Blu-ray region-lock blues...and fixes

[@jozefik1259]

It's never a waste of time, if it's a Techmoan video!!

[@BrendanOrr]

Also, who knows what they'll do with a firmware update these days...Good to have options!

[@eNodeTG]

+1 !

[@LuciferStarr]

And if the viewer has either if the same DD players, this shows them multi-region is possible.

[@drmegaman]

Techmoan is better than 99% of what's on TV!

[@timhe]

Absolutely

[@JRCSalter]

There are many advantages of the physical format. Protection from Internet outages, website malfunction, discontinuation, and slow broadband resulting in reduced quality. Not to mention streaming services never show any of the special features besides trailers. Also, there's the tactile aspect of holding a physical object. Not to mention the fact you OWN it, rather than merely licensed to play it. Plus, there's no annoying annotations saying 'watch this' during the credits (if they don't skip them entirely). Sooooo many reasons.

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

And physical formats endure through time, so that future generations will be able to watch those then old movies, unlike the ones gone because they are not popular anymore and streaming companies make room for new content. As for "watch this", there is often a "watch this" on optical media, as there are trailers of movies you might not be interested in, or in case of some TV series season x disc 1 a long and annoying intro, as well as "piracy kills wildlife" and "piracy is bad for your eyes" warnings. Only some players let you skip that, but when watching on PC, no problemo. I like to go to countryside for holidays, and there is no internet, not even over GSM, so I like to bring a laptop and some DVDs to watch in the evening, or a hard drive full of backups of those DVDs (which I own and don't give away or sell to people later on), as I believe in backing up everything in case it goes bad, plus they are more portable that way.

[@rahb1]

I completely agree, John. However, you only ever "own" the physical disc, but NEVER the content contained thereon. You are only allowed to play it according to the licence.

[@needforsuv]

Well you can pirate stuff with bonus content too

[@nbrowser]

And for when I go to a special cabin in the middle of nowhere, and by that I mean it takes time to get there and no cellular or internet service whatsoever...it's nice to grab a disc and shove it into a player and get movies....streaming doesn't work everywhere.

[@louistournas120]

Other advantages are: I don't want to sit in front of a PC in a relatively uncomfortable chair to watch a 2 h movie. I can also watch the DVD at any time, even 50 y into the future (unless they don't sell DVD players anymore but we can also use a PC to convert it and write it to another CD like media.).

[@PhilipLeitch]

Maybe you should source your hardware from Australia. It's illegal to impose region restrictions in Australia. That means hardware must either be region free or offer customers with a way to change to multi-region (it allow for users to change region). I suspect most "hacks" are available because of Australia.

[@MrVolksbeetle]

Philip Leitch Well, there’s a thing I didn’t know. Doesn’t it take forever to get things from there?

[@davidthefrikr]

The Australian 3DS is region locked

[@fellipec]

Good guys aussies

[@JohnWatkinsUK]

They use full-fat electricity too, bonus!

[@PhilipLeitch]

MrVolksbeetle no, but that might be because I live in Australia

[@kioki666]

Region locking - that's what you get for owning movies legally

[@TOBiiiSmurf]

So true!!

[@zwz.zdenek]

You never really own them.

[@BG101UK]

My thoughts too. :)

[@neogeo1670]

@@zwz.zdenek ?

[@SillyOmega]

I just use my region free player.

[@TheWilldrick]

it's annoying that paying customers have it harder than pirates that just download the bloody thing and play it wherever they want

[@rahb1]

EXCELLENT point!

[@hadto8482]

yes i have tried both and piracy is easier just go to your favourite torrent site search for what you want and click download then wait and then watch

[@HLMAX]

Sony is such greedy SOB. Why make your good paying customers jump through hoops? This is the death of the format. I have so many BluRay disc, all playing nicely on my BluRay drive of my computers, until an update. Now I got to pay for new software players to view my discs. You are kidding me Sony? Software BluRay players should be free like software DVD players. I have not purchase a BluRay disc since. A big middle finger to you Sony.

[@agfagaevart]

you've learned a hard lesson; don't do updates.

[@mrbisshie]

You're going to region lock me, and put DRM in my HDMI cable? Okay, I'll just pirate your shit, and not have to deal with the BS, lol.

[@jackjowett902]

Region locking is an absolute rip off.

[@rahb1]

ABSOLUTELY agree! Many releases, which are only on region A at first, may *eventually* come out on region B, so what is the point of making the rest of us WAIT? Some will simply forget about the film and not buy it at all. Some MAY choose to see it at the cinema, and then decide to not bother buying it at all either. (By then it is past its prime.) Worse, many older titles come out on region A only, which means that the rest of the world can NEVER buy them; in other words, this is LIMITING sales, instead of making these titles available worldwide; they are artificially restricting them to to the USA and those few who are willing and able to make a hardware mod to their player. Crazy!

