reason. During the present locked down there seems to be a ton I’ve listings on eBay for various titles and sometimes they’re available way before the US official release do you know is there anyway to tell if a title is a bootleg versus an official release out of the country? I’ve seen Many TV show releases (Dvd) that are being sold months before being released in the Us and being that they are US shows wondered if they are bootlegs from China? Is there any way to tell and or if they play OK should I care?
I agree 👍 💯 I have an oppo 203 as well. It's built like a tank. It plays everything I put in it. Region free is the best way to go. I love it, but my wallet hates it! To many movies to buy! LOL 😆
@@danieln9564 yes I share that problem... But so much great stuff coming out it's hard to resist grabbing much of it (though of course it's impossible to grab EVERYTHING!).. my wallet also isn't happy lol
When I upgraded my home theatre system with a 4K TV and a 4K Blu player, I made sure that the player I got was multi-region because I did reach a point where I should take advantage of more viewing options. I got a modified Sony UBP-X700 sold through Amazon. I never had issues with firmware upgrades losing that ability. It does involve pressing buttons to switch between regions, but once you understand the logic, it's easy to go back and forth. That said, it does help to save whatever guides are given.
Hi, Elliot. Thanks for covering another interesting topic. Your videos are always a joy to watch. Man, was I lucky the other day! I walked out of my local Goodwill thrift store with 3 brand new, sealed Criterion blu rays: (1) Barry Lyndon; (2) A Room with a View; and (3) The Philadelphia Story -- all for $8.99 a piece!! I couldn't believe it! So happy 😊 Could you recommend some of the top UK region B locked players, and other than Amazon UK, is there another source in the UK from which to consider purchasing and importing to the US a blu ray player?
About 20 years ago an electronics repairman had installed a part in my dvd-reading stereo and was reading dvd discs for every region. i thought you were going to mention a part when starting the video. and you're buying a new device.
Update, now i have a Reavon x100, works fine plays gemini man, The Howling from Scream Factory, but it refused to play The Big Easy saying it was Region A,even though seller said it was us import, my Reavon said different, can you help ? Thanks
Thank you for explaining this subject for me! You really clarified this and I now understand what the region-free player is. I worry that in getting a region-free player, I might be getting a cheapie Blu-ray player. I'll stick with a region-A Blu-ray player, thank you!!!
THANX FOR CLEAR EXPLAINATION !!! BUT IS THAT NOT EASIER TO FIND OUT, WHAT THAT FEW CLICK ON CODE ARE, AND SET-UP THE EVERY POSSIBLE BRAND OR MODEL TO A "FREE"...? JUST WANDERING IF YOU KNOW THAT "MAGIC KEY CODE..."
I have a Sony BDP-x800M2 and having trouble knowing how to boot up the device to the correct region for the disc I'm using..why is it so difficult to find out how to play back my BD discs? I'm losing my mind here
What do you do when the region code of the Blu-ray from music bands are released with a "0" or all region but will not play on any Blu-ray player I have in the U.S
Been region free for 6 years almost. 220-electronics is a great place for people in the states. I started out with a region free DVD player then upgraded to a sony Blu-ray player...now I got a region free lg 4k player..yes I know 4k discs are supposed to be region free but the region free 4k players from 220-electronics make watching Blu-ray and DVDs region free. I'm a huge fan of arrow video, 88films and studio canal in uk. So I been using Amazon uk and de (German amazon) for some releases that never got an american Blu-ray (Mel Gibson Hamlet) or 4k releases (princess bride 4kuhd). ...btw just check release details for English audio track info on imports or whatever language you prefer is available on the release. Pretty simple to switch audio track language in disc menus some I've bought actually come english as default lol even coming from Germany
I decided to get a region free player when I upgraded my TV, & I was super PISSED when American blu rays didn't work. Lucky I looked at the manual which had the code to change it. I didn't know. I now use my PS4 for regular blu rays, while this new player for region free discs (like Criterion's Bergman set), or discs that I can't use on my PS4.
So my sony BDP S3500 that I got a few years back will play any DVD automatically and you just use the coloured buttons to change the blu ray region. As far as I can tell, when it came in the mail, it looked to be factory sealed, so if the guy who sold it to me did hack it, he did a damn good job re packaging it
So I use a Panasonic DP-UB820 4K UHD player. If I purchased a region free Blu-ray player I would take a dip in quality. Would I be better off purchasing a region free 4K UHD player, so I can also play region locked 4K UHD discs and play Blu-rays in better quality? If so do you have an recommendations for a player and where to purchase from please? I'm in the UK.
