Dvd

[Unregistered]

Does anyone know if i import DVD's from the USA - will they work on an ordinary DVD for the Irish market?Also if i buy a DVD player from the states and change the plug on it - will it work here with DVD's from the Irish Market?

[Mike]

It depends
Some DVD players can be modified for "Multi region" so that they can play discs from any country
There are two ways of doing this modification
1) Changing a chip inside the unit (only for those who really know what theyre doing and even then it may not work for all discs)
2) Typing a "secret" code into the unit while theres no disc inside (or the drawer is open) to change its regional setting (This is a much better option because you can always change it back to European region hen youre finished)

The codes to change the regional setting are available on the internet (Do a search on "region hack" with your players model no i.e. "Sony XYZ765 region hack") or from some dealers will let you in on the secret if you ask nicely)

Re: buying a US player its probably not a good idea. Electricity in Europe is on a higher voltage (around 230V) than the US (110-127v) so youd probably blow the crap out of the machine.

Better off buying a multi region player in europe (I have a Cyber Home player I bought for £80stg in Richer sounds that will play just about anything)

[Unregistered]

Many Thanks Mike.

[Mikeyboy]

I bought a Bush DVD player from Aldi last year for £129 and it's multi-regional — doesn't need the codes inputted, so it saves a lot of hassle. Apparently, Bush made something like 50,000 units and "forgot" to input the codes to prevent multi-regional use.

Fair play to them for "warning" potential customers to this "problem" as soon as they went on sale, and who their biggest bulk-buyers were!

[JDxtra]

Also be careful that your DVD player supports NTSC DVDs (the US format) and that your TV also supports NTSC - otherwise you will end up looking at a distorted back and white picture!

[Mike]

Actually now that you mention it I have a Panasonic Video that claims to be able to play NTSC (ie American) Videos on a PAL (European) TV

It works fine with American videos on a Beko TV but on a JVC TV the picture jumps up and down (like the vertical hold is messed up)
Just for the hell of it I then put an NTSC tape into a Mitsubishi video and Samsung TV (niether of which claimed to be able to be able to handle NTSC) and got a good picture albeit in black and white

Now I really am confused