Toshiba HD Players - SD Multiregion Lobby

Multi-Region DVD playback on HD-DVD players?


  • Total voters
    448

AcademicBarzo

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Hi,

Toshiba seem to be releasing firmware updates (and players), but as yet no-one has been supplied with a multi-region code for SD playback. I know HD-DVD is regionless, but what is stopping me buying a dedicated HD-DVD player is the fact that it cannot play back all of my DVD collection. I'm sure I'm not alone in being frustrated by this, hence the poll. Please vote if you want multi-region playback of DVDs, and perhaps Toshiba will take notice.:thumbsup:
 
I want it so I don't have to use two players. Some displays still only come with one HDMI/DVI.
 
I already have an XE1, however I would REALLY like to get rid of my old DVD player who's sole purpose now is for R1 disks.
 
HD is the most important aspect although multi-region would be great. If it helps to sell more players, why not?
 
Absolutely necesary in my opinion.
I already have a good upscaling player (Denon 3910) but I would like a new player with the Realta HQV chip that upscales to 1080p.

Of course the HD DVD player also needs to be 1080p and support all audio codecs including DTS HD master audio (which none of the players support yet)

There must be a way to get these HD DVD players to play DVDs MR.
 
About time we got the region free code for SD-DVD's. That way I can sell my Pio 989 on E-bay... Tosh is costing me money...
 
Many moons ago, it was rumoured that the HD tosh's could be hacked using the same generic code used for hacking their SD players...
Never having owned an SD Tosh player I dont know how feasible this is but would be interestng if someone could try.
 
Toshiba seem to be releasing firmware updates (and players)...

I don't think there's anyway that Toshiba will put out an official firmware update which will make your player region free. If it comes, your dealer will get a hack via a CD-R which will have to be played in your player.

Steve W
 
SD region freedom would make the players even more attractive to those still undecided about HD too . If they dont have a 1080p screen they could still buy a player for the future , the same logic as the studios issuing HD/Dvd combo discs so people can cover both formats with one purchase .

Its stupid to be driving potential sales in the direction of the ( so far ) non HD supporting likes of Denon when this one tweak ( unofficial obviously ) would be a further great attraction to consumers .

~M~
 
I don't think there's anyway that Toshiba will put out an official firmware update which will make your player region free. If it comes, your dealer will get a hack via a CD-R which will have to be played in your player.

Steve W

Thing is, Tosh DVD players have been handset hackable for years. At the start of DVD, Tosh were difficult to crack, and needed chipset mods (like many other manufacturers), and it seems they are repeating this with the DVD section of their HD players.

I'll put it as plainly as I can - why would I buy a dedicated, stand-alone player when there is a format war on, and it can't do what any other DVD player on the market can do (i.e. play MR discs)? If the Tosh HD-DVD players could be made multi-region on DVD, I'd buy it in an instant, as at worst it would be a good upscaling DVD player if HD-DVD loses the format war or goes the way of DVD-A and SACD.
 
Barzo, I couldn't agree more.

There's already a BD player that's multi-region for SD, so I simply don't accept what we've heard from Toshiba that it'd cause bother.

One of HD DVD's best chances of 'winning the war' is to get people buying HD DVD players as upscalers.

If you want to buy a good upscaler for £200 the E1 is a cracking player, and the only drawback is that it's not region free.

Steve W
 
250 views and only so few votes? Don't you people have an opinion?:hiya:
I want it, but I already have an HD DVD player so the choices in the poll don't apply to me. :p

If my HD DVD player was multi-region it would completely replace my DVD player, which I've had to hang on to for R1 DVDs.
 
If you ask me its just a matter of time before someone releases a player that does MR DVD's. Its still early days for these HD formats and we are only now starting to see good players on the horizon.

I also expect to see MR Blu Ray players (for BR discs and DVDs)
I dont know exactly whats happening with HD DVD as a format. Ive heard that eventually they want to give HD DVD a region lock but at the moment everything is MR.

The good thing about having a region for Blu Ray (A,B,C...) is that we know what it is and we can look forward to a region free player.

What worries me about HD DVD is that current players may not support region locked discs in the future!
 
Barzo, I couldn't agree more.

There's already a BD player that's multi-region for SD, so I simply don't accept what we've heard from Toshiba that it'd cause bother.
Steve W

Wasn't aware that there is a BD player that's multiregion for SD DVDs. Could you tell us more, please?
 
If the Tosh players were multi-region I'd get one asap, and that's from someone who has a small collection of Blu Ray's.
 
There are other ways of removing region coding from discs, I really don't see this as a big problem ;). Anyone who has a lot of R1 discs will already have a multiregion player, so whats really stopping them from getting an HD player?

By the way the current HD-DVD players will always be HD region free, it is only future players that might be region coded (to satisfy studios like Disney and Fox perhaps?), but that is a long way off yet!

I thing the first Samsung BR player was SD multi region with an armchair hack, but this was fixed by a firmware upgrade. So as long as you have the original firmware you have a multi region SD-DVD playback. Of course BD-ROM is still region locked.
 
I am leaning towards getting a HD-DVD player in the next few months - but MR capability would seal the deal.

Tom
 
By the way the current HD-DVD players will always be HD region free, it is only future players that might be region coded (to satisfy studios like Disney and Fox perhaps?), but that is a long way off yet!

Let's imagine, for a second, a future with both Fox & Disney releasing on HD DVD (let's not get into an argument over the formast war here, I'm just saying imagine it).

It won't come before next year, and by that time Toshibs think they'll have sold 1,000,000 HD DVD standalones. Add to that the 360 add-ons, Onkyos and any other (Chinese?) manufacturers' players.

All of these players will be region free. Will it really be worth it for these studios to try and insist on future players including regional coding?

As no regional coding exists at the moment, it'd possibly take months to get everything sorted. If they want to release on HD DVD they'll probably not want to wait for months.

Finally, and for me this is the clincher, when $100 players arrive, who in Europe is not going to be able to import a second player for a little over £50? It's almost disposable at that price.

RC wouldn't stop Europeans importing, it'd just make it a slightly more expensive pain the backside.

Steve W
 
Like many i'd buy a Tosh HD-DVD player tomorrow if it was SD Multi Region
 
I completely forgot about region coding for SD when I bought my Tosh E1, if I had remembered at the time I would most likely have decided against it.

I'm sure this would see a hell of a lot more players if the SD region encoding was removed.
 
I got round this problem by recoding all my region 1 & 4 dvd's to region free :thumbsup: (for backup purposes of cause) ;)
 
I got round this problem by recoding all my region 1 & 4 dvd's to region free :thumbsup: (for backup purposes of cause) ;)

Interesting concept, however when you have > 150 R1 discs that'd take more time than i have available
 
Interesting concept, however when you have > 150 R1 discs that'd take more time than i have available

I can see that recoding 150 R1 discs might be a bit daunting!! :eek: How many R2 discs do you have? if not many then consider getting the A1 or A2.

I have about 150 R2 discs and about 40 - 50 Other region discs so not such a problem for me. My approch to the recoding has been that when i have decided i want to watch one of my existing R1 titles i have recoded it at that point (takes about 40 minutes). At least that way you dont have to do it in one big batch.
 

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