All-Region DVD and Blu-ray Player Advice

[anvilscepe]

Worse, if I pause the disc during playback and shut off my TV (to avoid burn-in), once the Sherwood loses the signal it automatically goes into standby mode, and then defaults back to the menu screen when I fire up the TV again. And then I can only resume playback from the beginning of the movie. Has anybody found a way around this?

I too would like to know if there is a way around this. I don't have the Sherwood but I do have the Momitsu.

[swo17]

What Momitsu do you have, and what problems are you having with it exactly? I have the 799 and haven't ever experienced any problems like this with it.

[manicsounds]

Pause the title, bookmark the spot with your remote, and you're back to where you left off. Why do you need to pause the movie for so long?

Also, on the machine, you can choose screensaver options, can't you.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I was looking at region free DVD players on Amazon and noticed that they have a few different Pioneers (DV-220V-K and Dv-420vk amongst others ) for sale. Is there a model that anyone can recommend? I don't want to have to buy a new TV set to go with a player either.

[artfilmfan]

You can read the buyers' reviews of the DV-220 at 200-Electronics.com. I bought one from 200-Electronics a few weeks ago. It works with all the DVDs that I've tried. I haven't connected it to an HDTV yet. I connected it to an old CRT TV and the picture looks very good. For the price that they sell at ($79), I was happy with the purchase. Since it upconverts to 1080p (again, I haven't tried this with an HDTV yet), you can use it with an HDTV whenever you get one in the future (assuming that you don't have an HDTV yet). They have the DV-420 also. So, you can compare the specs and decide what features you need or don't need. For just a basic region-free DVD player, I think you could go with the $79 DV-220.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

The DV-220V-K has PAL>NTSC conversion, correct? I ask because the product manual on the Pioneer website doesn't say it converts. The 420 does so that's good, too. I don't have an HDTV, but it's good to know that the player with work with that as well.

[artfilmfan]

I checked the BFI DVD of "Red Desert" and the Eureka/MoC DVD of "We Won't Grow Old Together" and both worked fine on the NTSC TV. Out of the box, the DV-220V-K worked with PAL and NTSC (American and Asian) DVDs that I've tried with my NTSC TV.

The one minor thing that I've noticed is that this player sometimes does not "load" (or start) the disc on first try. If that happens, just eject the disc and then try again.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

This really helps me. I think I'll just buy two different Pioneer models we discussed and see which one works best for me. I also just found the DV-120K-K which is even cheaper than the DV 220.

[Perkins Cobb]

Pause the title, bookmark the spot with your remote, and you're back to where you left off. Why do you need to pause the movie for so long?

Manic, I'm not seeing an obvious command that allows me to bookmark a spot and return to it later. How are you doing that?

Swo, I have the Sherwood 5004, which I believe is the Momitsu 899.

[manicsounds]

Bookmarks are a disc function which is then saved on the machine itself the next time you play it. Depending on what disc you are playing, the function to bookmark may be different, but usually they are using the red/green/yellow/blue buttons on the remote, and this only works for Blurays, not for DVDs.

That's one function I miss from my old DVD player, the auto-resume function.
When I watch TV on DVD, I usually just press "play all" and watch it episode by episode. Whenever I eject the disc and play it again another time, it starts up again where I left off instead of guessing, "hmm, which episode did I watch last?"

[Perkins Cobb]

Well, yes, I'm still watching 90% DVDs so the bookmarking will not be very helpful. That's what I was trying to find, an equivalent to the auto-resume feature that Manicsounds mentions.

I'm also noticing (at least with R2 DVDs) that with the Sherwood 5004 will occasionally lose the image signal and go to black for a couple of seconds during playback. It resumes on its own without a problem, but needless to say this is irritating. It also hit a layer change and skipped over a chapter once. Anyone else encounter any of this, or do I just have a buggy player?

I had hoped to make the Sherwood my primary player for everything, but it's so aggravating that I'm thinking I'll have to keep a separate multi-region DVD player.

[perkizitore]

If the Sherwood isn't good enough for you, you can buy the new Oppo machine for 130$ more

[billy98]

If you live in Oz, Kogan Electronics sells a region-free BluRay 2.0 player (on-line only) which also plays all DVDs region-free, for less than $A300.

You choose the region for DVD (0,1,2,3,4) or BluRay discs (A,B,C,D) with the remote using a code, and it works a charm. Hey it even plays Criterion discs from the good ole USA! The player is a perfectly fine BluRay machine with HDMI, BD-Java 2.0 interactive capable, 7.1 channel sound, plays DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-R/RW, DVD-video, MPEG4, WMA and JPEG formats. Built in Ethernet port and USB 2.0 port. Can take firmware upgrades. 720p, 1080i, or 1080p via HDMI 1.3 interface. I am not involved in any way with Kogan, just a very satisfied customer who hates seeing film lovers ripped off. Kogan's founder is opening an on-line sales operation in the USA in 2010.

