OK, there is a BBC series my husband would really like to see that doesn't look as if it will be released/shown in the U.S., at least not any time soon. (It's been out for almost two years in U.K. already.)

I've read bits and bobs about the BH200 being able to play import DVDs but what is required to make that happen? It is out-of-the-box capable or would I have to mess with something? And, if the latter, is it simple/reversible or a more major, unsupported hack?

The DVD I'm talking about would be standard def PAL Region 2, commercially produced. (I'd just import from Amazon UK.)

I've had issues with these expensive players and am a little leery of doing anything that could be considered sketchy but, if it's simple, I know my hubby would be stoked to get this set for Christmas.

I import a number of PAL DVD from Amazon UK and enjoy them on my BH200. I'm especially fond of the BBC series "Merlin", and have season 2 pre-ordered for the release on Monday.

But first, the BH200 can only play PAL at its native 50 Hz format -either native PAL resolution of 576/50, or upconverted to 1080p/50. The vast majority of TVs sold in North America can only support 60 Hz - "Hertz", the number of cycles in alternating current (AC) in the electrical power. In North America we use 110v (volts), 60Hz. In Europe they use 220v, 50Hz. Some Plasma and LCD TVs can support 50Hz, but you just have to try it - it's usually not documented in the manual. My Phillips LCD TV supports 50Hz, but it's not listed anywhere in the manual, I just tried it and it worked. Also, most projectors support 50 Hz, my Panasonic PT2000 1080p projector displays 50 Hz very nicely.

It will be fairly easy for you to find out if your TV will support PAL / 50Hz. First, go into your player's Setup menu and make sure the resolution is set to "Auto", and make sure you have no disc in the tray. Then Go to the LG BH200: Mini-FAQ + Firmware Info (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1009104) "sticky" thread in this forum. In the first post, scroll down to the "Blu-ray Switch, PAL Support & SD DVD Multiregion Information" section. Follow the instructions to set your BH200 to either 80 for region A blu-ray, or 92 for region B. Power off, then back up. As the player powers back up, it starts up first in 576 PAL resolution. You'll see a pink screen on your TV and a bar at the bottom with a "cursor" like line moving in it from left to right as the player powers up. Then the player cycles through resolutions as it tests what resolution your TV supports, settling on the highest resolution your TV supports. If your TV doesn't support PAL, you won't see anything until the end, when it gets to the "home" menu.

If your TV does support PAL/50Hz, then go back to the "LG BH200: Mini-FAQ + Firmware Info" thread and scroll down to the "Can the LG BH200 be made SD DVD Multi-region?" section and download the region free software, burn it to a CD, and follow the instructions to set the player's DVD region to "0", region free. And then enjoy those DVDs fromn the UK. :)

Thanks for your response and I did read the info in the mini-FAQ before posting ... I should have mentioned that. My fear is installing another something on the machine, which makes the SD-DVD PAL hack seem very non-trivial and that scares me. Anybody have any problem after switching and do you have to switch back to watch regular DVDs?

Oh and, we're all Mac here. I've never had any luck burning DVDs of firmware in the past. Anyone who is Mac based that can tell me if it works? Or can you use a thumb drive?

Thanks for your response and I did read the info in the mini-FAQ before posting ... I should have mentioned that. My fear is installing another something on the machine, which makes the SD-DVD PAL hack seem very non-trivial and that scares me. Anybody have any problem after switching and do you have to switch back to watch regular DVDs?

Oh and, we're all Mac here. I've never had any luck burning DVDs of firmware in the past. Anyone who is Mac based that can tell me if it works? Or can you use a thumb drive?

I don't think the DVD region free software "installs" anything. The player reads it and then displays a menu saying the current DVD region setting is "1", and press the 0-7 number key to change it to that region, press pause to save & exit. It just changes a setting for the region coding, like using the 80 or 92 to change the blu-ray region coding.

And the thumb drive works great for firmware, but the DVD region coding has to be on a CD.