DR DVD –
JULY
HOLLOW VICTORY
After reading seeing an item in Doctor DVD on the subject of Region 1RCE discs,
I thought I would let you know about a very similar problem I experienced with
my Pioneer DVD 525 Player. I recently hired a Region 1 copy of "Hollow
Man" and was disappointed to discover that it would not play on my
multi-region Pioneer 525 Player.
Up until this
time I had never had any problems playing a region one disc, I have also never
needed to change the region code. However on this occasion the R1 copy of
Hollow Man gave a message saying, "This disc is not formatted for play in
this region". After trying everything I could think of, including changing
the region code to 1, (still no luck) I was about to give up when I decided to
try one more thing. I put the disc in the payer and let it display the above
message, I then pressed "Stop" so as to display a blue screen, I then
used the Search mode button to skip to track 3. At this point I pressed Play
and hey-presto, the film started to play. Then using reverse picture search I
was able to go back to the start of the film. I know this sounds a bit Heath
Robinson, but who cares, it worked! The only thing is no matter what I did I
just could not get it to play the extra features.
Barrie Dodd,
via
e-mail
Well done that
man! Several tricks like this one are now coming to light to enable decks to
play RCE discs and I have a suspicion that this procedure, or something like it
may well work on a number of other machines (see also Able Alba). If anyone
comes across a similar tweak please let me know, so I can pass it on.
ABLE ALBA
After reading
your review a while back I brought an Alba DVD-103, what a brill buy also for
the fact that its multi-region. But now I have a problem, it wont play the
region 1 version of Hollow Man as this has RCE encoding on it. So my query is,
how do I get around it, is there a remote hack?
Mark Jones,
Stoke on Trent
Try this, when
the Region Map appears, telling you that you can't play the disc press Stop on
the remote to get to the intro screen then press Digest, select Chapter 1 and
Play.
WISE
BUYS?
I would like to
tell you a story. In December 99 I bought a new widescreen TV and to complement
it a DVD player. The player I bought, a Hitachi 250, had only just come out
with very good reviews. It was great so much better than video I soon got the
bug and a Celestion Pro-Logic package followed. All was fine until Christmas
Day 2000 when the player started to act up some of the new DVD's I had received
would not play properly they would pixelate then the machine would turn itself
off. I went back to the shop, told the guy on the service desk what was wrong
and he said the laser was dirty and if I bought a cleaner this would cure it.
Sure enough it worked but about two weeks later the front panel display died.
So back again I went only to find out now that it was two days out of guarantee
and they would not fix it. They finally agreed to look at it and repair it if
necessary. Away it went for two weeks, then a phone call to say it was a wear
and tear item and it wouldn't be repaired….
Another round
of arguing got me nowhere so my wife and I thought we could live without the
display. There is a happy ending, I finally lost my cool with the old player
and decided to buy a new one. After two hours trudging around electrical stores
my wife was becoming bored and finally, against my better nature, she talked me
into a Samsung 511 for £170. All I can say is it's better than my Hitachi; I'm
glad I bought a budget player; I had an expensive one before and looked what
happened! Also be careful where you buy, some of those big name places could
not care less if anything goes wrong and their warranties are not worth the
paper they're written on. Try to use a smaller shop as believe it or not they
do care about their customers.
Steve
Clack, via e-mail
It
sounds as though Steve has been very unlucky. A dirty laser pickup can happen
to any player, the duff display is very rare so I wouldn't necessarily hold
Hitachi to account for these problems. The difference between the Hitachi
player and his new Samsung machine can be largely put down to the fact that two
years is a long time in DVD technology, many improvements have been made since
his first generation player came out, and prices have tumbled.
Steve's
real beef seems to have been with the shop. Whilst they're obviously within
their right to stick to the terms of the guarantee a little flexibility would
have done wonders for them and their customer relations. It was their loss
because Steve won't be shopping there again! His advice about smaller shops
rings true, salespeople are often more knowledgeable and able to give good
advice, the equipment may be a little dearer but it's a small price to pay for
better service.
DIGITAL
DOWNTURN
I am having a problem with the volume from my TV. I have a Toshiba 28W8DB
and have recently purchased a Pioneer 636 DVD player following many problems
with other lesser machines. I also have an ONDigital box and an ancient
but quite capable Samsung NICAM VCR hooked up to the TV. On normal
television broadcasts the sound is perfect with a normal volume setting of
around 23-ish. Watching a video is also very good with the same volume setting,
maybe 25-27 when I'm alone. However when watching a DVD I need to set the
volume on the TV at least 10 points higher (37) to get the same effect as from
the VCR. This also appears to be the same with the ONDigital box. The DVD is plugged directly into the TV via
a SCART, the VCR and ONDigital box are connected via SCARTs and then a
SCART from the VCR into the TV. I have checked the separate volume setting
on my DVD player to make sure that is not turned down but that would not
explain the ONDigital box being the same. Is this just something I will
have to put up with or is it specific to the TV? I am currently looking at
getting a digital amp and speakers to fully enjoy the 5.1 experience and need
to know whether this will be the same if all the sound is through a separate
Amplifier. Any ideas?
Tony Champion, via e-mail
The fact that
the difference in volume levels only occurs on digital devices is probably just
a coincidence. In fact small variations in the line level output from various
AV devices are not at all unusual. Moreover you can't rely on constant levels
from the source components, media or broadcasters. You only have to listen to
the way SKY One cranks up the volume during ad breaks… However, such a big
difference sounds unusual but it's unlikely there's a fault with the TV or the
DVD or digibox. You can eliminate the possibility of a fault on the TV simply
by swapping over the SCART input leads and see if the same thing happens. My
feeling is that the audio outputs from the DVD and digit box are low but within
tolerances, it might be possible for an engineer to tweak the settings in the
device's firmware but in the end I think it's just something you will have to
live with and the same thing is probably going to happen when Tony uses an
external amplifier.