[@MarioLuigi0404]

I’m glad Nintendo got rid of it on Switch.

[@thierrydelage1681]

I hate region coding myself but from a business point of view i can understand why it was set up in the first place. When a movie is released in theatre at the same time in US and Europe, it's available most of the time first on DVD/Blu-Ray in US because american laws allow shorter delay between theatre release and domestic release (3 monthes in the US while it used to be 6 monthes of wait in Europe, recently reduced to 4 monthes). Having that in mind it's easy to guess that the movie industry decided to region code the medias in order to prevent easy reading from an american disc in Europe at the same time movie could still be available in theatre, hence reducing the amount of cinema viewers and potential benefits from commercial exploitation. Of course all this proved to be useless as the so-called regional AACS protection was quickly cracked and illegal copies fom movies made their way to various download or streaming websites, turning the whole region-protection thing into a nuisance and lack of ergonomy for users rather than a real mean to protect the movie industry from rogue exploitations.

[@SavageMontreal]

That's why I download a lot of films. It takes months for them to get released in Australia (if at all), and when they are, they are much more expensive than overseas. A lot of films get released on Blu-ray in the US before they even get released in theatres in Australia (John Wick & Planet Terror in particular pissed me off - now I refuse to buy them no matter how cheap). Instead of waiting for the official release and get charged up the ass, I'll just get a Blu-ray rip from the internet a few months earlier. It's funny how people who earn no money from uploading these films do a better job of distributing them than the film distributors themselves. They deserve to go out of business.

[@Kie-7077]

It's pure 100% stupid, copyright holders cutting off their noses to spite their faces, they likely lose more from lost sales due to region restrictions than they gain from people buying from the correct region.

[@CH32mix]

what a waste of time...i'll watch it again

[@johnny-becker]

😆

[@dsantos5548]

... Just to make sure I got it right the first time lol 👻

[@SwedishRetroTechNerd]

haha dont he realize that this is usefull for me not everyone has the same blu-ray player as him

[@CatsMeowPaw]

Region locking is evil. Corporations use the cheapest possible labour and materials to produce their products, but when consumers want to buy a disc from a cheaper country the corporations get into a hissy fit and shout 'Oh no! That's totally unfair! You must pay the full local retail price! (while we get to import everything from the cheapest country)'. When was the last time you heard a multi national corporation like Universal and Sony Pictures say globalism is a terrible thing, that's why we need to artificially implement electronic borders between countries?

[@louistournas120]

Are DVDs cheaper in china?

[@EggBastion]

just like pollution or tax companies can practically ignore it - _but_ if you or I want to drive faster than 75Kph, plastic straws, or two darn pennies to rub together _we_ can basically _forget it._

[@klausstock8020]

I have one SACD which was ridiculously expensive in Germany, so I bought it cheaply from a US shop which had imported it from Australia. The first thing I noticed when ripped open the envelope was that the disc was labeled... "Made in Germany".

[@someindianguy_99]

@@klausstock8020 Very ironic

[@djfernando16]

it's not even a matter of cheaper discs. A huge amount of titles are only available to certain regions. Not to mention special releases.

[@drmegaman]

Regional lockout just seems like the silliest thing in the internet age. Here's to hoping all upcoming physical formats don't have lockouts!

[@yueying7838]

region locking is on youtube already

[@miraxell]

It's just market protection. Noone will buy blurays in hk for a price of UK market

[@Johanniscool]

I doubt there will be any upcoming physical formats beyond bluray

[@Loc1600]

Streaming has region locking too though. For example, the "Dutch" Netflix has a fraction of the content of what you have in the US. It's just easier to hide I suppose

[@drmegaman]

Mike Van Pelt Yeah, so I've heard, though USA's Netflix isn't so great anymore. I think everyone has a story about something they enjoyed being taken down at some point. The whole concept behind licenses only working in certain countries just seems so obsolete now. We have this amazing worldwide communications network, but I (USA) can't stream certain shows from Channel 4 because... some higher-up wouldn't be able to make free money off of licensing fees? Nutty, but that's one of the growing pains of the internet.

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

But it wasn't a waste of your time... you successfully did a bit of soldering that worked :D

[@ddragon8154]

Fine detail and high-risk (In terms of possibly breaking the player) soldering at that! :-)

[@iaincowell9747]

@@renakunisaki There was nothing wrong with the player.

[@R-Lee-]

What do you mean a waste of his time? He never said it was a waste of his time and everything worked perfectly.

[@coshiro1]

I've never seen a DVD player so excited about a software update "Here an update has been found!" haha I love that

[@-MacCat-]

It's never a waste of time watching your stuff Mat, even if I do watch it nearly 3 years after you've posted it, plus the last 3+ minutes of this one were utter gold! Thanks for your ongoing contributions.