Hi Nyle. 4K UHD discs are not region locked, so you can import 4K discs from anywhere and play them on any 4K player. This video is just about going region free for standard blu-rays, so perhaps you will keep your current 4K player and have a region free Blu-ray player to run alongside it.
@@ElliotCoen Hi, there is a few region locked 4K Blu-rays but not many. However, as you know a 4K player upscales regular Blu-rays too so with a normal player you'd miss out on picture quality. I'd just like to know the best player for picture quality which will allow me to play region locked discs. Thanks.
Hi Eliot. Thanks for the video. Do you use a different player for 4K discs then? What i need is a 4K player, that handles multi-region BR's also and can output Atmos/DTSX as well. My current Sony player does all that except the muti region. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions ?
I recently purchased Sony BDP-S6700 from a private sale on Facebook Marketplace. I feel it may be the unmodified version. I didn't realise the same model number could be used on the mod/unmod version. Therefore, this video is informative in retrospect.
Greatly informational! I must say though, I laughed way too hard at the part, "I grabbed a totally random blu-ray out of my collection. So, here's Barry Lyndon" Haha, you always give it a plug at any chance you get
On one thing I am sad. I understand why there are region locked discs, however if they make region locked discs they should be sure the movie could be bought in every region. Like I am a fan of old westerns, most of the time they are only region 1.
I definitely need one of these region free players because Arrow video has some incredible titles that aren't available here in the USA and I see so many movies that are available in the UK that are OOP in the USA so this was the perfect video for me.
I have over 90 Criterion’s and even though I have a second 4K player with multi region firmware, with the Criterion’s released post 2010 I play them on my main 4K player and use the top menu trick (when the region coding message comes up I press stop and then top menu button and lo and behold I get the main menu of the disc) However this only works with Criterion blu ray’s. I have a few Kino Lorber Blu Rays and this trick won’t work with their discs, so that’s where my second 4K player comes in handy.
Thanks so much for watching my video! You can find the Region Free blu-ray players mentioned in the video through these links:
(US) SONY Region Free Player - amzn.to/3qbnQtz
(US) LG Region Free Player - amzn.to/2OyunAF
(UK) LG Region Free Player - amzn.to/2NjPgPw
(UK) SONY Region Free Player - amzn.to/3d7lt7m
*Disclaimer - any purchases made through the above link do help support the channel at no additional cost to you. I thank you for the support as always*
Another option is to go for a PS3 and jailbreak it. It works on all the original fat PS3 and most of the slim PS3 (not superslim). Another option is to install PS3Hen and run Multiman on any PS3. There's options to switch to any DVD or Blu ray region.
When the blu-ray format first came out the cheapest option was to buy a ps3.
I also bought a ps3 from the U.S at the same time & covered my region locking issues that way 👍
@@andersmelchiorsen6739 I was literally about to post the post the same thing. I modded mine about 2 years ago and a mates last year, that way I could have multiple places to watch my Region Bs
@ElliotCoen do these players play 4k or do I need to look for a specific 4k player ? if so can you recommend a 4k player to purchase in UK. I have some Region A 4K UHD Blu-ray's that will not play on my XBoxSeriesX or PS5. People say the 4K Blu-rays are Region Free but that has not been my experience. Maybe I'm missing something and misunderstood. Any help would be very much appreciated as I'm a bit lost now.
I can't say it'll work for every player, but there's also the Top Menu trick to play region locked films on non multi-region players.
Basically, you put in your region locked Blu-ray, press stop to stop the disc, then press the Top Menu button a few times and the disc will jump straight to the menu.
Yeah, but how is this guy going to sell Blu-ray players with that advice?
Also, if you do have a multi-region player that's able to be connected to Wifi, NEVER update the firmware as this can render any modification to play other regions redundant. I found that out not long ago.
you nerfed your player?
NOW he tells me ...
Not true, only true if it’s a software change. If it’s hardware updates won’t affect region free.
Do you mean nullified instead of redundant? If not, are they adding region-free to older players through firmware updates?
