Blu-Ray Region Help

[FatalGlory]

I wanted to know if anyone could help me with a problem I am currently experiencing. I recently purchased a whole bunch of Region A blu-rays, thinking that when I purchased my blu-ray player I would be able input a code or send it in to have a chip removed. However when I purchased my Samsung BD-5100 (against my better judgment), I found that none of the codes worked, due to firmware and other difficulties, so I was forced to phone Samsung.

I phoned them and they gave me the number of an agent I sent the player in and the store owner told me that he couldn’t do anything for a multitude of reasons. He said that it was illegal (which is such high comedy and we have been through this with Apple and the whole jailbreaking fiasco and the fact of the matter is it would never hold up in court). He followed that up by saying that it wouldn’t work on my TV afterwards, which also doesn’t make sense, but I left it.

Now I need to find a company that will do it for me and doesn’t have any direct affiliation with Samsung, because that seems to be the problem. Did anyone here have a similar problem? Do you have any idea where I should go or what I can do? Thank you very much for your time.

[Toxxyc]

Actually, that's the issue with differently coded discs. You can change the region on your player, but it's going to stay there until you set it back - and you can only change it a few times at max before it sticks there.

That's the case with in-case PC drives anyhow. Which is why it's best to purchase two drives, and set one to the region you have discs from and leave the other on your local region.

[FatalGlory]

Oh, but what about these kinds of things?

[Wesley]

Oh, but what about these kinds of things?

They work, but unless you're buying one that can have its firmware updated through USB or through a LAN port, its not worth it.

Also, yes, it is illegal according to the terms and conditions that Samsung has when you're using their player. You're essentially breaking the protection systems to play content that wasn't designed for your player or region, which is different from jailbreaking an iPhone because you're only doing it to load your own apps (add that to the fact that Apple never envisioned people jailbreaking their phones in the first place and only changed their EULA later, which prompted the court battle). Even if you get someone to load custom firmware that works for your collection, the Blu-Ray decoding system needs updating once in a while to play new movies with better protection schemes.

[FatalGlory]

I don't see how that could be legal, I own the player it is my property, but anyway I trust your judgment. What should I do now? I have Ghost in the Shell 2.0, FMAB volume 3,4 and 5, Redline and more on Region A blu-ray, there has to be a way I mean I know of people who have done it, any ideas?Or off to Bruma we go.

[willbeonekenobi]

That's the case with in-case PC drives anyhow. Which is why it's best to purchase two drives, and set one to the region you have discs from and leave the other on your local region.

That was the case with PC DVD drives where the region code was firmware locked (max 5 changes) but with PC Blu-ray drives the region is software locked (through the player like PowerDVD or TotalMedia Theatre) to I think also 5 times each.

[FatalGlory]

That was the case with PC DVD drives where the region code was firmware locked (max 5 changes) but with PC Blu-ray drives the region is software locked (through the player like PowerDVD or TotalMedia Theatre) to I think also 5 times each.

Surely if you play it through a standard player like GOM, VLC, Real etc. it wouldn't lock.

[Wesley]

Surely if you play it through a standard player like GOM, VLC, Real etc. it wouldn't lock.

It still does. While your DVD drive may be set to a particular region, which region that is decides what kind of decoder format is used. That's how the distributors and publishers control their relative markets - PAL and NTSC no longer apply as we move forward to digital TV signals, so region-locking is the only way to control sales in a particular area, especially if you mark up one area far higher than the other (the reason why stuff is so cheap in Thailand and Dubai is because the counterfeits are sometimes better and cheaper).

What you can do is buy a second Blu-Ray drive and set that to the region you want. You've probably got the 25GB discs, so the anime won't take up too much drive space. If you're a serious anime collector you'll want high-def rips anyway. Then read this article:

The Hassle-Free Guide to Ripping Your Blu-Ray Collection

The guide still works and is updated every now and then, although Blu-ray protection for discs authored by certain studios changes on a yearly basis, so some of the programs need to be updated first. Especially if you have an AMD GPU, Handbrake works like a charm and is multi-threaded. I'm planning to get a Blu-Ray drive with my next upgrade and then I'm going this route for all my video and I'll put the finished rips on a network server with DLNA. For some very obsessed people though, you'd have to make a high-def rip for 1080p TVs and then a smaller rip, about 1GB or so in size, for playing on mobile devices like tablets or phones (Handbrake does that conversion for you as well).

Everything's moving to the disk-less and digital cloud, so you may as well consider this option. For now, keep the discs safe. One problem , though, is if you use one particular BD-DVD drive for ripping movies from one region code, you'll need another to rip any disks from our own region, so you'll need to buy two drives eventually.

Always, always choose MKV as your final format. Its a better format than MPEG or AVI, and offers better quality rips with a lower file size.

[willbeonekenobi]

or just use AnyDVD (use google to look for it) because it essentially makes all your discs region-free. It is not a free program with a 1 year sub going for approx 63 euros, 2 years for 79 euros, 3 years for 93 euros, 4 years for 103 euros and a lifetime for 119 euros. They normally have discounts if you also purchase other Slysoft (the company who makes the program) products and you would not need to rip the movies to your hard drive if you intend to play the discs through your pc.

[FatalGlory]

Well I guess I already have a region B player in the form of my PS3, so is there a way that I can just get the Samsung over to region A?

[willbeonekenobi]

I'm sure you can do that just look for someling like 'region control' on the player and set it to region A.

[FatalGlory]

Nope, that is the frustrating part. I have tried all of the codes both with and without the repeat button and apparently they only change the DVD region.

[Wesley]

Don't do it through the Blu-Ray player, it won't work. You need a BD-DVD drive in your PC to get the disc to read in there.

[FatalGlory]

Once I get my new PC (which you really helped with) then I will rip the discs, but in the mean time and for just quick home media use won't something like this even work on an LG, surely.

http://www.fixya.com/support/t122691..._player_region

[FatalGlory]

Well I found out the hard-way I was wrong about the Samsung, you cannot make it region free through software or hardware mods. I would have tried the LG which seems to have something like a 60% success rate, but alas all the stores were out of stock. So now I have my eyes set on an import, but before I do that I will probably pick up an external Blu-Ray drive, however I don't know how well that will really work. Would I experience the same issues?

[Wesley]

Its the luck of the draw with Blu-Ray set-top players, but the actual drives will yield better results. Whether or not its going to be financially worth it to you, though, isn't something we can answer. I'd do it but then again I get all my anime from friends in high-def anyway.

[FatalGlory]

Its the luck of the draw with Blu-Ray set-top players, but the actual drives will yield better results. Whether or not its going to be financially worth it to you, though, isn't something we can answer. I'd do it but then again I get all my anime from friends in high-def anyway.

Thanks Wesley. I think I will go for an import and then when I get my new PC go for the drive option. Since I got Ghost in the Shell 2.0, Redline and Paprika in the mail today! And they are all Region A, the problem is that it's $100 shipping.

Edit: I don't have to do that anymore, finally found one, I am more than ecstatic. Although I will still go for the drive option when I get my new PC. http://www.wantitall.co.za/Electroni...er__B0081UWBWQ