[@gavincurtis]

Best DVD player ever was one that came in a Polaroid garbage all in one TV. Lasted a little over a year before the TV died, but pulled out the DVD player. It has no lockouts of any kind, doesn’t care about rules and regulations and simply plays everything you put into it. Even cd rom video games! Not video game activity, but any audio formatted files for example would play that it could find and decode; even sound effects etc. My wife's DVDs from Europe that would not play on anything else, no problem! It could even “play” the data only files if you selected one.. sounded like a modem over the speakers. I don’t even know how that is possible... Even all my old music CDs I got out of storage to see what hidden graphics images and files were in them. Plenty of easter eggs to be found. Photos of band members etc... song lyrics.... even a hidden song.

[@alastairward2774]

I'd buy that for a dollar!

[@Dowent]

Well, that's how most SATA BR players work :) .

[@pineappleroad]

i wonder if the weird TV with a built in DVD player that my gran used to have (which we now have, as a spare TV as it is so small) is also like that

[@id104335409]

When other channels bait you with clickbait titles and thumbnails, Techmoan TELLS you that there is a twist in the video so you might not want to watch it, and what do you know - he delivers! I bet even the stuff he cuts out of the videos is worth watching more than most channels present as ready content.

[@asabetti2353]

I agree

[@ithinkitspickingupalittleb8011]

Oh, yes. Pointless. That's the type of video I like.

[@thegrimyeaper]

How is this video pointless?

[@AakeTraak]

Just see the whole video....

[@ithinkitspickingupalittleb8011]

+thegrimyeaper 0:06, he also explains why at the end of the video. Turns out he didn't need to do any of the things he did on the video.

[@thegrimyeaper]

Yeah, I guess it could be defined as pointless when the actual uploader does so himself.

[@simontay4851]

Yes, just like stupid region locks. Relatively easy to hack to region free.

[@Badgertronix]

I remember the first DVD player I had that I converted to region free using a Palm Pilot to do something via infrared. High tech stuff back in the 1990s

[@kbhasi]

I won't be surprised if it was a Philips DVD player, as I remember hearing about a similar method to unlock the one I have. It has something to do with rapid code entry or something along those lines. Meanwhile, I remember I had a Samsung portable DVD player (back in 2007) that I bought in Singapore, so it was set for region 3, but then I took it on holiday to Australia and wanted to watch movies I rented from a Blockbuster there, so while I was in my bedroom in my second home there, I looked up some info, and found I could unlock it. I was happy that I could play rented DVDs on my portable player in my bedroom (I had a TV in that room at the time) rather than watching it in the living room where the rest of my family there would've been watching some channel on satellite TV instead.

[@alphaomega5896]

Some DVD players could be easily unlocked by inputting a combination of codes. With blu-ray they really locked it down and made it harder.

[@dingdongbells3314]

Don't worry, as someone who regularly watches videos of men going thrifting or washing computers in their drive ways, I'm more than accustomed to being told these videos are a "waste of my time." Doesn't make them any less enjoyable ;)

[@redpheonix1000]

It's not a waste if your time if you enjoy it, no matter what it is!

[@thomask1424]

"What's the worst that could happen?" Your optimism is commendable, sir.

[@GadgetAddict]

Brave move sticking it in place before testing it :p

[@frederickbilly5009]

@Orlando Mordechai instablaster :)

[@orlandomordechai7012]

@Frederick Billy thanks for your reply. I found the site thru google and I'm trying it out now. I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@orlandomordechai7012]

@Frederick Billy It worked and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thanks so much you saved my account!

[@frederickbilly5009]

@Orlando Mordechai Happy to help :D

[@glennac]

Dymo? Back in my day those were called Avery Label Makers. My dad use to work for the company in the 1960’s when the corporate offices were in Monrovia, CA. Boy, that brings back memories.

[@watershed44]

glennac I also remember Avery label makers, buy Dymo seemed to be much more heavily marketed in the USA.

[@RandornCanis]

That board is a stock standard Atmel micro controller. May very well run Arduino.

[@xaer0knight]

I'm going to presume the Atmel Micro Controller is really only there to store the new firmwire.. Firmware is very small on most devices and made it such a way that you can't tweak them. If the company makes a 128K firmware, it has to be 128K sized firmware.. The Controller, i bet expands that memory issue.

[@sohatyi]

"A mysterious trip into the world of punctuation" - genuine laugh over that one!

[@kenny9648]

No video of Techmoan is pointless. I love them all!

[@seancondon5572]

7:10 - If you really want someone to complain about your soldering technique, share the video with Louis Rossmann.