So is it better off to buy one that can't use wi-fi?
My friend bought a Sony region free player which was modified by a third party to be a region free player. He told me that it’s extremely important to turn off the automatic firmware upgrade feature of the player. If you were to allow the player to automatically upgrade the firmware, it would automatically wipe out the region free firmware installed by the third party and replace it with the region specific firmware
Thanks for thar tip. Important to know that. Do you think avoiding the upgrade will make many future blu rays unplayable though?
@@miz4535 What Hardware is
modified?
Just don’t connect it to the internet
Windows update does modify firmware.
@@ShnickYeah, a Blu-ray player has windows OS, seems fitting.
I bought a multi-region player a few years ago from a store called multi-region magic here in the UK, and it's great. It might be worth noting for anybody thinking about getting into 4K that multi-region versions are available of some of those players. 4K discs are supposed to be region free, but a few scattered examples of region-specific discs have been noted, so worth bearing in mind just in case.
It's true that multi-region capability is not quite as straightforward as with chipped DVD, but on mine I just have to press one of the coloured buttons (with no disc loaded) - red (region A), green (B), or yellow (C) to select what I want, so no great faff.
This is the best way to go because you get region free A B C
Which player did you buy if you don’t mind me asking? I have a Samsung and I’ve tried every hack I can find for the model I’ve got, but no dice
@@RogieVixen It was a Panasonic DMP-BDT380EB. That model is no longer available though.
Unfortunately I've run into a problem in that a month or so back I tried to watch a region A disc and my player would no longer read them. I've no idea what's happened as I certainly haven't upgraded the software on the player (whether it did it without my knowledge is another matter). I haven't approached the company about it yet as I'm wanting to get a 4K player soon. Perhaps when I do that I'll raise the other matter to see what they say.
@ShanghaiRooster Thanks for replying! Ah I think that's the one I was looking at last night after reading your comment. That's such a shame, hope you can find a good replacement or the company can help you
@@RogieVixen Thanks. Hope you can find what you're looking for. You won't regret it, although your bank manager might be heard grinding his/her teeth. 😂
Bought a region free player last year when I started picking up the 88 Films Jackie Chan movies
So?
And I bought spongebob the complete tenth season in dec 2019 and did not watch it all and we left in dec 31 or 30 2019 so I can’t play the disc in my region
I'm across the pond. I went region free last fall and have been going crazy playing "catch-up" with UK releases ever since. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.
Are you able to watch UK blu-rays?
@@Vlad65WFPReviews Yes. Region B locked discs play just fine in my region free player.
Thanks for bringing this to people's attention. For me it's absolutely necessary for a player to play discs from every possible region. I'd never buy a region-locked player. I own three players and all three of them are multi-region.
In my opinion, if you love movies, it's ridiculous to lock yourself to just those movies that are being released in your own region. You'd miss out on so much great stuff. I own movies from all over the world and even though I'm in region B, I think I own more region A and region C discs than I own actual region B discs. Just last week I ordered another region A disc from Hong Kong. I really couldn't live with a region-locked player.
haha! at 02:50 - "it's a random disc".
*shows Barry Lyndon* (if you know, you know)
great tips and recommendations, btw!
220-electronics out of Elk Grove, IL is where I bought my modded region free Sony S5100 blu-ray player when I got my 1080p tv 9 years ago, still works to this day.
Yeah 220's where i just recently picked up a region free LG UBK90. Extremely happy with it.
Same. On a Sony s3700. Works a treat for imports outside USA. The players can get pretty up there in price though when all is done. I took a slight upper player with a few bells. Vs bare bones. For me, I need another player like a hoarder I am lol. I got 6 ray players. 19 dvd players and 3 4k players. Course only a few are running. I wanted to mod a 4k player at 220, but high price. I fig 4k is already region free on a 4k disk so why. Most Sony upscales good enough. My 4k is a X800. I just needed something to watch region locked at time so, went with the 3700. Comes with all factory stuff in orig box. Lifetime on the region free. Player is all free- DVD and A,BC ray. Cost ran me with discount at 149 shipped. Solved my issues so I fig money invested well. I am curious though as to how they mod said players. Chip or firm. I fig with the bulk volume in sales it is not chip. Just a simple modded firmware they came to create or trick etc.
