How useful really is a region C blu ray player??

[kray]

Hi All,

After reading through a lot of posts and my recent visits to blu ray stores in my city, i felt there is a need to create awareness on the usefulness of a region C player in India.

As I have seen in the shops (and from my own collection on Blu rays), over 90% of the disks are region free (Region ABC). Therefore these can be played in any region locked blu ray player. Moreover, nowadays all the companies are releasing only region free disks in India.

Now considering the above fact, I felt it always makes sense to buy a Region A player whenever one is considering blu-ray player purchase in India. The reasons is...

a. You can play all region A discs (imported at a cheaper rate from online websites, or physically from US)
b. You can play almost all Indian blu rays (I am yet to find one disk in India which is Region C locked, but there might be few) which are region free.

On the other hand, a region C player will

a. Restrict you to play disks available only in India which are anyways region free.
b.The costs of blu-ray players are also higher than other countries ( I know its coming down but still for a comparable model its much higher). For instance, an entry level Panasonic 3d player BDT-110 is available in India for almost 18k, while a much advanced Panasonic BDT320 region A is available for 16k (though ebay.in). If you import it, the costs are even lower!
c. These players wont allow you to play cheaper imported blu-rays either (region a) which one can buy from online shops like Amazon etc.
d. In specific cases (like me), if you are lucky enough to find a blu-ray rental shop, you wont be able to rent half of the movies since those are in region A!

Now I might be completely wrong in my assumption here, but it would be good to know others opinion on this area. Otherwise, this thread might also help other in their purchase decisions.

Cheers!

 

[haisaikat]

since shipping from amazon uk is faster and cheaper as compared to amazon us I would recommend a region B player since many US discs I have say that they are region A/B locked. However Region A player is also useful. Region C players are the most useless of all products like the PS3, so I always recommend people to buy imported A / B region locked PS3 s.

 

[sixthsense]

since shipping from amazon uk is faster and cheaper as compared to amazon us I would recommend a region B player since many US discs I have say that they are region A/B locked. However Region A player is also useful. Region C players are the most useless of all products like the PS3, so I always recommend people to buy imported A / B region locked PS3 s.

The main reason i sold of my brand new PS3 with a setback of 3k was the region C locked. It's a utter waste as you rightly said all indian blurays are region free and it would not play any other region. I also found amazon uk has the cheapest bluray avaialable and have ordered quite a few till now and they have amazing shipping. I went on one step more and built an HTPC with a bluray writer and now i'm owner of a region free player :clapping: .

I would also recommend the members here to buy either a region b or a bluray player than the region c sold in india.

 

[akd]

region C is a joke, buying it is a waste of money, but the problem is region free BDPs are costly, people after learning the trick to region hack mod charges astronomical figures - doesn't make sense, waiting for someone in India to mod with a reasonable price.

 

[haisaikat]

PS3 moddling in India is for INR 1000 approx that gives region free BD playback I heard. But I too have shifted to HTPC with BD Writer to make them region free.

 

[manniraj]

region C is a joke, buying it is a waste of money, but the problem is region free BDPs are costly, people after learning the trick to region hack mod charges astronomical figures - doesn't make sense, waiting for someone in India to mod with a reasonable price.

You can try the Toshiba 3200 player from either amazon UK or DE and make it region free with the freely available firmware. I did it and it is region free for both DVD/Blu-ray discs. You should be able to get it within 8k.

Thanks

 

[freedom]

I was thinking to buy a player from the UK/US. However i see that making it region free for DVD payback is a major issue, what i was considering is Panny BDT110 or 220. A friend is there till tomorrow/day after so if anyone has experience on using these models( or any with 3D) and using them here, please share as it will be a great help

 

[manniraj]

I was thinking to buy a player from the UK/US. However i see that making it region free for DVD payback is a major issue, what i was considering is Panny BDT110 or 220. A friend is there till tomorrow/day after so if anyone has experience on using these models( or any with 3D) and using them here, please share as it will be a great help

I am not sure whether your friend is coming down from US or UK. In both the cases I would recommend to ask him to get you the Toshiba 3200 3D ready player which can be made region free for both DVD & Blu-rays with just a small firmware. This is far better and cheaper way than Panny models which require a request firmware from some team with an amount transfer.

Thanks

 

[freedom]

I am not sure whether your friend is coming down from US or UK. In both the cases I would recommend to ask him to get you the Toshiba 3200 3D ready player which can be made region free for both DVD & Blu-rays with just a small firmware. This is far better and cheaper way than Panny models which require a request firmware from some team with an amount transfer.

Thanks

Thanks, there is a newer version of this now, will try and get that. How did you get the firmware for this, is it free online? I saw that they used to ship with a disc and no longer that's coming with the player.