[@pauleckert4321]

I know alot of people dont agree but i am one of the ones who says no to digital because with digital you really dont own the movie. I used to buy movies on ultraviolet and there were some movies that disapeared from my collection. When i called they said the studio that has the rights to them pulled out. Ever since then i have stuck to physical discs. I have some friends who have hundreds of movies on thier digital collection and its crazy to think that at any time if that streaming service stops all that money you spent and the collection you have can go away. What is scary is I know one day all movies will be digital only. Anyway love your videos. Your one of my favortie tech KZbin channel's out there. Keep up the great work.

[@stimpsonjcat26]

I watch digital and if I like it I will buy it. I also pirate music but will buy it if I like it (if I can find it)

[@pauleckert4321]

@@stimpsonjcat26 agian thats great if you do. But like i said you dont actally own those movies and music you buy digitally. Your basically renting them .

[@Alexlfm]

While I agree, mostly, I have hundreds of movies on my movies anywhere and uv accounts and I’ve only seen one disappear (and that was actually iTunes). I’ve only purchased/redeemed through VUDU and iTunes though so maybe others had more issues. I don’t see the issue if it comes with the disc or if there’s no other way to get the movie. Some movies they only do HD through cable or digital (granted its likely just an upscale or 720 copy done for a DVD, but still better) and there isn’t a disc release. At full price though I don’t really understand digital since you can get the disc for basically the same price and often get a digital copy anyways so why wouldn’t you want the disc? Still with UHD requirements and data caps along with poor high speed access here in the US I doubt digital only will happen for at least 10-20 years.

[@miawgogo]

@@pauleckert4321 that's only when they use DRM, there are some good sites like 7-digital that offer DRM free media and also in flac

[@russ6541]

Paul Eckert actually with music it’s much different. The many cloud services today allow you to make one or multiple backups of your music, so you can save it. Plus apps like Spotify make it so you don’t even have to buy the music, it’s all available for streaming. I don’t really understand why that person has to pirate music when you can simply stream it.

[@AgentCodyBankz]

KZbin needs a quality Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD vid and I know the man for the job...

[@CptGreedle]

I second this. I mean, it's been done to death back in the day, but it has been a while since anyone talked about HD-DVD.

[@charlesdorval394]

Totally worth it just for the ending ;)

[@timothystevenhoward]

loved the ending!

[@CodaGardner]

This has been my rant ever since Blu-ray was released.

[@daanwilmer]

Flippin' heck!

[@denshi-oji494]

yes... :-) Finally another proper ending with the puppets! THANKS! 4K vs UHD however... depends on the definition in use. There are the various CINEMA 4K resolutions, (the main one being DCI 4K for the Digital Cinema System Specification), and there are the CONSUMER 4K resolutions. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME, but both are 4K formats by name and definition. UHD is a CONSUMER high resolution standard term, and there are TWO UHD resolutions, 4K UHD and 8K UHD.

[@charlesdorval394]

Not to diss the puppets, but I meant his conclusion, felt... familiar :P

[@GordonHudson]

Two tips for you: When I work on a board like this I mark the points I need to solder to with a fine point permanent marker pen. Makes an error less likely. Also if you get a set of plus one or plus two reading glasses from Poundland and put them over you glasses you will be able to see really close. I got a set with big lenses from eBay for a few pounds that I use for this. It retains my astigmatism correction from my real glasses but let’s me focus at a few inches. Really useful.

[@SianaGearz]

Ha, I rarely mark things on the board but I always decide to do it next time. I do some SMD and I wear cheapest big +2 reading glasses on top of my prescription glasses, found that to be the most convenient magnification and I tried dozens of things.

[@joshuajohnson3296]

Sounds like a great pro tip!

[@RaimarLunardi]

For once, Brazil has unlocked most of these things... it's in the law... no DVD, BD, Console, DVDRW, Cellphone, no one has locking whatsoever...

[@geoffturner1487]

I like owning dvd and blu ray disks too. It makes me feel like I actually own something, whereas downloads have no feeling to them.

[@TheKingAAndi]

8 Bit guy and Techmoan upload in one day 😍

[@thedungeondelver]

And Lazy Game Reviews!

[@najtrows]

This really made me want to start collecting some blurays. I always loved commentary and extra features on dvd's back in the days.

[@samdinnan3351]

I've only just started buying Blu-ray discs this month! It definitely has a different feel to streaming. Just collecting my favourites for now though.

[@Waberner]

When I wanna go to bed but there's a new Techmoan video out =)

[@Stefan-]

Ha ha, same here.

[@hannisauria]

Regional sleep, 17:41 here

[@Stefan-]

Hannah Skarlett 00:42 here in Sweden.

[@marwenmsalmi5532]

11:59 here :D

[@cjshields2007]

Try Sleep# www.microsoft.com/en-gb/p/sleep/9ppgrg6t7dcj :)

[@acoow]

10:20 I didn't know anyone was still making that kind of label tape.

[@AHeadC]

Dymo and plenty of 3rd parties make it :)

[@LyudmilaRGVK]

Still viable after all of the years.

[@RAM-cj1hr]

That puppet outro was actually really funny. Something that I've always thought about (on how confusing physical media names are) was finally addressed.

[@enemyofthestatevcdking5982]

And the quality and explosion were high quality and topic was on point =)

[@lowendfish]

"I hope you don't mind about that." Gave me a hearty chuckle.

[@gecafe]

I have an old Insignia from about a decade ago which can have the Blu-ray and DVD regions changed with codes. It’s awesome Apparently there was a firmware update in 2011 to “fix” this, though I’ve avoided updating it. It still plays any disc I throw at it!

[@traeyboy529]

By fix it, you mean screw it up even more?

[@filipmac5577]

Love physical formats!

[@Cre80s]

Dude, your videos are never a waste of time. Notice: I'm a boring idiot so the previous statement is a waste of your time.

[@tomrhardwick]

Excellent as always. No flab, no padding, just solid fast-paced info.

[@Doramius]

Thanks so much for this. This was not a waste of time. The information always comes in useful even if you discover a new or better method. It is the physical troubleshoot and testing that makes these types of videos so fun to watch and informative. Keep it up.

[@stargazeronesixseven]

Wow! Today learnt that , we can soldered in a Region Convertor chip + the software or just using the remote to press the proper buttons to change the Region Code of the player! That's fantastic tutorial indeed! Yes , Bluray offer so much more in Subtitle , Languages , Bonus Behind the Scenes selections that normal Streaming Service that just don't provide! Thank You So Much & Stay Safe & Stay Humble! 🕯🌷🕊

[@CadillacM]

Not a waste of time, loved it. Most KZbinr wouldn't be honest and say they were wrong.

[@gamesessions]

The “vinyls” correction had me chuckling as I just can’t help myself saying “records” whenever I hear that also :)

[@PedalingPrince]

I prefer Blu-ray. At least for now, it's the only format that offers legitimate lossless audio, something very important to me personally. Also I find the picture quality palpably cleaner than streamed media.

[@timothypollock9560]

This was the GREATEST VIDEO EVER on KZbin!!! I just tried the hack you mentioned at the end (clicking on the top menu button a couple of times after stopping the disc) and it worked! I have a stack of British blu rays that I couldn't watch, and now I can! I will start with my blu ray of Brighton Rock. Thank you!!

[@calesgy]

I actually buy the physical media . I watch the digital copy. But in case I lose my digital media I still have the Blue Ray. I'm old school.

[@pepijn_m]

Luis Cales why would you not watch the bluray then? It's a lot less compressed then any streaming service I know

[@MadBiker-vj5qj]

I buy the discs and rip them to my hard drive without any extra compression so it's still the same quality. The disc sits on the shelf for the inevitable day the hard drive dies.

[@georgehunter3013]

@@MadBiker-vj5qj what disc ripper do you use

[@ERIFNOMI]

@@georgehunter3013 the go to for BD is MakeMKV.

[@yellowcrash10]

Mad Biker 3020 Jeez, do you just have tons of external hard drives laying around? Blu-rays are like 40 gigs uncompressed.

[@jafizzle95]

Regardless of the topic, I just really enjoy your gorgeous 4K camera work and narration. And I think your soldering is just fine. If it works, it isn't wrong. Thanks for the video!

[@AlyxxTheRat]

Physical format rocks :)

[@unclemarksdiyauto]

Your videos are never a waist of my time! And just so happens I accidentally bought a region B blu ray while living in region A, pushing pop up menu repeatedly after pressing stop let me watch it! Thanks so much!

[@JMcMillen]

It's not a waste of time because it could be useful for someone who might have to do it so their machine could play disks from multiple regions.

[@Anthony-cr8dw]

It’s not a waste of time. You taught me that there are region codes on dvds and Blu-ray. So thank you.

[@andycristea]

Waste of my time? You could do a video about celery and I bet wouldn't be a waste! What if you remove the hardware mod after the custom firmware update? Does it still work?

[@hztm]

I can't wait for a video about celery from Techmoan now !

[@The_Laser_Channel]

I don't see why it wouldn't...the custom firmware is already there...kinda like with PSP with the Pandora Battery...once you had the CFW installed, you didn't need that battery installed anymore

[@GeekIWG]

You might still need it to switch the region in standby mode.

[@xyanide1986]

I think it would still work as it does now, since the firmware only needs to be loaded once onto the main board. It's not resetting the firmware each time you plug in the power cable.

[@stephenpalmer4052]

But wasn't it the original player that now worked with the Top Menu fudge? The older player always needed the hardware mod - so now you have the ability to watch Non region B on another system/setup

[@NicMG]

For people that have the standard pioneer Blu-ray player this video is still very useful, tbh I have very little use for anything you upload, it's still really interesting. Keep it coming Mat, no time wasting here, a part from the massive amount of house work I'm procrastinating.

[@MeiklesAndDimes]

The school I work for has a Sony BDP-S5200E for their film classes. That model has factory modified firmware that allows region switching by pressing and holding yellow, red and, blue buttons when in standby. Sony quit making that model presumably because the movie studios didn’t like it.

[@xyanide1986]

That's a solid tip.

[@BertGrink]

In a way that is quite ironic, since Sony make movies themselves.

[@ILoveWomen]

the board that techmoan ordered has a Sony variant where you do the exact same thing (press the coloured buttons while in standby to change region locking), so they probably discontinued it because another model has replaced it

[@anthonysterling695]

Techmoan, I have noticed that the last several videos you have done narrations during the ending credits. This is GREAT! I used to find those credits annoying and would skip over them, often times missing the puppets in the process. I understand that you wish to acknowledge your donors and sponsors but the old way was uninspired and this new way is much better. Thank you.

[@grendelum]

Back in the days of the SVCD and DVD I had (well, still have) an *Apex* disc player that played *_all_* regions and a wide variety of formats... it’s been a tremendous help as I too buy a large number of discs from Hong Kong *(Jackie Chan* films especially... the US releases are often re-edited with content missing (Rumble in the Bronx is a great example, the US release is ~20 minutes shorter)).

[@BennBirch]

Fantastic vid, bud. I loved the pointlessness, the brevity and especially the puppet outro sketch. I've been watching your videos for about a year and a half. I've pretty much watched all 399 by now. I don't believe I've commented on one of them yet so that just indicates how much I enjoyed this one. Thanks again for continually entertaining me. One of these days I'll pop on your patreon and throw you some of those Quid you people like. Cheers from Canada.

[@spencers4121]

Not everyone has high speed internet to stream HD movies either. Even then some of your "high" speed serves are hit or miss, I have AT&T fiber. And it's speeds are like a roller coaster half the time.

[@emprsnm9903]

And with net neutrality in flux, expect additional surcharges for 'premium content' to show up. Then you can pay more for the same service, Yay! I swear commisions need a major rewiring.

[@bradleycranwell8585]

I'm currently ill in bed and binge-watching your videos, your superfluous video just got the first laugh out of me in a week. Thank you so much!

[@DJlegionuk]

I have seen worse soldering in my time, Yes this was not the best and you should apply solder to the pads first, but it worked and when it's for your self that is all that matters. I also choose to buy physical media over downloads with movies, but only when I really like them.

[@mikeynjs94]

I love those little puppet skits at the end. They're so charming.

[@ZANTHERA]

I will always prefer physical media over steaming, watching a stream of a film absolutely cannot compete with the bit rate of a Blu-ray or even some well encoded DVDs. What is the point in buying a huge QFHD TV if you're going to be streaming media which was designed for a small on the go device screen, totally pointless. Also the puppets rule.

[@BeerBaron23]

They stream in 4K, but the bitrate of the video is drastically reduced to allow them to stream it. So no, with less bitrate and harsher compression, Streaming services do not offer better quality then what you would get on physical media.

[@justinkashtock333]

Demonstrating that there's more than one way to skin a cat and that with a little research one can discover new ways of doing so is never a waste of time - you have now shown 2 different "unlocks" for 2 different Blu Ray players. Cheers to you, and shame on the manufacturers for forcing people to search for such capabilities instead of including them in the manual!

[@trickelly42]

“Well, the first character is a capital B which means I have to start off by pressing the shift key which is already more work than I was planning on putting in.” ... “Fair Enough.”

[@notbugs]

Happy to see the muppets are back, have been missing them for a while! Cheers!

[@kbhasi]

1:44 Yeah, I remember hacking my Samsung portable DVD player to remove the region lock so I could bring it from Singapore to Australia and watch DVDs I rented from Blockbuster over there, back when that was still a thing. Hey, it was easier than buying another DVD player for the bedroom there. 2:40 I know Kipkay recommended a section on videohelp.com in his DVD region hack video (one of his first videos), and that's where I go. However, for some DVD players, like the Philips unit I currently have, require the code to be entered rapidly in order to remove the region lock, so something like that would make sense.