Very helpful video, Elliot! Thanks! What I learned is that companies do not make region-free players. I thought they did. That insight helped explain why I was finding the same models some marked as region-free and others not; it was quite confusing to me. Thanks for explaining! Also, for the very tech-minded, TechMoan and some others have tutorials to do it oneself; hint, it also involves soldering if one is so inclined
Thank you! You're the first person to explain that all these multi-region players have been modified by third parties.
This video was so helpful! I've wanted to go region-free for a while now, but I was unsure which player would actually work. Thanks!
Perfect topic! I recently just started looking into a region-free player!
Found this channel last week and it’s really refreshing. Collected DVDs years ago but since then - streamed my way into 2001. Bought my first Blu Ray last week - 12 Angry Men from Criteron. Considering getting a multi region and building a small collection but can’t decide on a tv. I’m not sure I want to spend as much as 1k on one but at the same time - feel like I’m not going to be making the most of Blu Ray and 4K especially if I don’t. Advice on this would be awesome! Especially in time for Memories of Murder in April ❤️
I just recently got a Sony A8H and absolutely love it. It is on the pricey side though. Was also considering an LG CX and a Samsung Q90T. They were both cheaper, but went with the Sony because of it's excellent color reproduction. I learned a lot from watching the channel Stop the Fomo. Also picked up a region free player from 220 Electronics in Chicago. Went with an LG UBK90. So far, it's been great.
I actually picked up the Sony player and it worked great so far. You need to press one of the 4 color button to switch regions.
This was really helpful. Thanks Elliot
Hmmmmm, how random that you just happened to pull out Barry Lyndon to offer as an example😉😆
Why? What about it?
@@Corbomite-ei1ty it's his favorite movie and he uses it as an example all the time in his videos
Right? Exactly what I thought. It is a very smarty selection. Hardly random, I suspect. Har.
Region coding was NEVER about protecting the poor rights holders, nor was it about "promoting friendly competition". It was always about giving a small group of people all the power to decide who in the world gets to see what content, how, when, through what means, and in what form (uncut or censored).
Partly true, there are also a lot of labyrinthine distribution rights issues all over the planet which plays a part too
I bought a region free Blu-ray player on eBay brand new. Very cheap. Took me a little while to understand it but now I enjoy watching content from other regions.
Elliot, thank you for this video. I have a number of region 2 discs in my collection that I need a proper player to watch and this helps a lot.
I have a large collection of DVD's of TV programs from the UK, Australia and New Zealand. I learned some years ago that the PAL format DVD's of the UK would play on zone-free DVD players, which I was able to purchase from Amazon. So I am able to play any of these discs in the US. I love UK programming. I have never had to enter a code in any of the zone-free DVD and BluRay players, but then I was only interested in playing the NTSC and PAL formats.
Can someone tell me how to switch regions on the 2 US players, I’m wondering because I would like full knowledge before purchasing
The days when you bought a DVD player from Aldi or Lidl and just put a 4 digit code in using the remote or buying a hack remote for the premium brands.
Wow, I'm looking for information on a region free Sony Blu-Ray player and you just showed my old LG Blu-Ray player...
Finally, a great overview of the whole confusing mess CLEARLY explained!
I payed $680 for the latest high tech 4K twin tuner 500GB Panasonic Blu-Ray HDD Player/rec(PWT550) assuming it was already a multi-region BLU-RAY player, but it wasn't!!! arrhh. I think what they meant was it's just a multi-region standard dvd(non blu-ray player)?
My Pioneer UDP-LX500 plays everything on Dvd and Bluray.
Did you get the pioneer modified.
Your right..I bought mine off ebay for 50 and I can play region B blu rays... without doing nothing to it
Yes I was suckered in about 10 years ago, purchased a Sony region free blu ray player that only played region free DVD’s now have a LG that I purchased from Amazon for $139 happy with that, many of my favorite noir’s only available in the UK on blu ray, great informative video
I've had multiregion players since the early dvd days😊😊
I got the Panasonic UB820 region free 4k player from an EBAY store. Works perfectly. Really happy with it. Great player. Region free is definitely the way to go.
Same here. Just perfect.
I intend buying this one too 👍
@@redrock425 you won’t be disappointed!
I live in Bangkok and had that issue but researched found a exceptional quality DVD all region player. My daughter brought it to me a few years ago. It's upverting too it plays a great quality too.
