[Adam86]

I currently live in the U.S. and own a U.S. (region A) blu-ray disc player.

I would like to watch UK (region B) blu-ray discs in the U.S.

If a buy a UK blu-ray disc player (when I return back home) and connect it to my Panasonic LED-LCD 1080p HDTV in the U.S., will I be able to watch region B blu-ray discs as easily as I would in the UK?

I think HD content shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure about SD and if my TV supports PAL?

Thank you in advance.

[chrisjr]

The main problem you may run into is whether your TV supports the UK frame rate of 25 frames per second. Blu-Ray movie disks shouldn't be an issue if they are film transfers at the standard film rate of 24fps which should apply to US or UK disks.

Other than that connecting via HDMI should get round some of the problems with PAL - NTSC compatibility.

The only other problem you will have to address is mains voltage. If you choose your player properly then that should not be an issue. With modern mains power supplies it is increasingly common to see them rated at any mains voltage between 100 and 250V or so which covers both US and UK mains. If you do get one locked to the UK 230V mains than it won't like the US 110V mains very much.

[Adam86]

I appreciate your advice very much However, I am a little confused about something.

I understand TV programmes made in HD by the BBC and other UK broadcasters use HD video and not film.

Is HD video PAL specific or universal like film?

Sorry, I must sound a little stupid!

[jjesso123]

I think rather than going through all tech talk that will make you ask more question its easier to say it will work fine you will not have any problems.

It might far better and convenient for you to invest into a region free player though.

If you've got a reasonably good PC/laptop with hdmi out you could pick up blu ray drive for the PC/laptop and this would be region free.

[pmartin252]

Why not just buy a hackable US player? On another forum people have been buying this Insignia model which has a remote control hack to play Region B blu-rays and Region 2 DVD's...

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Insignia...-ray&cp=1&lp=4

Power on player
Open disc drawer
Press Set-up on remote
type 9113

[zacharysmith]

Of course just because a player is region free makes no difference to the OP problem as region coding has nothing to do with the NTSC/PAL issue.

However , chances are that if you buy a brand that is sold as multiregional then it should either support PAL or convert it to NTSC for you.

Always struck me as odd that UK tv's have supported NTSC for about 20 years while US players and tv's from the well known brands rarely support PAL

[Adam86]

Thanks for your responses.

Right now my Sony blu-ray player is set to output 1080/24p via HDMI constantly. My TV fully supports 1080/24p playback.

If I buy a blu-ray player from the UK and set the output to 1080/24p via HDMI, would all PAL related issues be avoided as everything would be converted?

Or am I talking nonsense?

[jjesso123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zacharysmith

Of course just because a player is region free makes no difference to the OP problem as region coding has nothing to do with the NTSC/PAL issue.

However , chances are that if you buy a brand that is sold as multiregional then it should either support PAL or convert it to NTSC for you.

Always struck me as odd that UK tv's have supported NTSC for about 20 years while US players and tv's from the well known brands rarely support PAL

there is no pal ntsc problems anymore so It won't be problem.

For instance I take My UK Ps3 and play blu ray when I go away to America each year.

[zacharysmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam86

Thanks for your responses.

Right now my Sony blu-ray player is set to output 1080/24p via HDMI constantly. My TV fully supports 1080/24p playback.

If I buy a blu-ray player from the UK and set the output to 1080/24p via HDMI, would all PAL related issues be avoided as everything would be converted?

Or am I talking nonsense?

HD content would be fine as most HD will output at 24p
Problems might occur with any special features that are 50hz.

SD will output at 50hz or 60hz depending on the disc.

Most discs that offer sd bonus features are usually from a US 60hz source but there are a few where they won't be and it is known that some US viewers are unable to access the 50hz content on a standard setup .

The UK Bluray discs of Network for example contain 50hz content so the bonus features on the set of The Prisoner for example may have issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjesso123

there is no pal ntsc problems anymore so It won't be problem.