[Michael Kerpan]

If you live in Oz, Kogan Electronics sells a region-free BluRay 2.0 player (on-line only) which also plays all DVDs region-free, for less than $A300.

Does it properly upconvert DVDs (unlike the new "budget" Oppo BR player?)

[perkizitore]

No, because a budget player can't have the excellent and expensive Anchor Bay chip.

[Michael Kerpan]

My impression when reading the reviews I've seen so far is that the budget Oppo BR player does not even have the upscaling capacity of its less expensive (older) DVD players? Am I reading these reviews wrong?

[gyorgys]

My impression when reading the reviews I've seen so far is that the budget Oppo BR player does not even have the upscaling capacity of its less expensive (older) DVD players? Am I reading these reviews wrong?

Wrt the Oppo BDP-80, you may opt for source direct mode* for SD and let your display (native res 1080p24?) do the upscaling if you aren't satisfied with it's capabilities in this regard.

*The original audio/video content on the discs is sent out with no additional processing or alteration.

[perkizitore]

My impression when reading the reviews I've seen so far is that the budget Oppo BR player does not even have the upscaling capacity of its less expensive (older) DVD players? Am I reading these reviews wrong?

I haven't made a lot of research, but is surely equal if not better from all the Momitsu (clones).

[TMDaines]

My impression when reading the reviews I've seen so far is that the budget Oppo BR player does not even have the upscaling capacity of its less expensive (older) DVD players? Am I reading these reviews wrong?

I haven't made a lot of research, but is surely equal if not better from all the Momitsu (clones).

The upscaling qualities of the Momitsu's are surprisingly high and are superior to many top players so I wouldn't take that for granted.

[perkizitore]

I would be very surprised if it has lower standards than the Momitsu, given Oppo's reputation.

[denti alligator]

For those of you who have the Momitsu or Sherwood or one of its clones:

I've been unable to get the machine to recognize PAL DVDs without selecting "1080p" as my display. Now this is fine, since I have a 1080p display, except that whenever I eject a DVD the machine defaults back to "HDMI Auto," which for some reason will not output PAL. This is annoying, because it means that every time I want to play a PAL DVD I have to go into the setup menu and select "1080p."

Is there a way to get the machine to keep the HDMI output selected?

[triodelover]

For those of you who have the Momitsu or Sherwood or one of its clones:

I've been unable to get the machine to recognize PAL DVDs without selecting "1080p" as my display. Now this is fine, since I have a 1080p display, except that whenever I eject a DVD the machine defaults back to "HDMI Auto," which for some reason will not output PAL. This is annoying, because it means that every time I want to play a PAL DVD I have to go into the setup menu and select "1080p."

Is there a way to get the machine to keep the HDMI output selected?

I bought my son a 799 for Christmas. Initially, it wouldn't recognize PAL DVDs either. I don't recall the 1080p/HDMI auto problem, but what solved it was downloading the most recent firmware on the Momitsu site and updating the machine. Output was HDMI.

[Finch]

I've taken the plunge and ordered a Sony BDP-S760 which is going to be modified by the store to play regions A & B (though not C but then I don't plan on buying Blus from Asia). I'll confirm final price when I get the player and receipt in about 2 weeks in case other UK members are interested.

The BDP S760 has gotten glowing reviews for a machine in the price range below £500:

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio- ... 841/review" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/dvdpvr/0,3903 ... 326,00.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Sony-BDP-S760/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and finally David McKenzie from the A/V forums: http://www.avforums.com/forums/hardware ... eview.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[perkizitore]

This is going to cost you more than the Oppo

[denti alligator]

For those of you who have the Momitsu or Sherwood or one of its clones:

I've been unable to get the machine to recognize PAL DVDs without selecting "1080p" as my display. Now this is fine, since I have a 1080p display, except that whenever I eject a DVD the machine defaults back to "HDMI Auto," which for some reason will not output PAL. This is annoying, because it means that every time I want to play a PAL DVD I have to go into the setup menu and select "1080p."

Is there a way to get the machine to keep the HDMI output selected?

I bought my son a 799 for Christmas. Initially, it wouldn't recognize PAL DVDs either. I don't recall the 1080p/HDMI auto problem, but what solved it was downloading the most recent firmware on the Momitsu site and updating the machine. Output was HDMI.

I don't have mine online. Can I burn a CD or DVD with the firmware to update? Where is the latest firmware?

EDIT: FUCK! I just loaded the firmware for what I thought was the 5004. Turns out it was for the 5003, and now I can't get the player to eject or display anything.