I have been looking to get a region free Blu Ray player, so this was very helpful! I am so frustrated with certain movies only being available on Blu Ray in another country but not mine, or the Blu Ray of a movie in another country has a better quality transfer than the Blu Ray available in my country. I want to actually be able to watch what I want to watch lol.
It's also worth noting that historically some film companies have secured financing for the production by selling the foreign distibution rights.
There's also some anime Blurays thay try and get around region free players by reading the player's default language setting rather than the region code.
That Don't Region Free player looks like the one I have. Going region free was the best decision I made as a collector.
I have an OPPO UDP-203 that I purchased in the USA and I ordered an all region kit that I installed myself. The kit consists of just a small circuit board which is about 1/4 in wide and a half in long and it gets plugged into an open plug on the main circuit board of the OPPPO. A simple and very easy installation.
This kit does not require any entering of codes or anything out of normal. I just put in different region Blu Ray disk and they play right away. Since The OPPO 203 is no longer made - I think this conversion kit is no longer made.
I found my native NTSC DVDs looked so much better after changing my DVD player's settings to NTSC rather than buying a British version of the same disk (I live in England). This only encouraged me to buy American DVDs for the American shows I wanted to buy. Today's LCD TV's don't care what you give them, they will just play them.
The reason is obvious, the best NTSC quality comes from watching the format nativity, the same is true with PAL.
And before people message me... Yes, the PAL vs NTSC formats still matters today, but not as they did before the predigital days.
Are you no longer doing thoughts on Criterion announcements?
Great rundown Elliot, this was a good video and visual to show the variety of looking into a region-free player. Keep up the excellent content my friend, cheers!
I've had a region free blu ray player for ages since my brother got one back then and advised me to get the same model. I love it to bits, as I like to purchase releases from all over. I mostly use it for region A blu rays, though currently I am also watching an Australian dvd release on it (I'm in Germany).
Though I never knew that it was modded, I just thought that's how they were made.. It actually makes sense though and I think it's pretty neat somehow. Also, I actually kinda like having to put in that code and choosing the region myself ^^
Sick PSA Elliot. I bought the wife the LG UK model and no complaints.
We have needed a video like this for a while. Thanks!
DVD players can often be changed to region 0 with just a (manufacturers) numerical code from the remote.
I was hoping your video would provide the same option for Blu-ray players.
Great video, Ive got the oppo like yourself. They seemed to of topped the bluray player standard then disappeared, quite expensive now. The region locking nonsense of blu rays always seemed to be at the industries detriment as it would just force people to illegally download in my eyes although that fine for most people who enjoy the physical media seem to suffer. Whats your thoughts on the criterion channel locking their services in a similar fashion? Even with express VPN I cannot subscribe as they seem to be looking at credit/debit cards aswell. Seems to be taking it a bit too far in my opinion... Dont they want money? lol
Very informative and clear video. I bought a collection of discs from someone leaving the USA for Mexico and included in the collection was a 2008 Coppola Restoration Blu-ray slip-covered set of "The Godfather" (3 movie discs plus a supplement disc) that appears to be (and probably is) still in its original sealed shrink wrap. But because it's sealed, I can't actually look at anything on the blu-ray cases themselves as to what region they are from, and nothing on the slipcover (which keeps me from seeing the back side of any of the discs) has this information either. But there are clues (like the round sticker on the slipcover that signifies this set is suitable only for those 15 years of age or older, and the statement on an end panel that this was to be "Distributed by Paramount Home Entertainment (UK), that it's a UK edition, hence Region B, while in the USA my potential clients (because I intend to resell this on eBay and usually only sell to USA buyers) are in Region A. I was hoping there was some kind of a workaround that I could share with a buyer that didn't involve getting all new hardware, and after watching this video I know there is are two: (1) the simple one -- but I don't intentionally purchase discs that are not Region A, and rarely buy discs for personal use, so I can't justify spending $150 or more USA to buy a multi region player; and (2) to rip a region-specific Blu-ray to a Blupray optical drive that can record as well as play Blu-rays, and then watch it from the drive attached to a computer, but that won't help me in dealing with region-specific sealed--package Blu-rays (and even if I had a blu-ray player that also recorded in blu-ray, I wouldn't be transferring the movie content to a blank blu-ray and then repackage the item as "new" for enhanced resale value, as that would violate various laws as well as being unethical, and likely get me in trouble with a buyer if they opened the case they'd bought from me and didn't find a direct printed on label on the recordable disc inside). Anyway, didn't have the information I hoped to see, but I was in no way misled by the title of the video, and did enjoy how the information was presented. Thanks!