For instance I take My UK Ps3 and play blu ray when I go away to America each year.

That's for HD only

Not all Bluray content is HD.
Discs where the content is US sourced , like the Superman Collection for example will be 480/60.

But thats not the same for some UK discs
Its SD where the problems can and do occur

[jjesso123]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zacharysmith

HD content would be fine as most HD will output at 24p
Problems might occur with any special features that are 50hz.

SD will output at 50hz or 60hz depending on the disc.

Most discs that offer sd bonus features are usually from a US 60hz source but there are a few where they won't be and it is known that some US viewers are unable to access the 50hz content on a standard setup .

The UK Bluray discs of Network for example contain 50hz content so the bonus features on the set of The Prisoner for example may have issues.


That's for HD only

Not all Bluray content is HD.
Discs where the content is US sourced , like the Superman Collection for example will be 480/60.

But thats not the same for some UK discs
Its SD where the problems can and do occur

for those problems to happen you would have to be running the blu ray with none hd source ? Or am missing something ? If your using HDMI an out putting 720p/1080p it dose not matter what the source material is as the tv will act as as its 720p/1080p source material ?

[Adam86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjesso123

for those problems to happen you would have to be running the blu ray with none hd source ? Or am missing something ? If your using HDMI an out putting 720p/1080p it dose not matter what the source material is as the tv will act as as its 720p/1080p source material ?

That's what I was thinking. However, it seems quite complicated?

Also, how do I know if my TV supports 50Hz? There appears to be very little information about what it actually supports other than the usual 720p/1080p information.

The only informatuon I can find is that it supports a frequency of between 48-120Hz via VGA.

[zacharysmith]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjesso123

for those problems to happen you would have to be running the blu ray with none hd source ? Or am missing something ? If your using HDMI an out putting 720p/1080p it dose not matter what the source material is as the tv will act as as its 720p/1080p source material ?

You are missing something.

If you play a UK dvd on your tv and your player is set to upscale the output will be 1080/50hz .

Thats not a recognised format for HD but its what you get with a UK dvd.

Try a US dvd and you'll get 1080/60 .

The vast majority of HD content on Bluray discs will play at 24p if your player it set to it.

However - there are lots of Bluray discs where the bonus features are ported over from the dvd and most were made in sd , so they are in sd on Bluray discs too.

Always thought it was a gltch on the PS3 but it still fails to upscale sd material on a Bluray disc.

For example - take the Superman Collection.
Many of the bonus features are in sd from the dvd.
Play them on the PS3 and even if you have dvd's set to upscale the PS3 will output the sd bonus features at 480/60.

Play those exact same bonus features on their dvd counterpart and the PS3 will output them to 1080/60.

Bluray players don't seem to have that trouble and sd bonus features will still output at 1080/60.

Off on a tangent there a bit.

The problem (for US viewers) is that sd bonus features on Bluray discs is sometimes UK sourced PAL originally and its still on the disc at 50hz , and its the 50hz bit that some US equipment has trouble with.

I don't think there's too many of them but on The Mausoleum Forum about archive tv aswell as Roobarbs there are US viewers who buy region free UK Bluray discs like The Prisoner or Fireball XL5 only to find the 50Hz bonus features will not display on their standard US tv's.

Displaying 50Hz content has long been a problem in the US where the small market there for multiregional dvd players is satisfied by players that convert the PAL into NTSC in order for it to display.

I don't think the problem is as bad as it was but I am aware of US viewers who buy UK Bluray discs but on these admittedly rare occasions find they are unable to display the 50Hz content .

However - and back to the original question.
I would be very surprised if a modern LCD tv from Panasonic did not support PAL so I would buy all the discs you want.

You'll have no issues with HD content , many bonus features are 60hz anyway so in a worst case scenario you'd only have trouble with 50hz content of which there seems to be very little .

Of course , if you were playing standard dvd's any problem with PAL would mean no playback at all even if you were connected with HDMI and set to 1080.