[@therm0tt0]

I must say that I'm quite pleased with the large number of comments by people who prefer physical media to streaming. I'm right there with you. Of course we are a niche audience who value these sorts of things. There are several reasons why I prefer physical media (and rips thereof): 1. Availability: A large percentage of the discs/records I have are not available for streaming or download. Many that are available online have additional costs or restrictions (e.g. limited time rentals). 2. Accessibility: It's nice to not be tied to an internet connection. If I listening to music on a train, it doesn't suddenly stop when I enter a tunnel. No worry about data caps either. 3. Quality: Physical media present video and audio quality that is almost universally better than streaming. 4. Extra Content: Most of the DVDs and Blu-rays I own have extra content such as cast/crew interviews, commentaries, and behind-the-scenes footage. It's very rare that this material is available for streaming. 5. Perpetual License: On several occasions I have encountered a sudden disappearance of a show or film that I wanted to watch from a streaming service. This is never an issue with physical media that I already bought. 6. Unique packaging: I have/had several discs and records with unusual design. One is a 12" record in the shape of a sawblade. Another is a CD shaped like a shuriken. There is even a 7" with a sheet of lead as the insert instead of paper (the band and album names are stamped into it). It even includes a pair of latex gloves for handling it. I'm probably forgetting several other key advantages. That's not to say that streaming and downloads are bad. I am subscribed to several services, and there is something to be said for the convenience and immediacy they offer. ---- I have also seen several comments about ripping CDs as the only way to get FLAC files. I recommend that people check out Bandcamp. It's a great way to support bands that you like. Many bands offer physical media with free downloads. Many of the downloads are even higher quality than CD, and a larger percentage of the money you pay goes directly to the bands. ---- Concerning region mods, the difficulty of installation varies quite a bit depending on the player you have and the mod provider. For example, unlocking DVD regions for several Oppo players is as simple as inserting a special disc into the player. Blu-ray unlocking requires a hardware mod, but unlike Techmoan's player, the Oppo mod I have is a plugin module. On a UDP-203 it's a simple as removing the top cover and plugging the mod in. However, on a UDP-205 two large circuit boards have to removed to get to the plugin header. Of course you would need to determine if any of those mods are necessary for the player/discs in question and whether or not the warranty will be voided.

[@lcalvom]

How dare you say that it was a waste of time! I really enjoyed watching this video! And after that we are greeted with a new chapter of THE MOANS puppet show!!

[@limacom]

I concur with some of prior posts that this was not a waste of time; it was as always an entertaining experience. Keep those videos coming. Thanks for making them.

[@xyanide1986]

You buy it you OWN it it my line of thought. I'd buy more media digitally if this they allowed the downloads more. A lot of music I buy digitally and download straight away. This way there's no licenses running out for streams, no publisher bankruptcy shutting everything down or anything like that.

[@krzysztofczarnecki8238]

The same for me. Most of the music I listen to I buy online, in stores that allow you to download it drm-free and keep it indefinitely, preferably as lossless files. The rest are CD's. I "bought" DRMed music only once before I knew what that is, and the only streaming service I use for music is KZbin because it is FREE. I mostly use it to find out whether or not to buy a given song. Paying for streaming would be for me like paying for KZbin, and I MUST be able to listen to music offline if I have to pay for it. So when that becomes impossible, I believe that piracy will become 100% justified and people will record music out of their soundcard loopback device from those paid streaming services.

[@PassiveSmoking]

That's what you might think, but the content producers have very different ideas. You didn't buy the disc, you bought a license to play their content that's on the disc at home. But that license is only valid if you abide by their terms. For example if you play that disc you "bought" in front of a crowd big enough for the content creator to declare it a public exhibition, or if you play it in a player with a different region code printed on it than the one printed on the disc, then you've violated the terms of the license and can be taken to court. The disc isn't property, it's just a thing the content comes on as far as the content creators are concerned. Obviously nobody actually gives a crap about those terms but there you go.

[@emprsnm9903]

Same, the publisher shutdown (via end-of-life or bankruptsy) is what turns me off of digital sevices these days. That at the end of the line, I've got nothing to show for what I payed for. Which is why I hope Stadia fails before it takes off. @PassiveSmoking is sadly right though. We (consumers) own nothing, at all, outside of an agreement to unresticted viewings as long as the physical media holds out. Digital, even less so. I propose there be a ten year limit on intellectual properties holdings. That way they can make all the money they want on their creative works for a decade, protected even. After that, move on to a new endeavor, or compete with others that might do even better with an intellectual property. The only ones who loose are, essentially the goldbrickers who produce nothing but collect royalties. Which I point out exists no where else than the entertainment industry. For comparison: Imagine having to pay an employee at Toyota 18 years later for still owning that car, or selling it? How about paying royalties to an electrician who wired your electrical a dozen years ago? I wired up a couple houses, why am I not getting an annual check? Because thats rediculous, thats why. If I want compensation right now, I should be producing something right now.

[@wutang6020]

never a waste of time i love the videos you make and i was blown away at just how empty a dvd player really is lol

[@frenchjr25]

Sales of TV shows on DVD and Blu-ray is significant. Definitely not dying.

