Hi i just purchased a Pioneer Elite DV48 Av dvd player. i want to make it region free and play pal discs also on ntsc tv. i went to videohelp website without sucess. so how do i make it region free?
Thanks.

Your DV-48AV can already play PAL DVDs as long as they are Region 0. I have confirmed this with a PAL copy of a music DVD "Jesus Jones Live At The Marquee Club". This means you can buy an import PAL Region 0 Genesis box to enjoy the 5.1 SACD mixes and still play the PAL DVDs to enjoy the vintage videos and listen to the 5.1 DTS mixes with the matching concert "slide shows."

If you want to play PAL DVDs that are region coded 2 or 3 the process is a bit more involved and requires the purchase of a One For All URC 8910 remote and downloading a WAV file to complete the process. I haven't tried it because I already made my Philips DVD recorder region free to play my PAL Region 2 DTS copy of Dark City. Although after reading this thread I may invest in the remote for the sake of one player convenience.

On a related topic I hope that Oppos forthcoming Universal Blu-Ray/SA-CD/DVD player is region free out of the box!

Thanks To ValjeanPhantom For the following;

The thread is Titled DV-48AV and the post is #27

Let me explain. This player is not region-free out of the box. However, all of the Pioneer players manufactured as of 2002 have a similar operating system loaded in their firmware. This operating system can be found in Pioneer's 2007 DVD player line-up, including the DV-300, DV-400V, DV-600AV (aka the DV-48AV in the US), and DV-800AV (aka the DV-LX50 in Europe, as well as the DV-58AV in the US). All of these players can be made region-free with the following procedure:

Using a One for All modem-upgradable remote, send the WAV file found at http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dl...d&file_id=5558 to it. Once the remote has been programmed, set it to VCR/2000. Turn on the DVD player via the front pannel or its supplied remote. Using the One for All, press POWER. Turn your DVD player back on once again via the front pannel or its supplied remote. Insert a previously unplayable DVD. It should play as normal. It worked on my 2004 Region 1 US model DVD player/receiver. This in my opinion is much more convenient, as well as less expensive, than Prontos, PDAs, celphones, soldering homemade cables, etc. Unfortunately, downloadable, burnable, multi-region compatible firmware does not exist for all Pioneer models. Also, when I installed downloadable, multi-region compatible firmware on an internal computer DVD drive, the drive had disc-reading problems ever since. As a result, I personally am not going to install such firmware on my set top DVD players.

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Last edited by ValjeanPhantom; 07-23-08 at 08:40 PM..

Good luck and let us know if you are successful!

Cheers,

Thank you Michael and ValjeanPhantom.

can you recomennd a brand and model of the one for all modem upgradable remote.
thank you.

the link to download the wav file http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dl...d&file_id=5558
does not exist anymore..any ideas where else i can get it.
thanks

Never mind i went to videohelp website and found the same wav file link and i downloaded it...but i still need you to recommend a model and brand of one for all modem upgradable remote.
thank you.

Sorry Michael the flu is messing my head i am just seeing you already mentioned the model of remote...i will post if im sucessful..my dvd player will arrive next week.
cheers

how do i send the wav file to the remote?
thanks

how do i send the wav file to the remote?
thanks

Play it on your PC. Set remote up to update mode and put it near PC speakers.

Sorry Michael the flu is messing my head i am just seeing you already mentioned the model of remote...i will post if im sucessful..my dvd player will arrive next week.
cheers


I hope you feel better and the region hack works. Welcome to the world of Hi-Rez Audio. Now you'll be joining us at your local used CD shops looking through the used bins for underpriced SACDs and DVD-Audio titles.

That reminds me that I should Head out this weekend and see if my local shop still has those $10 Hybrid SA-CD copies of Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across The Water.

By the way what sort of PAL stuff are you looking for, an old friend of mine runs Diabolikdvd.com. He specializes in "Genre" titles. It's NOT for everyone, but it's a respectable operation. The previously mentionad PAL DTS copy of Dark City was a birthday present from Jesse @ Diabolik.

Cheers,

Thanks Foxbat. and Yes michael i am looking for used dts movies mostly ntsc dvd's and i usually get great deals on craigslist. i also download a lot of torrents. i checked out your friends website..nice stuff.

Right now im looking for a used One For All URC 8910 remote and the best price i could find so far is like 19 bucks..so ill search for a few days more. My DV48 AV will be arriving next thursday from vanns.

oh and are there any other remote models which can do this job and is it possible to do it with a pda...i have a palm one life drive pda. and it has a universal remote control software on it.

I know I said this hack worked for me. However, it appears that Pioneer's US branch changed the behavior of this IR signal to simply turn the player off. My 2004 model HTiB actually has an interface similar to the 2003 model DV-563A universal player. I was successful making that one multi-region. However, when I sent the signal to my new DV-58AV, I was in for a surprise I was not too happy about. At least I was able to rip region-free versions onto my harddrive with DVD Shrink and burn them to DVD+RDL with ImgBurn. After that, they played just fine. If you are not good with ripping and burning, you might want to return the DV-48AV and get an Oppo DV-980H. I prefer the Pioneers because of their build quality, as well as their WMV and MP4 audio compatibility. Another thing. I got my URC 8910 from http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000069K8N. I just went there, and you can only get it used, which hints at the possibility of it being discontinued. I hope One for All has replaced it with another model with that same modem-upgradable feature. As far as the DV-48AV is concerned, I hope there is an IR signal unique to current US models that would make them region free. Who knows. Maybe the signal I used will work on everything except my DV-58AV. Anything is possible. So if you want to give it a try, it's up to you.

Thank you Phantom. although a little apprehensive now maybe i will give it a try and post the result.

Thank you Phantom. although a little apprehensive now maybe i will give it a try and post the result.

Based on Pioneer's marketing strageties, one would think that the DV-48AV is the same thing as the DV-600AV sold in Europe. I don't know if the firmware would be interchangeable or not. If not, doing so would be like giving your player a lethal injection. If you check out the DV-400V thread here at AVS, you will see that the YGC numbers are interchangeable no matter what country the unit was manufactured for. That is why I am thinking that the DV-600AV firmware found at http://www.pioneerfaq.info/english/dv600.php?player=DV-600AV&question=Firmwares might be compatible with the DV-48AV. It would be helpful if anybody actually can confirm whether they are or aren't interchangeable. I have a DV-58AV which cost me $500. There is firmware for it at that site I mentioned, but because of its price, I'm not taking the risk. If I got a DV-48AV from Vanns for $100, I could always try the 600 firmware and if I kill the player, I can always say that the unit was defective and ask for a replacement. Should you decide to try anything I post here and you damage your player, I am not responseable. This is all at your soul risk and discretion! In defence of my reputation, I seriously do not wish damages on anybody, and I did warn you of the possible damages, as well as the possible benifits. In the end, it's up to you. Good luck!

It's better if anyone could retrive the firmware from the player and give it to me!

It's better if anyone could retrive the firmware from the player and give it to me!

If the player is connected to a computer via USB, is it possible to retrieve the firmware that way instead of going inside it?

thank you valjean for elaborating the pros and cons..im aware of the consequences of this experiment. and i am solely responsible for it.