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US Market Set-top DVD players that can play both PAL & NTSC DVD's

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Hey there gang!!

Alot of fans here have not yet discovered the wonder and glory of DVD players that can playback PAL DVD's on standard NTSC TV/HD Monitors. SO they make a million requests to have the PAL native DVD's converted into NTSC. IMHO there REALLY is no reason for this (unless quality & menu loss are your bag) as most newer DVD players can play both NTSC & PAL DVD's (I'm not talking about region coding but the broadcast standard) and MOST can be had for about $30-$600 depending what it is your after.

The fact is most people with DVD players from Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City and Best Buy (Cyberhome, Apex, Mintek, Philips, ILO and other cheapies) can already play PAL DVD's, just check your remote for a "P/N" button if you got one you MAY be able to play PAL already on there players as long as the disc[s] are region free (also google your make & model). Sadly MOST folks seem to confuse REGION CODING and PAL Format so they never even try. The DVD players listed here may not all be "High-End" units or the best DVD players on the market BUT THAT IS NOT the point of this thread so try not to get hung up on what's the best or not the best player on the list. The whole point here is to list AFFORDABLE DVD players that are not intended to replace your current high dollar, brand named units but only to supplement your current set-up.

So, I'm going to try to add as many US Market PAL Compatible DVD Players to this list that I can and with other forum members help I'm sure that this list will grow! So if you have a DVD player that can covert to PAL to NTSC on the fly please post here (PAL folks seem to have no issues with NTSC as I've NEVER been asked to convert to PAL)

I'll keep an eye on this thread and add players to the main list when I see a new one added (I've had a bunch of players that could play PAL but the KEY word is HAD so I no longer have the model #'s)

ENJOY!

Rikter




THE "PAL to NTSC" Conversion DVD PLAYER LIST


NEWER PLAYERS

OPPO OPDV971H

- Can be had for between $25 and $40 (USD)
- Can be found online (amazon)
- A cool feature is that it plays most Divx/MPEG4, HDCD, WMA and upconverts to 1080i


CyberHome CH-DVD 300S

- Can be had for between $175 and $240 (USD)
- Can be found online (amazon)
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3's


LITE-ON LVW-5005

- Can be had for between $150 and $200 (USD)
- Can be found at you're local CompUSA and online
- A cool feature is that it is a multi format DVD/SVCD/VCD/CD Audio recorder

PHILIPS DVP642

- Can be had for between $48 and $70 (USD)
- Can be found at you're local Wal-Marts and online
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3/AVI/DIVX/XVID's


OLDER PLAYERS


APEX AD-1500

- Can be had for between $20 and $70 (USD)
- Can be found on online auctions such as eBay and Yahoo
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3's

MINTEK 1600

- Can be had for between $20 and $70 (USD)
- Can be found on online auctions such as eBay and Yahoo
- A cool feature is that it plays most MP3's


“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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PLEASE DO NOT POST ANYTHING ABOUT MACROVISION OR MULTI REGION HACKS!!!!

Check out VIDEOHELP.COM for other player options and features!

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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just wanted to add another to your list Rik,
the OPPO digital player recommended to me by Jay,is also a great multi-region upconvert DVD player.
DJ
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In addition to PAL conversion, can you also point out which ones play XviD/Divx?

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<span class=“Italics”>MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
<span class=“Bold”>Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.</span></span>

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And the Oppo is the only quality player listed here.

The rest are shit. You get what you pay for with a $39 player and only a moron would watch it connected to an HDTV.

But hey...since you care all about quality and think you know what you're talking about...
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Digital,
that is exactly why I took Jay's advice and got the OPPO digital DVD player,i friggin love it,and when there are updates for it,all you do is go to the website,download the firmware,and burn the image to CD,throw it in your player and boom,all is updated to the current stuff,very nice multi-region player.
thanks again Jay for the advice
DJ
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Originally posted by: dark_jedi
Digital,
that is exactly why I took Jay's advice and got the OPPO digital DVD player,i friggin love it,and when there are updates for it,all you do is go to the website,download the firmware,and burn the image to CD,throw it in your player and boom,all is updated to the current stuff,very nice multi-region player.
thanks again Jay for the advice
DJ


As a member of the DVD community, the Oppo is pretty much the one to beat for region-free capabilities. The rest of the ones that Rikter suggested are crap.