LG BP250 multi region is NOT multi region for either DVD nor Blu-ray. it seems to be pot luck as to which player you receive when you order the "Region Free" player.
Thanks for the detailed info. Im in region C and I was going to buy a Region B disc, but I dont have any player. I like the option of buying multiple players, but as you talked about computer rom that can play all, it might be the best option for me, if that means, I can buy any region and they should all play fine on my computer? Thanks
Hi, good video. I thought 'they're cheap!', half the price of the ones I'd been looking at, and then I remembered that they'd been 4K too. So at those prices it'd be cheaper to buy a basic 4K player separately but do you have any recommendations for a 4K player that's bluray and DVD region free (and cheapish)?
I'm also looking for this too
Really helpful thanks bro, greetings from Saudi Arabia
Great post very well presented and a good help.
You can also buy a kit that you can install into certain models of Bluray and DVD players, I’ve seen Panasonic, Sony and LG versions. The kit flashes the firmware on the device that comes from the manufacture replacing it with the modified firmware.
Have you made a video where you don't mention Bazza Lyndon? :-)
Now why would I want to do a thing like that? :)
Best to buy 3 players for three regions in my opinion
😂
Great video, very informative. Are USB Blu Ray drives that can you connect to your PC multi region? Or are they locked and you have to have a multi region drive? I hope it isn’t the latter since ripping a film to watch as a file sounds wild lmao.
This was really helpful man. Thank you!
Great ,thanks so much for taking the time to this ,looking at the Sony 1700 and what with the option of an extra 3 year extra protection £11 could be the best way to go 😉
I noticed you haven't talked about the tangential issue of 3D Blu Rays. Some 3D Blu Rays have now been made as BC discs, explicitly denying A region users 3d copies of movies worldwide.
I have a Turtle Beach DSS to convert Dobly Digital into Dolby Headphones. Any 3d Blu Ray players that convert DTS and LPCM into Dolby?
This video was very helpful.. Thank you so much Elliot💙
as a horror fan I would love to be able to buy shout/scream factory blurays
You should go for it! Grab a Region free player :)
@@ElliotCoen I just did it :)....scream factory babies here I come
I need help with this one. Last night I tried to film on my region-free blu-ray player and it wouldn't recognise the disc. I've had her since 2017 and she works like a dream. It's just now, that she's started to give me trouble. I've tried to play the new Tiger Cage box set from 88 Films and she wouldn't recognise the disc. I tried again with the 88Films Drive release, didn't work. Thinking that it might be the discs, I went and tried them downstairs. They worked fine. I've tried two more discs on her and had no problems.
I've just tried to see if the software need updating, well I can't see if she needs an update because she can't connect to the internet. Her setting is set to wired instead of wireless and I can't get to change it.
Thank you so much for this video. It answered all my questions in a quick and simple way. .
Just want to say hello and that I think you’re channel is great. Your choke up on losing Roeg made me know you are a good and genuine guy. Cheers Elliot
I heard you should NOT update the firmware or even hook up to wifi as it could mess with the modifications and render it NON region free?
Could you make a video on a good set up for £500? Including TV and Blu ray player?
My experience has been that Panasonic Blu-ray players and DVD players cannot have a code that a normal person can use. A technician has a specific type of remote control that will make a Panasonic player code free. I also have experience with Samsung players and if you can't find a code that works, finding a technician who can make it code free is difficult.
I noticed a video a guy made. He came up with a hack for Panasonic players where you put a disc in from another region and it says it can’t play. He showed on the video you press Stop on the remote, then if press Top Menu if it is on the remote etc he presses a button four times. This apparently works on most Panasonic blu-Ray players (including 4K versions). Just watch the video and follow his instructions. My player is still in the box and I’m half remembering these instructions. One thing to Remeber this only seems to be for blu-rays not DVDs. I’m not sure if there is a way to get around the DVDs
Anyway here is the link. I believe it works for other blu-Ray players too
ruclips.net/video/rXAWeZeNzFc/видео.html
Excellent vid. You answered all of my questions. Thank you!