 

[manniraj]

Thanks, there is a newer version of this now, will try and get that. How did you get the firmware for this, is it free online? I saw that they used to ship with a disc and no longer that's coming with the player.

There is a thread dedicated to this on the avsforum.com site. Try to look at the supported models of Toshiba for this firmware update. In fact there is a link to download the firmware. You just need to patch it using a usb stick to the player and it gives you the option to change the region code for blu-ray from A-B-C and for DVD you can enter the region as 9 I think which will make it region free. The patch firmware is free. The package I received did not have any disc just to confirm. I got it thru my friend from amazon.de and it came to around 7k all.

Thanks

 

[baijuxavior]

Buying BDX3200 is recommended as there is no info on region free hack for the latest model BDX4200. Toshiba BDX 3200 region free hack.

If you don't want 3D, then Sherwood bdp 5400 is a region free one without any firmware update.

 

[akd]

Buying BDX3200 is recommended as there is no info on region free hack for the latest model BDX4200. Toshiba BDX 3200 region free hack.

If you don't want 3D, then Sherwood bdp 5400 is a region free one without any firmware update.

BD viewing is still a costly affair, most of the newly released stuff takes a long time to reach India. buying from AMAZON takes 800/- to 900/- per film, how long one can sustain??

 

[andy78]

BD viewing is still a costly affair, most of the newly released stuff takes a long time to reach India. buying from AMAZON takes 800/- to 900/- per film, how long one can sustain??

That depends on where you live? Here in Hyderabad we have a Blu Ray rental shop which charges around Rs 100 per disk. Also in this forum I heard people talking about Moviemart.in from where we can rent Blu Ray Disks.

 

[andy78]

Buying BDX3200 is recommended as there is no info on region free hack for the latest model BDX4200. Toshiba BDX 3200 region free hack.

If you don't want 3D, then Sherwood bdp 5400 is a region free one without any firmware update.

@ Baiju what's the difference between a Non 3D Blu ray Player and a 3D Blu Ray player? the price difference seems to be considerable.Is it worth it?

 

[kray]

@ Baiju what's the difference between a Non 3D Blu ray Player and a 3D Blu Ray player? the price difference seems to be considerable.Is it worth it?

If you dont have a 3D tv/projector , you wont need a 3d blu-ray player. To elaborate, to watch 3d movies at home from blu-ray disks, you would need a 3d blu-ray player and 3d tv.

If you dont have either of them, you cannot watch a 3d movie. So in case you are no into 3d, its better to go for a non-3d blu-ray player which would play all blu-ray discs except the 3d blu-rays.

 

[andy78]

If you dont have a 3D tv/projector , you wont need a 3d blu-ray player. To elaborate, to watch 3d movies at home from blu-ray disks, you would need a 3d blu-ray player and 3d tv.

If you dont have either of them, you cannot watch a 3d movie. So in case you are no into 3d, its better to go for a non-3d blu-ray player which would play all blu-ray discs except the 3d blu-rays.

I have a 3D TV. Was contemplating should I buy 3D Blu Ray player or just a Blu Ray Player?

 

[kray]

One option is to watch downloaded/collected 3d movies through USB. Mind you, the size of 3d movie files very large, so you would need a large hard drive for them. In this case, you may not even need a blu ray player at all!

But if at all you are going for a blu ray, its advisable to buy a 3d player especially since you have a 3d TV. With this, you will also get better sound (5.1) if you have a home theatre or plan to buy one.

 

[andy78]

One option is to watch downloaded/collected 3d movies through USB. Mind you, the size of 3d movie files very large, so you would need a large hard drive for them. In this case, you may not even need a blu ray player at all!

But if at all you are going for a blu ray, its advisable to buy a 3d player especially since you have a 3d TV. With this, you will also get better sound (5.1) if you have a home theatre or plan to buy one.

Couple of my friends said that the TV's encoding system may not be that great hence may not get a good effect when played using Blu Ray Player compared to playing from USB of TV.
Bought 1 TB HDD for the same purpose of connecting to TV and watching,

 

[k11]

Bumping up the old thread. I find this thread very useful.

Most Blurays in India are region-free (or atleast future releases).
Popular Amazon UK discs are region free.
Amazon discs are region A.

So the US made players should be enough to play most of the discs, right.
Even unlocking probably is not necessary for them, right.

Correct me if I am wrong.

I am sure many of you have huge BR collection and can explain.

 

[just4kix]

Some of us have a significant DVD collection as well. DVDs purchased abroad are always region coded. When it comes to BDs, it is true that over 80% are region free. But do not go with the assumption that BDs sold in India are always region free. Some of them are region locked. I purchased The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian in India. The back cover said ABC, i.e., region free, but the disc was region C locked. Another disc, Jodha Akbar, I believe is region C locked.

A region free player (for BDs and DVDs) gives a lot of choice and freedom.