Topic: Region free Blu-ray player; order online?

[DJ Doena]

Well, if you have the space, maybe it would be easier to actually buy a second player with the correct region code.

[Achim]

Bringing sense to the discussion about our addiction, are you...?


Well, its actually not bad thought, but then I would be back in the territory where I need to look at the power requirements and such (while US and Taiwan use the same system, I believe most European countries have different voltage and plugs).

[GSyren]

I believe most European countries have different voltage and plugs

Plugs, yes, but many European appliances can handle 110 volts. My Oppo is specified for 100 - 240 volts.
So if it's just a matter of changing plugs, I think it might be a task that isn't beyond your abilities... 

[Eommen]

I believe most European countries have different voltage and plugs

Plugs, yes, but many European appliances can handle 110 volts. My Oppo is specified for 100 - 240 volts.
So if it's just a matter of changing plugs, I think it might be a task that isn't beyond your abilities...  

Actually, the voltage across the EU is quite standard, 230V AC. The plugs are a bit of a different story, the United Kingdom being the odd man out. For more info (and a quite comprehensive reading, actually, with enlarged maps of the world...) is on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets . The CEE 7/7 plug on power cords is quite universally common in the EU, again apart from the UK  .

If your mind is still focused on Oppo, on their site http://www.oppodigital.com/ they list with each model the acceptable power range in the specs. The BDP-103 can take voltages as low as 110V, some other models have their specs on the lower voltage at 115V. On the Wikipedia map Taiwan is tiny so hard to make out the right colour, so is it 110V or 115V out there?
The Oppo site shows at 'images' for each model the back side; it shows the industry standard 3 prong male socket. So a local standard power cord, which I assume can be bought at appropriate stores in Taiwan too, should do to connect to a power socket there.

Of course, if you change preference to another brand you'll have to do some research yourself...

[Achim]

The plugs are of course not a problem, just an additional item to consider. Campared to thinking about the costs an incredibly tiny issue

I believe we have 110V. Never really thought about it much as most other equipment are not upset by the difference of 5V. (Like when we switched from 220V to 230V in Germany.) I get that a  Blu-ray player is a more refined machine, in what way would 5V have an influence? Slight speed-up, others?

[Jimmy]

others?

Complete burning of the electronic part... This is what happened to my old Atari 2600 when I've used accidently the wrong adaptor on it, so I guess a small difference of voltage can do that kind of permanent dammage to any electronic equipment.

[Eommen]

The plugs are of course not a problem, just an additional item to consider. Campared to thinking about the costs an incredibly tiny issue

I believe we have 110V. Never really thought about it much as most other equipment are not upset by the difference of 5V. (Like when we switched from 220V to 230V in Germany.) I get that a  Blu-ray player is a more refined machine, in what way would 5V have an influence? Slight speed-up, others?

Speed up is out of the question when looking at the voltage. If the circuitry is synchronised on the 50 or 60 Hz you might see problem but such things are recognisable because their specs solidly state them as either 50 or 60 Hz, not both. If a unit accepts both 50 and 60 Hz, the circuitry is synchronised by other means.

Under normal circumstances 5V difference shouldn't make too much difference on 110V vs. 115V. However, most appliances are designed to keep working during a brown out. A unit with a 115V spec might falter then, a unit with a 110V not. BTW, FYI, a brown out is a temporary drop of the voltage on the power lines because too many people switch on too many appliances and the electricity company cannot supply the energy of extra power plant generators fast enough. Usually completely transparent, but in our heavily-dependend-on-electricity society the voltage on the power lines is less uniform than you might think...

Burning the circuitry (or at least the power transformer part) happens when you put too high a voltage on the unit. Since all Oppo's can handle 230V (I think) this is out of the question. But Jimmy's point is a valid one if you try to connect an appliance only specified at say 110V to a 230V power supply socket...

[Achim]

Thanks for the great explanation

[Achim]

It's been more than a year since this thread stopped. I eventually had decided not to proceed, as my player was still doing it's service and I felt I could edit.

Well, two days ago my old player gave up, somewhat. It didn't load DVDs anymore. So, since I needed a new machine, why not finally go region free; Gunnar and Jimmy keep bringing it up...

I picked up my research again, and my choice quickly fell to Oppo. Some additional research and some e-mails lateri found, that I didn't have to order online either, there is a shop which sells modded players. And only insignificantly more expensive than online.

So, to cut to the chase, I just finished hooking up my brand new "region free" Oppo BDP-103D It requires a specially prepared USB stick go maintain it's region free status and updates can obviously not be applied automatically, I will have to get a specially modded update file.

Now, I can finally order the Blu-ray that started this thread: Horror of Dracula. And. The Wicker Man and also Silent Running...

[GSyren]

Sounds a bit complicated. My Oppo can be updated using the normal procedure. But of course you don't have to update unless you have a problem.

The important thing is being able to buy BDs anywhere without worrying about regions.

[Achim]

Sounds a bit complicated. My Oppo can be updated using the normal procedure. But of course you don't have to update unless you have a problem.

I think that's why they call it a jailbreak (when you jailbreak any other piece of software with a "hack", you always must update using a hack, the official version would overwrite that "hack"). Whereas in your player, they added some hardware to circumvent the region blocking procedure.

thinking about it now, I guess the advantage of the jailbreak is, that if the player had a problem, you could apply the original firmware and then still enjoy the vendor's warranty. When the machine is modded, you might have to at leasts remove that mod and even then they might be able to see whether the player was previously opened...? That is also why it needs that USB stick in there permanently.

The important thing is being able to buy BDs anywhere without worrying about regions.

So much looking forward to it...

[Eommen]

...But of course you don't have to update unless you have a problem.
...

Every once in a while the player has to upgrade. The BD copy protection scheme relies on a number of decoding keys buried somewhere in the firmware of the player. Every now and then, on request from companies that create new BD disks, new coding keys are handed out. Parallel to handing them out to disk manufacturers, the corresponding decoding keys are handed to (registered!) player manufacturers. Once the retail copy of a movie reaches your home, you'll get a black screen informing you you'll need to upgrade the firmware.

This scheme thus also protects against the way it was easy to circumvent some parts of the DVD copy protection scheme. That one had legal loopholes meaning legitimate DVD players could be made without paying to the "DVD authority". This because the right copyrights were already paid for by the chip manufacturers. BD player makers must keep a relationship with the "BD authority" to ensure their players will keep playing new disks that come to the market.

[GSyren]

Thanks Eommen, that's good to know.
But of course, if you get the "need to upgrade" message, then you do have a problem. So my statement still applies.

[Tom]

I only needed to update once because a disc wasn't playing. I haven't updated since then and it was a few years ago.