[scribbl]

Hi folks...

Apologies if this is a little wordy, but you'll find both the region hack and 60Hz fix here.

So I got a nice new Toshiba 42WLT66 and wanted a cheap HDMI DVD player. The LG DNX190UH fits the bill nicely and I found a region free code...

Power on the player with no disc in the drive. Press the following (leaving time between button presses):

Pause 3 1 4 1 5 9

Then key 0 for the region code and press Pause again to save.

All was rosy in the garden until I sat down to watch my region 1 Finding Nemo and found the "Introduction" video to be unwatchably jerky. A friend noted frame skipping on Serenity and finally I spotted some "hitching" in vertical pans on my Maburaho region 1 disc.

Hmmm...

Looks like an NTSC problem.

I tested the Evening With Kevin Smith Region 2 NTSC disc (since it's easier to take a player back if your problem isn't with its region 1 performance...) and found the same "hitching" on the horizontal text scroll at the start. So it's definately NTSC. Looks like it's doing the kludgy "Drop every 6th frame" 60->50Hz downsampling.

But since it's the middle of the night and Currys aren't open I decided to do some tinkering.

I found an EEPROM guide online which has default values for the US version of the player (DN191H).

To edit the EEPROM start up the player with no disc in the drive and press:

PAUSE 1 4 7 2

with the same rhythm as the region hack.

Now write down the default values
(mine were 55 53 00 d3 03 55 f4 ff your mileage may vary)

To edit the values press left and right to select a digit and press the corresponding key on the remote. To get A-F hold down 1-6.

Now change them to
55 53 00 47 02 55 f4 ff
which are the US defaults and press pause to exit.

Now restart the player (power off and power on). And cycle resolutions. Instead of 576i and 576p you should now have 480i and 480p as options. And the "hitching" is gone.

Now edit the EEPROM again and restore your default values. I did it in two goes, first the d3 then the 03, but I don't know if it matters. You should now have your original player back except... It STILL says 480i and 480p.

My NTSC discs now play without hitching, and my PAL discs appear fine with no audio/video sync that would suggest a forced 60Hz playback. I don't know if the 480p mode is actually 576p, but I'm using it at 1080i so I don't mind.

I did try altering the 03 pair to 02, 01 and 04. But was unable to get 576i/576p back as options.

Note that if all goes pear shaped go into settings/video/aspect and select 16: 9 then press 1 3 9 7 1 3 9 ENTER to do a factory reset.

Hope this helps other people. I am now much happier as my videos don't drop frames and PAL playback seems fine still...

Sorry it was a bit long winded, but figured it was best to make the experiment repeatable ;-)

The PAL DVDs I tested audio sync with were:
Love Actually (awful transfer, edge enhancement everywhere)
Coupling Series 2 Disc 1
Kill Bill Volume 2

The NTSC discs I tested frame drops with were:
Finding Nemo Disc 1 (intro video)
Maburaho Volume 1
And Evening with Kevin Smith (NTSC Region 2)

Good luck,
Stephen

[Simon186]

Thanks! I found this very useful.

It took a couple attempts. The first attempt I lost the multi-region setting (it was multi-region to begin with) and it didn't restore the default values. The second attempt I lost all sound. The third time I didn't try to restore the default values - it seems to work fine without that, so far. I'm just using the HDMI connection (not scart) - I guess the 1080i resolution is for anamorphic recordings and 480i or 480p is for standard. (Not sure what the 720p/720i settings are for.)

Cheers

Simon

[cheapskate58]

I’ve just bought the LG DNX190UH made in October 2006 and guess what? None of the handset hacks work! The new Zoran chipset is to blame apparently

Following a brief panic, I found the following procedure and it works!!

So if you are having problems, use the following. The good news is that there is no NTSC judder either so the new chipset must have fixed it.

