Image Source: http://img4.hkflix.com/images/hardware/momitsu_bdp-899.jpg

One of my top read posts about a year or two ago was how to “hack DVD Region codes.”

Here’s a brief explanation:

DVDs are generally region-locked in order to discourage international use (i.e. so studios can control film distribution for home use in different countries). The first time you insert a DVD into your Mac’s DVD drive you are prompted to initialize the drive’s region code. If at a later time you insert a DVD coded for another region, you will be prompted to re-initialize the drive to that specific DVD’s region code. You can only change the drive’s region code 5 times; after that, your drive remains locked in that region code.

There are some other consierations according to the article linked above, but provided the DVD you’re trying to play does not have the region code “hard coded” into it, then you shouldn’t have any problems with the workarounds cited here.

While the solutions mentioned in my earlier blog entry may still work–at least, for DVDs, if not blu-ray discs–a new player on the market may also serve. It will, however, cost you $349 at least. But perhaps the price will drop.

Momitsu has announced the release of their BDP-899 Blu-ray player, the world’s first region-free BD player.

The player will play DVD and Blu-ray discs from any region and is also BD-Live compatible. Depending on what region your discs are, you can enter a six digit code using the remote control to change the player from Region A to B or C.

The player can also playback a plethora of formats: Xvid, MPEG1, MPEG2 , MPEG4(AVI), MP4 HD, WMV9, JPEG, BMP, PNG, TIFF, JPEG2000 and GIF. The player also has internal HD audio decoding, including Dolby TrueHD.
Source: After-Dawn.com

In the meantime, I’m still waiting for an inexpensive blu-ray/DVD player, not unlike the Momitsu. What is inexpensive for me? Well…$150 or less. Cheap, aren’t I?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure