Finally got most of the series on disk, having issues getting it to play

Sarkus

Sarkus

Dedicated Member
So as noted in an earlier thread, once LOTSW disappeared from YouTube I was left with no real options as the show is not shown currently on either local PBS station. So I went ahead and purchased most of the series on disk from the UK, which arrived yesterday. According to the seller, the DVDs are supposed to be "multi region" coded and should work on a North America region 1 DVD or blu ray player, but they admitted the PAL format may cause issues.

My PC has no problem playing the disks, but even code unlocked, neither my DVD or blu ray player can understand them. Nor did another blu ray player that said it was capable of handling PAL and NTSC. Doing some research has left me pretty confused, but it seems like I need a player that can convert the PAL file to and NTSC output and be region unlocked. Players with those abilities are available on Amazon, among other places.

If anyone else has any advice or recommendations to give on this subject, I'd appreciate it as I'd love to be able to sit down and enjoy the show in my living room!

Thanks.
 
If a disc made at home is region free there is still the problem playing PAL on a NTSC player/TV,as Chuck said you will need a player that will do the conversion for you so when it hits your TV input,your NTSC TV will know what to do with it
 
My Son's Xbox 360 played the burned copies I made of my PAL discs with AnyDVD. Haven't checked if the PS3 will do it or not. Had an old backup DVD Player I bought at Ralph's Grocery for 35 bucks (think the brand was Craig). It would play anything you put in it. The cheaper Philips usually can play PAL too, though you may have to input a code with the remote to get some of them to be region free.
 
I ended up ordering the DVD player cciaffone recommended above and its supposed to be here tomorrow, so that should allow me to start watching the disks on something other than my TV. I'm pretty excited at the prospect. ;-)
 
No such luck today

Sarkus said:
I ended up ordering the DVD player cciaffone recommended above and its supposed to be here tomorrow, so that should allow me to start watching the disks on something other than my TV. I'm pretty excited at the prospect. ;-)
Click to expand...

Well, so much for that excitement.

The unit was here when I arrived home from work but does not function correctly. It appears I have received a defective unit. It turns on and appears to play the disks, but does not output to the TV at all. I've tried all I could think of to get it work, but it simply does not. I'm not sure how something like that makes it through QA. I've already sent an email to the seller (as I understand that they modify the unit, while Amazon fulfills the orders directly) and am holding off on a negative review until I see what response, if any, they have.

So, back to watching on the computer. :-(
 
sorry to hear that. mine works great.

but as i remember, i had to go thru a setup routine. the
player came with instructions in spanish, but i found
english online, probably from the web site.
 
cciaffone said:
sorry to hear that. mine works great.

but as i remember, i had to go thru a setup routine. the
player came with instructions in spanish, but i found
english online, probably from the web site.
Click to expand...

Mine came with English instructions, but those are the Samsung instructions and there was nothing in the box indicating I needed to do anything outside of what it says, which was to plug it in. As I don't even get an image, I'm not sure what else to try. As indicated, I'm waiting to see if the seller responds, but so far they have not.
 
Can you provide a bit of troubleshooting info?

You first connect the DVD player to the TV, power
on the TV, and set the TV to get signals from the DVD
player rather than the antenna.

You power on the DVD player. At this point the TV should display
a rather wood-textured screen from the DVD player with the
word VIDEOS above a picture of a tape reel (next to which
there are 3 other symbols: pictures, music, and SETUP).

This shows that the TV is set to play from the DVD player.
If this has not happened, perhaps you have not told the TV
where to find the DVD player??

If you insert a commercial DVD and close the drawer, the
DVD should start playing and be visible on the TV screen.
 
cciaffone said:
You power on the DVD player. At this point the TV should display
a rather wood-textured screen from the DVD player with the
word VIDEOS above a picture of a tape reel (next to which
there are 3 other symbols: pictures, music, and SETUP).

This shows that the TV is set to play from the DVD player.
If this has not happened, perhaps you have not told the TV
where to find the DVD player??
Click to expand...

Right, the problem is that the DVD player turns on and does not send any signal to the TV. I'm on the right input because I can plug in another DVD player to the same cables and get a picture. So its clearly an issue of the new player not outputting any signal, or its outputting a signal my TV doesn't understand.
 
If you got this from amazon, you can contact them to return it.
They even send you a postage-paid label for free.
 
cciaffone said:
If you got this from amazon, you can contact them to return it.
They even send you a postage-paid label for free.
Click to expand...

Way ahead of you on that. ;-) I requested a replacement and the return last week and got the new player today. It works fine, just as it should. So I'm good to go. My original unit was simply a defective one, though I'm not sure how something like that got through the QA process. Not that it's Samsung's fault - those "region free" units are modified by a 3rd party, which is why Amazon fulfills the order but isn't the actual seller.

The main thing is that it's all good and I can now watch the show again.
 
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