GrantE

I'm looking into buying a Blu-Ray player; I understand that it won't have any problems reading Zone 1 DVDs - but what about Zone 2 DVDs? Would those become unreadable? AFAIK there is no multi-zone Blu-Ray player available on the market. What solution have you adopted, to avoid losing (or re-purchasing, with a NA encoding) those cherished BBC series? Having a separate multi-zone DVD player handy is a cumbersome workaround.

Ben W Bell

Are you sure your Blu-Rays are actually region coded? Most BBC isn't. Look on the back of the box for a hexagon with a letter in it (A, B or C). No hexagon, means no region coding on Blu-Ray disks (only about half are region coded). A means Americas (and Japan). B means Europe and Africa. C Asia and Australasia.

As for actual DVDs, best to have a separate multi-region player for those.

GrantE

I'm not worried about Blu-Rays - I don't have any yet

I know, I'm just doubtful about it as a long-term solution.

PaulandNikki

http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/Reg...d_players.html

Hope that helps

Zoe Bell

not sure what you mean by this?
If you have dvds to play then you need a player , not sure where "future proofing" comes into it?

GrantE

1. I currently have a zone-free DVD player; it's five years old, but still going strong (for how long, though?).
2. I want to buy a Blu-Ray player (and, hopefully, cease using my old DVD player, as the Blu-Ray player also plays DVDs);
3. The thing is, it doesn't look like there are multi-zone Blu-Ray players out there, so the Blu-Ray player won't play my Blackadder series and everything else I hold dear;
4. I could keep both devices hooked up to my TV set - the Blu-Ray thingie and the DVD player; still, I think this is an annoying/cumbersome solution;
5. Even if I did so, what will happen in the (near) future, when the DVD players will no longer be manufactured?

The only other option - replace my Zone 2 DVDs with the same content encoded for Zone 1 - is a no-no: I have enough Zone 2 DVDs that it would cost me a small fortune to substitute them. So...

PaulandNikki

Did you look at that link I posted Grant? It's multi-region BlueRay players that can also play DVDs from other regions which is I believe what you were wanting?

GrantE

Sorry for not acknowledging your post - I was just analysing the specs/prices for the models shown on that page. A big - albeit late - thank you!

Have you (or someone you know) bought a player from those guys? are they a reliable vendor?

PaulandNikki

Nope, never bought anything from them, or know anyone who has but at least they have full contact details on their site (and they seem to have a shop/warehouse) and they've gone to the trouble of getting a freephone number so as far as buying off the Internet goes, I guess they're as good as anyone else

neill

My blu-ray player is coded "A" for BD and "1" for DVD.
on the box it says it will play "A", "ABC", and "1".

You can get BD players that play "A", "B" BDs and "1", "2" DVDs. These so expensive currently you may as well buy 2 differently coded BD players.

Hope this helps.

neill

Once you start getting into BD, there's no going back, be warned.

Particularly if you own a large screen. The DVDs start to show their age, and you'll want to upgrade from PAL to true 24 frame video for movies once you hear and see the difference.