Panasonic Blu Ray Player BDP BD 60 NTSC/Pal Issues

ashishkesarwani

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I am interested in buying Panasonic BDP-BD60 from 20north.com which sources all its products from US so abviously it would be region 1 for DVD and region A for Blu ray and it would also be 110V so I would have to buy a step up convertor separately. My confusion is whether this Player would be able to play Pal contents DVD's here in India after I change the region coding of the player to play all regions. I have been able to find out the ICOS chip which is costing me 5K inclusive of shipping, this chip would make this player multi region for both BLU Ray and DVD's and still it would be cheaper than the the price its availiable here for i.e 25K ( Region Locked to C BD & 5 DVD), whereas If I go with the above route it would cost me around 22K with multi region upgrade.
My only consern is that if I make it multi region after installing the ICOS chip to it, would it be able to play PAL contents, as all our Indian DVD's are mosly PAL.
I already own a PS3 which is Region 3 for DVD and Region A for BD, but these days all the new BD's are region locked to C for which I need a new player, earlier I use to import BD's from Amazon, US but now as the BD's are availiable for rental which sometimes do not run on PS3 because of the region codeing, I am looking for the above mentioned route or do I have any other choice? As my budget is limited to Max 25k whether Indian or Imported.
 
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Were you think of changing some chip in Panasonic? Isn't that risky?

Why don't you consider Oppo BDP-83? There's so much discussion about it.
Region lock is also not an issue, you just need to upgrade firmware to make it region free.
Also it works on variable 110-220 V.
 
Were you think of changing some chip in Panasonic? Isn't that risky?

Why don't you consider Oppo BDP-83? There's so much discussion about it.
Region lock is also not an issue, you just need to upgrade firmware to make it region free.
Also it works on variable 110-220 V.

First of all Oppo is not shipping the BDP-83 to India and it would be expensive after including Custom Duty and Shipping.
As for the chipping look here, its very easy: How to make your Panasonic BD60 or BD80 Blu-ray Player Multiregion - AVForums.com
and the ICOS chip is availiable at Panasonic DMP-BD60 modification kit
 
It will require a professional technician to solder/ install it. And it needs a precision job. In case chip/ board goes bad, then you had it. I wouldn't recommend this at least for a brand new player. Are you sure this is the only way to make it region free?

20north can arrange to get Oppo for you. Just send them the Oppo/ Amazon link. Maybe you can try to bargain with them?
 
It will require a professional technician to solder/ install it. And it needs a precision job. In case chip/ board goes bad, then you had it. I wouldn't recommend this at least for a brand new player. Are you sure this is the only way to make it region free?

20north can arrange to get Oppo for you. Just send them the Oppo/ Amazon link. Maybe you can try to bargain with them?

I have a good experience with soldering since my school days and I am good with electronic circuits and modifications etc. otherwise there are specialised people to do this kind of jobs, some thing which is quite familier with PS2 owners as a mod chip was required to be fitted in it for it to be used with copied games and movies.
Thanks but oppo is way out of my budget and if I had to spend that kind of money then I would defenitely go with Pioneer anyday which has got better DAC as compared with Oppo's.
 
The Panasonic BD 60 plays both NTSC and PAL discs. So you will have no issues. The modifications you are contemplating will not affect the ability of the player to recognise the media format.

Most Indian DVDs are are actually NTSC nowadays.

Cheers
 
The Panasonic BD 60 plays both NTSC and PAL discs. So you will have no issues. The modifications you are contemplating will not affect the ability of the player to recognise the media format.

Most Indian DVDs are are actually NTSC nowadays.

Cheers

Thanks, but I have a doubt about this as all american Blu Ray players are mostly NTSC only and I needed to confirm from somebody who is using an american blu ray player here in India and tried playing PAL contents on it. As I have downloaded its mannual from the net which states that its NTSC only.

I don't agree with your DVD "NTSC" thing as I rent my DVD's from seventymm and most of the Sony DVD's are region 5 and Pal also there are very few movies which are either imported from Singapore or Hong Kong which are otherwise region 3 or NTSC. I came to know about this the hard way through my Samsung 1080P7 Upscaling player which takes time to display the picture and sometimes it freezes if the option selected in its Menu is NTSC to play PAL contents.
 
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Thanks, but I have a doubt about this as all american Blu Ray players are mostly NTSC only and I needed to confirm from somebody who is using an american blu ray player here in India and tried playing PAL contents on it. As I have downloaded its mannual from the net which states that its NTSC only.

Well, the CNET review says it is both. But it is certainly safe to check before you buy.