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By converting PAL to NTSC do you actually mean "convert PAL to NTSC" or do you mean "can play both PAL and NTSC"?
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Originally posted by: Arnie.d
By converting PAL to NTSC do you actually mean "convert PAL to NTSC" or do you mean "can play both PAL and NTSC"?


they're standalone players...they PLAY both...if you were to put in a PAL DVD, you will be able to watch it on an NTSC TV with no additional problems...however, when you eject the DVD, it's still a PAL DVD
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another good one for the list is the CyberHome CH-DVD 300S
$34.00 on amazon, and plays everything i've ever put in it

...granted, it's not 'Top of the Line' by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a handy lil throw-away player & ideal for those of us who are living on a budget
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But doesn't every dvd player nowadays play both formats? I think it's cheaper for manufacturers to build one model that can play both instead of two models (one for PAL and one for NTSC).
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
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Originally posted by: Arnie.d
But doesn't every dvd player nowadays play both formats? I think it's cheaper for manufacturers to build one model that can play both instead of two models (one for PAL and one for NTSC).


Nope. Very few do. And it has more to do with Region coding as well.
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I had a demo disc that had both PAL and NTSC clips. I've played that disc in a lot of different dvd players (from ultra cheap to expensive) and I have never seen a dvd player that could not play both the PAL and NTSC clips. Maybe in europe all (or most) PAL players can also play NTSC but maybe in the US NTSC players can rarely play PAL.

EDIT: The disc was region free, I made it myself.
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
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Originally posted by: Arnie.d
Maybe in europe all (or most) PAL players can also play NTSC but maybe in the US NTSC players can rarely play PAL.

That is correct.

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Originally posted by: Arnie.d
I had a demo disc that had both PAL and NTSC clips. I've played that disc in a lot of different dvd players (from ultra cheap to expensive) and I have never seen a dvd player that could not play both the PAL and NTSC clips. Maybe in europe all (or most) PAL players can also play NTSC but maybe in the US NTSC players can rarely play PAL.

EDIT: The disc was region free, I made it myself.


I've had about 20 DVD players (I have 5 now and they ALL play PAL - 3 are region free) and out of all of them the only ones I had that could NOT play PAL were my Sony, Denon and a Pioneer. SO for the most part MOST DVD players DO play PAL - the problem is that here in the USA the players are lock at REGION 1 (Thanks MPAA!) and MOST PAL DVD's are not Region 1 but if the DVD's were region free I bet you'd see and hear about more players that do play PAL.

Arnie.d - In Europe are all the players locked for your region or are they mostly region free (can you play US retail DVD without a hitch)?

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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Originally posted by: dark_jedi
just wanted to add another to your list Rik,
the OPPO digital player recommended to me by Jay,is also a great multi-region upconvert DVD player.
DJ


Model #'s please

“My skill are no longer as Mad as the once were” RiK

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RiKKo you forgot the dvd player that dad has you dolt yamaha dvd-s2500
Word to the Spookies...

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— Senator Russ Feingold.
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Originally posted by: Rikter

Arnie.d - In Europe are all the players locked for your region or are they mostly region free (can you play US retail DVD without a hitch)?


I think most are locked. But it is now legal in the Netherlands to have your dvd player made region free (it used to be illegal but stores would make them region free anyway). But when you buy a dvd player now you can have the store make it region free for 5 or 10 bucks extra, sometimes it's free of charge.
Fez: I am so excited about Star Whores.
Hyde: Fezzy, man, it's Star Wars.
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Originally posted by: Rikter
Originally posted by: Arnie.d
I had a demo disc that had both PAL and NTSC clips. I've played that disc in a lot of different dvd players (from ultra cheap to expensive) and I have never seen a dvd player that could not play both the PAL and NTSC clips. Maybe in europe all (or most) PAL players can also play NTSC but maybe in the US NTSC players can rarely play PAL.

EDIT: The disc was region free, I made it myself.


I've had about 20 DVD players (I have 5 now and they ALL play PAL - 3 are region free) and out of all of them the only ones I had that could NOT play PAL were my Sony, Denon and a Pioneer. SO for the most part MOST DVD players DO play PAL - the problem is that here in the USA the players are lock at REGION 1 (Thanks MPAA!) and MOST PAL DVD's are not Region 1 but if the DVD's were region free I bet you'd see and hear about more players that do play PAL.

Arnie.d - In Europe are all the players locked for your region or are they mostly region free (can you play US retail DVD without a hitch)?



Saying you have 20 that will play PAL doesn't help if you don't tell us which you have. If you have all Cyberhomes and crap machines, of course they'll play it. Amusing that the ones you mentioned that WON'T play are higher-end players.

As for Rikters "most" claim, you can see the truth at dvdrhelp. They list all the ones that will be region free. There are very VERY few that will do the translation properly, regardless of what he tells you. I could provide a list of the ones recommended. The Oppo is definitely near the top of that list.
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I did. Didn't you read?

DVDrhelp.com

otherwise, good references are dvdtalk.com, hometheaterforum.com and of course avsforum.com.

Anything else you want to be condescending about?
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Oh and sorry to change topic but I didn't think this needed a whole new thread. Sorry...

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