from single-region to all-region in a few remote clicks...

Just a little FWIW/FYI.

I have a couple of DVDs that only have been issued in the UK (The Who 'The Vegas Job' and the 'Cold Feet' boxset) As region 2 DVDs they normally cannot be played on machines originating for the North American market (region 1). One can buy fairly expensive multi-region players from several sites but I found a COBY 215 player at my local supermarket (of all places) that advertised it was NTSC/PAL compatible. It played the Who alright but gave me a region code error on the Cold Feet discs. I was bummed because this is one of our favorite shows, and we had only seen the first several seasons on Bravo. And I payed about $75 for the set.

Anyway, after some time elapsed I remembered that 'multi-region hacks' are available that allow you to use the remote to reprogram the player. I checked several sites and forums, found about five different 'recipes' and went to try them. The first three didn't work but number four opened a menu to change the region! I clicked in region 2, plugged in the DVD and it played perfectly. The player even translates the picture format to NTSC flawlessly.

As I understand it the more mainstream DVD players need firmware (chip) upgrades but the cheaper ones (COBY, Audiovox, ACME etc) can be reset to play those must-have DVDs available so far only in other regions.



P.S. An earlier thread on The Vegas Job