[@VinchVolt]

If the vinyl revival proved anything, it's that physical media will always have its niche, even in the digital age. I might not be too into the idea of going back to analog media, but physical media itself is something I'll always cherish collecting. Besides, physical media is easier to archive than digital downloads, and media can be pulled off of streaming services at any moment (not to mention that you're not always gonna have a good enough WiFi connection to stream media).

great vid, thanks man!!! - i too will weep for the day when physical media is no longer released :(

[@c.r.3350]

Definitely not a waste of time. Thank you for your efforts! And never say that you are too old for something. Love your videos, greetings from Germany.

[@nicktsoulli1796]

FYI i have a few discs where the top menu trick does not work at all and that's usually if the menu has any java script on it that prevent's you pressing the stop button and only allows the eject or off buttons to work , and plenty of disc where that trick worked before i did the mod. I did that very same mod to the very same blu-ray player ages ago. Also very handy That Blu-ray player can also rip SACD's over the lan port :)

[@life5161]

I've actually run into this problem before. Love your videos man. Just started watching you this week and haven't stopped

[@onedeadsaint]

love that puppet outro!

[@SmithMrCorona]

The "mysterious trip into punctuation" got me.

[@GraingerElectrical]

I still buy CDs more than I use spotify.

[@MiamiMillionaire]

I still buy VHS...

[@MetallicBlade]

Aye. Besides CD's I also buy records and rip them lossless too (For albums that aren't available on CD/ are cheaper on vinyl), or otherwise.

[@WelshDdraig]

While I use Spotify more than I buy CDs - I still buy them...

[@aggt9266]

Dino

[@God-CDXX]

I still buy LP's and VHS

[@kristiandawe85]

Not a waste of time at all, I just enjoy that we get to watch another great video from a great KZbinr

[@midgendo]

Do a video on the umd format

[@GadgetUK164]

That would be cool =D

[@Techmoan]

*Every* single format you can think of (and plenty you can't) are still on my to-do list.

[@Crlarl]

@@Techmoan Clay tablets?

[@GadgetUK164]

Soldering was OK btw! For what the mod was it was totally functional and up to the task.

[@MoviesNGames007uk]

UMD movies not the games

[@partyflockske]

watching you fiddling about , even when it's not necessary eventually, is never a waste of time but an time spend entertained :)

[@GareWorks]

There are so many Blu-Rays I want that weren't released in New Zealand and often other European countries (companies like Madman like to cheap out and opt to only do DVD releases) so I'm really glad to see this video! I didn't want to take the gamble on region-locked Blu-Rays - supposedly most aren't locked but plenty still are. I'm glad there's a workaround now.

[@iStormUK]

I notice theres an SD card slot on the board, you've stuck it in with the slot up against a metal wall, hope you don't need to use that slot in future ;-)

[@emprsnm9903]

Hah, when I saw that, I went "D'oh!" It must be for loading the region hack board with hacks for different players, like a multipurpose hack board or something.

[@jasonb.anderson7598]

i say that wasn't a waste of time. you now have a blu-ray player that you don't have to worry about pressing keys or a trick to make it work. just walk over plop it into the machine, close, and it just plays. no mess, no fuss. and, for the soldering...i've worked on boards myself, and i know how nerve wracking it can be. you might mess up and there went your precious electronic device. i find your video to be entertaining much like all your fix/hack/teardown videos. much love techmoan, keep it up.

[@blunderingfool]

Good god I do love the puppets. XD

[@scottplumer3668]

Watching your videos is never a waste of time!

[@CommanderZx2]

Does that trick of just pressing too menu only apply to that specific player? I'm looking for a way around the region locking myself and if it's that simple I may get that player.

[@RetroPillowcase]

On some players I've seen this trick mentioned.

[@michaelb4439]

Lol I loved the tag at the end! Well, at least you have a backup device now!

[@DisgruntledPigumon]

I was going to say, ‘oh I long for the days when a certain key press on the remote would circumvent my dvd region coding” but now I see it still exists! This was a great video after all!

[@gregaluise5727]

Great video as usual TechMoan! Love the puppet endings! Watch them with the better half all of the time!!!! Thank you!

[@MartinKronstrom]

«Not computers! The future is soldering!» -Red Forman

[@benji888578]

Judging by the comments, people missed when you said that UHD blu-rays discs (4K) do not have region codes…region codes are not part of the spec for the format at all. And, just because the market for discs is not expanding, doesn’t mean it’s dead, it’s still a multi-BILLION dollar market (USD$), and not going away anytime soon.

[@compu85]

Ha! Well it's not a complete waste, now you have 2 machines that can play any disc.

[@7EEVEE]

This is unironically one of the most satisfying videos on the channel

[@leejamesr1]

Waste my time any day, love all your vids mate..

[@AlexandruBurda]

The outro sketch is the best ever! 😂

[@aussie8114]

Pretty much everything I watch on KZbin is a waste of my time. But I still watch it 🤔