I don't agree with your DVD "NTSC" thing as I rent my DVD's from seventymm and most of the Sony DVD's are region 5 and Pal also there are very few movies which are either imported from Singapore or Hong Kong which are otherwise region 3 or NTSC. I came to know about this the hard way through my Samsung 1080P7 Upscaling player which takes time to display the picture and sometimes it freezes if the option selected in its Menu is NTSC to play PAL contents.

What I meant was DVDs of Indian movies made in India. If you rent a movie made in Europe they will be PAL. Most Moser Baer, Shemaroo, and other local brands make NTSC DVDs.

In any case, I have never faced any issues as my DVD Player plays both NTSC and PAL, and my TV receives both.


Cheers
 
Yes with the DVD players its fine as all of them play Both PAL and NTSC and the television sets which we have here are compatable to both standards whereas in US its NTSC only thats why their players have NTSC only option.

As most of the time I watch English Movies on DVD that why I am a bit concerned with this issue.
 
Does anybody in this forum have ever come across a Modified Blu ray player sourced from US? He or she could tell me exactly what I am looking for.
 
I am also leaning towards Sony BDP-S350 from India itself as that would be confirm Region C for BD and region 5 for DVD but since I already have a PS3 for region A playback of BD's I am leaning more towards Sony for Region C BD's. Could anybody tell me the best price to expect for it, if I buy it from Sony India,I got a final offer For Rs.23.5K also is their a remote code for making it multi region in the DVD playback part?
 
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Ashish, I just got my Panasonic BD 60 from US yesterday.It plays Indian DVD's ( I have copies of Rock On and Tashan both NTSC) and also pirated blue rays (so called Blue Ray copies).

Along with the player I had picked up 2 disc from US which obviously plays fine.Yet to pick up the Indian made blue ray disc from local market (both Sony and BIG have launched them here). Had previously checked Indian BD's on a U.S make PS3 it played fine, so I guess should play on my Panasonic too ?

Thanks, I know that NTSC is fine with US based players as they have NTSC only display, but could you check a PAL based DVD on it too and let me know. I am not too much conserned about the BLU ray part right now because I have been sourcing my BD's from US itself but since now a days the rental services for the same has started which makes it quite frustrating when a BD from a different region doesn't work on your player, I had that kind of experience with Quantam Of Solace BD which was region marked for C here in India, then I bought a copy of it from Amazon US which after shipping costed me around 1500, and here I would like to point out the same movie is avialiable here for much less after discount.
 
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Hi Ashish, could you tell us what DAC is there in the Pioneer that makes it superior to the Oppo BD-83? Pioneer's DVD players sure as hell can't hold a candle to the Oppos, so I'd be surprised if the situation is different with the BD players. The BD83 also has class-leading performance, from the reviews that I've read, i've not been able to find too many reviews for Pioneer's BD players. i look forward to your insights.

Thanks but oppo is way out of my budget and if I had to spend that kind of money then I would defenitely go with Pioneer anyday which has got better DAC as compared with Oppo's.
 
Ashish, I have only these 2 Indian original discs with me both are NTSC.
Why are you concerned about PAL , like mentioned by our friends in the forum earlier most Indian DVD's are NTSC not PAL.

Do let me know if you need me to check anything else with regards to the player.

In landmark Chennai I saw a 1+1 free offer on BD titles, since mine is a region 1 player need to check if the Indian discs are marked ABC or just C

I am conserned about the PAL issue because as I rent most of the movies from Seventymm and most of their titles from Sony studio are Pal based content, and as I have told you that my intention are of making this player region free by modding it with the ICOS chip so the whole purpose of the multiregion would be lost in case if it doesn't support PAL contents.
 
Hi Ashish, could you tell us what DAC is there in the Pioneer that makes it superior to the Oppo BD-83? Pioneer's DVD players sure as hell can't hold a candle to the Oppos, so I'd be surprised if the situation is different with the BD players. The BD83 also has class-leading performance, from the reviews that I've read, i've not been able to find too many reviews for Pioneer's BD players. i look forward to your insights.

Pioneer has Wolfson DAC. Pioneers could not become successful in India because of their pricing issues, come to think of a player which is availiable for 22k overseas is priced at 35k here which I think is not justified this I am talking about model No. BDP 51FD whereas their top model player like BDPLX 71 and 91 are class apart.
They have 297Mhz/12 bit and 14 bit HD video DAC, also pioneer support colour upto 48 bit as compared to oppo's 36 bit.
 
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is it true that the pioneer Bluray players tend to take a very long time to load the discs ,i am referring to the new pioneer BDP-lx52, are there any users of this model or the 51fd ,kindly give feed backs
 
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