GETTING HITCHED
I have a Hitachi 24" Widescreen TV, a
SKY digibox and an Schneider NICAM VCR. Currently the digibox is connected to the first
SCART socket, the VCR to the second and they are connected together again with
a SCART. I am looking to buy in the near future a Playstation 2 and a DVD player.
Obviously given the poor DVD performance of the PS2 I want a standalone DVD
(with 2 SCART sockets). How would I connect the lot up?
I am trying to avoid using a splitter
box to give me three or more SCARTs.
What I thought was this: TV SCART 1, SKY
box and VCR: SCART 2, DVD and PS2. However I tried it with the devices that I
already have (Sky, VCR) set up like this and it doesn't automatically switch to
the VCR when it plays. I'd rather not have the Sky into the VCR then into the
TV, as the TV doesn't automatically change the picture from the VCR, however
with the digibox it tells the TV what to do.
Would getting a DVD Player with 2 SCART
sockets help? I assume (rather stupidly) that if I put a PS2 through a DVD
Player that when the DVD is off and the PS2 is on the signal will go through to
the TV, when the PS2 is off and the DVD on the TV plays my DVDs. Any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.
Richard Scott, via e-mail
For what it's
worth that Hitachi TV was a bit of a novelty when it first came out, around
five years ago, being one of the smallest widescreen sets ever made. Sadly it
wasn't very prolific in the socket department and apart from some front panel
audio inputs, those two SCARTs on the back are all you have to play with. I was
a bit puzzled by your original connection scheme but let's put that behind us
and start over. Your solution, to daisy-chain the VCR and Sky box on one socket
and the DVD player and PS2 on the other should work, though as you say, the DVD
will need to have two SCART sockets. However, it's a bit optimistic to expect
automatic source switching from such a disparate collection of components, it's
a rare luxury, even when all of the devices in a system are made by the same
manufacturer. It's likely that you will have to wrestle with several remote
controls and manually switch the TV, like the rest of us…
HACK CORNER
WINNERS…
LECSON DVD 900
I've recently
purchased a Lecson DVD 900 and was wondering if you could tell me the region
hack code for this particular model? I know it was
published in another magazine some months ago but my wife threw it out before I
had chance to make a note of it.
R Rake, via
e-mail
Your wife is
clearly a discerning woman and knows what to do with those other magazines.
Just make sure she doesn't bin this one (we'll be calling round to check…). The
code to enable multi-region is as follows: open tray, press Zoom, A-B, Up,
Left, Down, Right and 'Region Free should flash up on the screen. To switch to
a specific region press Open/Close, 1, 1, 1, 1 then the Region number (i.e. 1,
2 etc.) and the word Region and your selection flashes on the screen.
PS. You use
this hack, and all the others we print entirely at your own risk. You have been
warned!
WHARFDALE M5
I see that you
are a whizz when it comes to hack codes. I have just bought a Wharfedale M5 DVD
player and I was wondering if you know how to make it a multi region player?
D.Kemmery, via
e-mail
I do and
flattery will get you everywhere. Try this: press Setup, 6, 2, 8, 3, 6 to get
you to the Factory Menu where you can switch to 'All' or a specific numbered
region.
TATUNG TDV 2000
I have recently
purchased a DVD player a Tatung TDV 2000 could you
please let me know of any codes so I can play other region disk
Albert Moore, via e-mail
There is one
but I understand this may not work on all firmware versions but give it a go,
you may be lucky: Open tray, press 0, 3, 9, 1 Enter, use the Down key to select
the appropriate Country Code then press Select.
LG-3200e
I own an LG 3200e. In an advert it said that it can play regions 1-6 but in the
manual it says it can only play region 2. Which is true?
Sara and Boz, via e-mail
This model can
be hacked via the remote to play all or any region using the following codes:
press Pause, 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9 then 0 for All Region or a number 1 to 6 for a
specified Region, switch off and wait a few seconds before switching on again.
HITACHI DV-P305
Is there any
way that I will be able to play region 1 DVDs on my Hitachi
DV-P305e, as it says that it is NTSC compatible on the box, or will I need
to get it chipped?
Anthony Ryan, via e-mail
You're in luck.
Cold start the player by switching it on and pressing and holding the Play and
Stop buttons on the player, after a few seconds this should bring up a Language
menu, select a number, press Repeat on handset then for press 3, 8, 7, 6, 7,
your present Region code should be displayed (i.e. R2), then press 9 for All
Region and 1, for Region 1 etc. then press Open and Standby. If it sticks on
the FBI warning press Picture Search. To get it back to R2 after follow the
same procedure but after you press the Repeat button enter the code 2, 9, 3, 3,
4 (Assuming you changed to Region 1).
GRUNDIG GDV-210
Can you please tell me if there is a region
code for a Grundig GDV-210?
Helen Merry, via e-mail
There is: open
tray, load R1 disc, press 0, 1, 2, 3 on remote and press Play.
AND LOOSERS…
I want to be
able to play Region 1 discs on a
Grundig TV/DVD combi model 1450 can this be done?
Dennis Tiernan,
via e-mail
Not as far as I
know, sorry…
TOSHIBA 3109
I have the
Toshiba 3109, and was wondering if there is a key sequence on the
remote that would allow me to play all regions?
Mark Honcoop, via e-mail
Chipping only
I'm afraid
---end---
Ó R. Maybury 2001, 0305
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