BBC region free discs not working on my BD players - Page 2

Your player could be faulty. Return it (it's a 2009 player) if you can and get something else. NZ is PAL 50Hz country and 50i support is a non-issue. If a player is sold as a Blu-ray player in NZ it must play PAL 576i50 and 1080i50.

BBC DVDs are commonly both region 2 & 4 coded. I've never had any problem playing them or any BBC Blu-rays with dual format players and I'm in region A1 country.

If you are interested in International Blu-Rays, regions B & C, you need to buy a Region-Free Blu-Ray player. Make sure you buy a player, Oppo, Toshiba or LG that plays all regions, A, B & C Blu-Ray and 1 - 9 for DVD. These players normally include a 128MB converter. Eliminates the speedup when converting PAL to NTSC for DVD playback. The Region Code wild card for DVD is "0". There is no wild card for Blu-Ray you need to manually select the Region Code. For my Toshiba it is very easy to do.

PAL or NTSC are not part of Blu-Ray standards which are 1080P/24 or 1080i/60 vs 1080P/24 or 1080i/50. The international players will convert the 50 to 60 so the LCD/Plasma can display the video. Many companies sell Region-Free Blu-Ray players. I purchased my Toshiba from 220 Electronics. (Just Google Region-Free Blu-Ray player.) Without problem it played all region 1080i/50 Strike back, 1080P/24 Region B El Cid, Alexander the Great and Fall Roman Empire. Hopefully this week 1492 Conquest of Paradise (1080i/50) Region B will arrive.

I have the same problem with some BBC dvds (not bluray discs) (old Yes Minister, and Sherlock series 2) trying to play them on Phillips blu-ray.

Was your problem with Dvds or Bluray discs?

If you get any positive response from Phillips could you let us know?

I had problems with some BBC blu-ray discs. All my DVD's are region 1. Sony players will not play 50hz discs even though they are region free.
Samsung plays them fine.

Best to avoid Sony players. They seem to lock down anything they can, to placate the studio side of the company (Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia Tri-Star).

720/576i (PAL) and 720/480i (NTSC) are part of the Blu-ray specification. As are 720p50 and 720p59.94 and 1440x1080 resolutions.

See page 17 of http://www.blu-raydisc.com/Assets/downloadablefile/2b_bdrom_audiovisualapplication_0305-12955-15269.pdf

I purchased wild china 2008 from amazon.co.uk and play it on my PS3. It works, but it seems to be pre-set for the visually impaired where the woman's voice describes every new object that appears on the screen. Great if you're visually impaired, annoying if you're not - I'm not. I see the option in the setup screen, but i am unable to change it. Is this to do with 1080i/50 or something else? Thanks.

That should be a separate audio track. Nothing to do 1080i50 or region.

There is no disc menu option to change it? No way to switch audio tracks with the PS3 remote?

-Bill

the disc menu options are also for visually impaired with huge lettering. when i click on "audio description" i hear the words "audio description on" but never "audio description off" no matter how many times I click. I'm using a standard PS3 controller. There is probably something simple that I'm not doing, but I can't figure it out.
Edited by brendelac - 1/7/13 at 6:15pm

Never had a problem myself with this and other BBC discs with this feature. IIRC just ignore it, don't click and it'll go to the next screen with normal settings (the default). BTW I don't think Wild China is 1080i50 off my head.

I've never regretted plunking down the cash for the Oppo 83 in the 3-4 years I've owned it. It's built like a tank, and with the region mod, plays anything I put in it. If anything does go wrong, between this forum and Oppo's own support, I know I'll get it handled.

There are plenty of other inexpensive alternatives for playing 50i.

My first Pioneer BDPs plays 50i (and almost all region B discs without mod).

My second Pioneer BDPs plays 50i (and almost all region B discs without mod) for <$200.

My third Pioneer BDP converts 50i to 60i for not much over $100.

My Wal-mart Seiki BDP plays 50i as 50i or 60i (and remote hackable to other regions) for <$100.

All that notwithstanding that my DVDO Edge vp can convert 50i to 60i if needed and my Pioneer displays can support 50i and 60i inputs.

So it's not that difficult to play 50i in 60Hz country afterall if you make the right choices.

Well said!

@ OP - absolutely no point plunking down $500 for an Oppo these days when there are so many alternatives. Been there, done that...

Even importing a Region B player from Europe works out cheaper.