Hey how you doing I have a resume player dean Blu-ray and DVD but I bought a Blu-ray for me another country and it don't play ITIT's just for movies Fsk ab 16 Blu-ray ??? I am in the United States
Thanks for this. Does anyone know if you can use region 4 dvds in a region free Blu-ray player. I have a local movie store and I bought A Bronx Tale on DVD, but it’s a region 4 copy, which I didn’t think about due to it being a local store in America. I didn’t think they’d have dvds and blu-rays from different regions. I could return it, but it would be way easier to just cough up some extra money and never have to worry about regions again.
Very informative video. Some titles are only available outside of the country you’re in. For instance I am in the US and I collect TV titles and Hawaii Five-0 and Blu-ray is only available outside of the US for some reason. During the present locked down there seems to be a ton I’ve listings on eBay for various titles and sometimes they’re available way before the US official release do you know is there anyway to tell if a title is a bootleg versus an official release out of the country? I’ve seen Many TV show releases (Dvd) that are being sold months before being released in the Us and being that they are US shows wondered if they are bootlegs from China? Is there any way to tell and or if they play OK should I care?
Good insightful video Elliot!
i like when someone talk about region free bd player, i have two player: region a and region b greeting from indonesia😁
can I run any region of blu ray on an external blu ray drive on my pc
?
Yes playing a disc via a PC should get around region locking
Oooo Oppo UDP-203 region free... That's also my player.....and what a lovely piece of disc playing engineering it is...
I agree 👍 💯 I have an oppo 203 as well. It's built like a tank. It plays everything I put in it. Region free is the best way to go. I love it, but my wallet hates it! To many movies to buy! LOL 😆
@@danieln9564 yes I share that problem... But so much great stuff coming out it's hard to resist grabbing much of it (though of course it's impossible to grab EVERYTHING!).. my wallet also isn't happy lol
When I upgraded my home theatre system with a 4K TV and a 4K Blu player, I made sure that the player I got was multi-region because I did reach a point where I should take advantage of more viewing options. I got a modified Sony UBP-X700 sold through Amazon. I never had issues with firmware upgrades losing that ability. It does involve pressing buttons to switch between regions, but once you understand the logic, it's easy to go back and forth. That said, it does help to save whatever guides are given.
4ks aren’t region locked
@@lordrayden3045 I still watch Blu-rays and DVDs and now I can watch more. Thus I was looking for a complete all-in-one solution.
Hi, Elliot. Thanks for covering another interesting topic. Your videos are always a joy to watch. Man, was I lucky the other day! I walked out of my local Goodwill thrift store with 3 brand new, sealed Criterion blu rays: (1) Barry Lyndon; (2) A Room with a View; and (3) The Philadelphia Story -- all for $8.99 a piece!! I couldn't believe it! So happy 😊 Could you recommend some of the top UK region B locked players, and other than Amazon UK, is there another source in the UK from which to consider purchasing and importing to the US a blu ray player?
About 20 years ago an electronics repairman had installed a part in my dvd-reading stereo and was reading dvd discs for every region. i thought you were going to mention a part when starting the video. and you're buying a new device.
Update, now i have a Reavon x100, works fine plays gemini man, The Howling from Scream Factory, but it refused to play The Big Easy saying it was Region A,even though seller said it was us import, my Reavon said different, can you help ? Thanks
👍👍Very valuable info, indeed. Thanks!!
What region is the Uk ? Cause I have DVDs from there that I can’t watch here in USA
Thank you for explaining this subject for me!
You really clarified this and I now understand what the region-free player is.
I worry that in getting a region-free player, I might be getting a cheapie Blu-ray player.
I'll stick with a region-A Blu-ray player, thank you!!!
what is 4 digital code for region A or B and C?.
THANX FOR CLEAR EXPLAINATION !!!
BUT IS THAT NOT EASIER TO FIND OUT, WHAT THAT FEW CLICK ON CODE ARE,
AND SET-UP THE EVERY POSSIBLE BRAND OR MODEL TO A "FREE"...?
JUST WANDERING IF YOU KNOW THAT "MAGIC KEY CODE..."
