All-Region DVD and Blu-ray Player Advice

[senseabove]

I'd missed that note. Just tested it with the interview on the UK Uncle Boonmee BD and it now plays video, not just audio, after using that sequence on my 820 with the avforums hack.

[tenia]

The BDP-S3700 is what I recommend and/or buy for relatives looking for a solid region A player every time

I caved in, as it's now been 3 months since all my Region A discs are un-readable at home, but the S3700 got only available through third-party sellers on Amazon, so I bought the S6700 instead. It was available directly from Amazon and was $95 (vs the $80 price of the S3700, so not a big uptick in price).
I’ve also ordered a French 110V-240V adapter, which hopefully won’t be something that only lasts 3hrs, and I’ll finally be region AB again !

As for the UHD player, I’m still set on simply buying a French UB820, whose price I’ll monitor within next weeks, hoping for a Black Friday sale on it.

[tenia]

So, I received yesterday the S6700... which turned out to be "undefeatable" DNR implemented. Lovely thing to discover.
Fortunately, it turns out there is some kind of way to at least reduce it by playing with different visual options.

First, it seems like enabling the player to output at 4k rather than 1080p (ie enabling its upscaling) is a factor. I'm not sure though, as I've read conflicting report, which option I'm supposed to select (1080p or 4k), knowing that my TV is a 1080p Panasonic 50G20 (so I'm not sure enabling the 4K output actually changes something). I kept it at 1080p.

Secondly, and that's what I fiddled with then, it seems like going through the different visual modes of the player isn't enough : you need to cycle back and forth through the different modes and options and seemingly, the player at some point turns the DNR off. What I did was following this walkthrough https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... st14644421, since my S6700 had the same available options (including the Anime setup).

It's a shame one still has to go through all this hoops to get a transparent-to-the-source picture, but if it's a one-shot thing I have to do and now won't ever have to touch it again, I guess it'll be fine for what I'll do with it (though I sadly had to shut down the Internet connection with the player, as it seems a newer firmware removes the options detailed on blu-ray.com !).


Now, on to monitoring the prices on european Panasonic UB820 !
(and since it'll also be, at least for now, played on my 1080p TV, I guess that rules out Sony X800M2 player as it also applies undefeatable DNR on 1080p sources/outputs)

[Finch]

Ugh I had planned on buying the Sony X800M2. Fuck's sake. Might have to rethink that. edit: a 2022 review also mentions that you have to turn on Dolby Vision manually for 4k discs and off for BDs and DVDs. Ugh again.

[hearthesilence]

Jesus, I didn't realize DNR was now a built-in "feature" for players. I hope my Oppo holds out.

[Ivy Mike]

Now, on to monitoring the prices on european Panasonic UB820 !
(and since it'll also be, at least for now, played on my 1080p TV, I guess that rules out Sony X800M2 player as it also applies undefeatable DNR on 1080p sources/outputs)

I don't have an X800M2, but I know according to the manual it has a "Direct" mode under Picture Settings which seems to be a menu for NR related settings. Are you saying though even in that Direct mode, it still applies DNR (on 1080p)?

[tenia]

Yes, you have to fiddle additionnally to just setting up the related filter options on 0.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

Are all the Sony UHD players doing this? I was planning on buying the Sony UBP-X700M soon.

[andyli]

(and since it'll also be, at least for now, played on my 1080p TV, I guess that rules out Sony X800M2 player as it also applies undefeatable DNR on 1080p sources/outputs)

It does? As an X800M2 owner for more than two years I didn't know that. I guess it's because I only turn to it when I need to play a 4k blu-ray in DV mode. Do you know for sure it does not affect 4k playback at all?

[tenia]

I'm not sure about the X700, if David M passes by here, he'll probably know much better than I do as I mostly only researched my case.
For X800M2, if you only play DV UHDs on it to be seen on a 4K DV TV, it looks like it's not affected by a issue (because the input is 4K, and because the output is 4K).

[otis]

I've been charged with finding an all-region Blu-ray player for my university department to buy so we can use it (via a projector in a lecture theatre with 143 people capacity) for film screenings. Any suggestions? Ideally, it needs to be able to play DVDs too (not sure if that's standard). Thanks in advance!

[jheez]

I would highly recommend the Sony BDP-S1700 if all you need is blu-ray/DVD. If you need 4k UHD discs, you may want to look at the Sony X700

[otis]

I would highly recommend the Sony BDP-S1700 if all you need is blu-ray/DVD. If you need 4k UHD discs, you may want to look at the Sony X700

I'll have a look at both of those. Thanks!

[SaulMan]

I've been using a cheap European BD player I imported years ago to access my EU-based catalogue and it recently stopped working so I am starting to hunt a better All-Region player for DVD/BD/UHD (I bought my previous player when I was a university student and have more disposable income now). I have seen recommendations for systems like the Sony UBP-X800M2 and the Panasonic DP-UB820 but I am sincerely nowhere near as well versed on the nuanced of video reproduction as I wish I was. I am looking for a model that supports Dolby Vision, doesn't have a lot of issues playing PAL/Other encoded discs and doesn't DNR the hell out of my discs (I don't mind if the player has it built-in but you can just turn it off). Do you guys have any recommendations?