First you have to download linked file called "LG36868.IMG"

http://rapidshare.com/files/14530611/Zoran.zip.html

1. Then you have to burn this file to a blank CD

2. After burning, insert the CD into the DVD player and press play

3. Then the region management menu will be shown.

4. Input “0” to make it multi-region and then press the “pause” key by Remote Control.


And there you have it, one multi-region LG DNX190UH

Now start enjoying your DVD collection again

[leggy_mambo]

Cheers for this Cheapskate58, I’ve been looking to region-free the lg190 for a while and this worked a treat. I still have the problem of frame dropping on NTSC though, and although the hack to improve playback of NTSC works I’m not happy with the playback of PAL discs after the hack, I’m probably being overly picky but it looks a little blurred to me!

This is a great player, divx playback is fantastic and the USB port is great. If only it played native PAL or NTSC output and let my TV handle it….

[IWantPVR]

Thanks cheapskate for the fresh hope for multi-regioning my LG. I'd almost given up too. I'll try this when I get home.

On another topic, has anyone used the USB port with a CF Microdrive? Anyone used a memory device larger than 2Gb?

While watching DivX files from a 2.2Gb microdrive, after about 15 minutes, playback stops and the LG says no USB is connected. Copying the same file to a 1Gb CF flash card plays it right through.

I suspect that the extra current draw from the little hard disk is something to do with it. I may have seen a statement somewhere that the USB port only waorks with flash.

Has anyone use a CF or other flash device over 2Gb? I'm thinking of buying a 4Gb CF flash card but don't want to splash out on it if the size is the issue and not the disk at all.

[IWantPVR]

I'm having trouble with this.

I've downloaded this image file twice now and wasted 6 CDs. All my software hates the IMG file (or ISO if I rename it). I've also tried two different computers:

IMGBurner:
Invalid or Unsupported Image File Format

Nero:
The entered block size does not correspond to the image length. - Can't correct. If ignored gives unreadable disc.

ISOBuster:
The Primary Volume Descriptor is Unreadable.

CloneCD:
Worked like a dream but produced another coaster.

Can I possibly ask cheapskate or leggy_mambo to email me the file?

Can anyone help?

Originally Posted by cheapskate58

I’ve just bought the LG DNX190UH made in October 2006 and guess what? None of the handset hacks work! The new Zoran chipset is to blame apparently

Following a brief panic, I found the following procedure and it works!!

So if you are having problems, use the following. The good news is that there is no NTSC judder either so the new chipset must have fixed it.

First you have to download linked file called "LG36868.IMG"

http://rapidshare.com/files/14530611/Zoran.zip.html

1. Then you have to burn this file to a blank CD

2. After burning, insert the CD into the DVD player and press play

3. Then the region management menu will be shown.

4. Input “0” to make it multi-region and then press the “pause” key by Remote Control.


And there you have it, one multi-region LG DNX190UH

Now start enjoying your DVD collection again

I can't thank you enough for this hack, it worked a treat

THANK YOU

[cheapskate58]

Originally Posted by Jezzaboy

I can't thank you enough for this hack, it worked a treat

THANK YOU

Pleasure

[sx200]

Could someone please mail me the Zoran file thats on rapid share....can never get anything to download from there...my email address is rws115@hotmail.com thanks very much in advance for the file.

Cheers

[sx200]

Ok...have now managed to download the file...20 minutes later I have 4 cd coasters and 3 DVD coasters...I have burnt the file believing it to be an image...am I wrong? Should I be burning the file to cd...just a standard DATA cd?

Many thanks for your help.

Rich

Yeah matey, just burn it as a data cd. It's a image file, not big enough to be a cd image

[sx200]

Many thanks, now have a multi region player and couldn't be more pleased with the quality of picture...also have found out how to switch between 50hz PAL and 60hz NTSC...sorry if this is old news...after switching the player on without a disc...hold the pause button down until the screen goes black and the info on the player will quickly flash NTSC or PAL depending on what it was set too before.

Once again thanks guys for helping me turn this good region 2 player into a great multi region player.

Hi! I have one of these DVD players & appear to have got it stuck in NTSC mode. Tried using the factory preset reset code but doesn't appear to work! Any suggestions? Or should I take it abck to Richer Sounds & tell them it's gone faulty?