Unfortunately not, as a code only works if the player has been modified
I have a Sony BDP-x800M2 and having trouble knowing how to boot up the device to the correct region for the disc I'm using..why is it so difficult to find out how to play back my BD discs? I'm losing my mind here
What do you do when the region code of the Blu-ray from music bands are released with a "0" or all region but will not play on any Blu-ray player I have in the U.S
Thanks for an excellent video. I finally have the answer to getting a proper multi-region player!
Very relevant and informative 👍
Been region free for 6 years almost. 220-electronics is a great place for people in the states. I started out with a region free DVD player then upgraded to a sony Blu-ray player...now I got a region free lg 4k player..yes I know 4k discs are supposed to be region free but the region free 4k players from 220-electronics make watching Blu-ray and DVDs region free. I'm a huge fan of arrow video, 88films and studio canal in uk. So I been using Amazon uk and de (German amazon) for some releases that never got an american Blu-ray (Mel Gibson Hamlet) or 4k releases (princess bride 4kuhd).
...btw just check release details for English audio track info on imports or whatever language you prefer is available on the release. Pretty simple to switch audio track language in disc menus some I've bought actually come english as default lol even coming from Germany
I decided to get a region free player when I upgraded my TV, & I was super PISSED when American blu rays didn't work. Lucky I looked at the manual which had the code to change it. I didn't know. I now use my PS4 for regular blu rays, while this new player for region free discs (like Criterion's Bergman set), or discs that I can't use on my PS4.
So if you bought the player before you got it modified you have to find someone to solder it onto the unit?
So my sony BDP S3500 that I got a few years back will play any DVD automatically and you just use the coloured buttons to change the blu ray region. As far as I can tell, when it came in the mail, it looked to be factory sealed, so if the guy who sold it to me did hack it, he did a damn good job re packaging it
So I use a Panasonic DP-UB820 4K UHD player. If I purchased a region free Blu-ray player I would take a dip in quality. Would I be better off purchasing a region free 4K UHD player, so I can also play region locked 4K UHD discs and play Blu-rays in better quality? If so do you have an recommendations for a player and where to purchase from please? I'm in the UK.
Hi Nyle. 4K UHD discs are not region locked, so you can import 4K discs from anywhere and play them on any 4K player. This video is just about going region free for standard blu-rays, so perhaps you will keep your current 4K player and have a region free Blu-ray player to run alongside it.
@@ElliotCoen Hi, there is a few region locked 4K Blu-rays but not many. However, as you know a 4K player upscales regular Blu-rays too so with a normal player you'd miss out on picture quality. I'd just like to know the best player for picture quality which will allow me to play region locked discs. Thanks.
Hi Eliot. Thanks for the video. Do you use a different player for 4K discs then? What i need is a 4K player, that handles multi-region BR's also and can output Atmos/DTSX as well. My current Sony player does all that except the muti region. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions ?
Did you ever find a suitable player?
I recently purchased Sony BDP-S6700 from a private sale on Facebook Marketplace. I feel it may be the unmodified version. I didn't realise the same model number could be used on the mod/unmod version. Therefore, this video is informative in retrospect.
Greatly informational!
I must say though, I laughed way too hard at the part, "I grabbed a totally random blu-ray out of my collection. So, here's Barry Lyndon" Haha, you always give it a plug at any chance you get
I have a region free player but for some reason a couple of my disks won’t switch over and play, specifically eureka titles not sure why
On one thing I am sad. I understand why there are region locked discs, however if they make region locked discs they should be sure the movie could be bought in every region. Like I am a fan of old westerns, most of the time they are only region 1.
Is it true 4K Discs are region free and can be played on any player that supports Ultra HD Blu-ray?
Hi, yes it’s true!
I definitely need one of these region free players because Arrow video has some incredible titles that aren't available here in the USA and I see so many movies that are available in the UK that are OOP in the USA so this was the perfect video for me.
Well done. Thank you Elliot.
My pleasure
I have over 90 Criterion’s and even though I have a second 4K player with multi region firmware, with the Criterion’s released post 2010 I play them on my main 4K player and use the top menu trick (when the region coding message comes up I press stop and then top menu button and lo and behold I get the main menu of the disc) However this only works with Criterion blu ray’s. I have a few Kino Lorber Blu Rays and this trick won’t work with their discs, so that’s where my second 4K player comes in handy.
Charming, intelligent host!