A universal DVD/BD player

[metaleonid]

I haven't done any research in this area, but was wondering if there're some players that can play any format DVDs and BDs (NTSC and PAL) in addition to SACD and DVD-Audio. And the most important thing if they can play such content not only from optical media but from the external hard drivers. I guess I could employ MacBookPro and VLC, but I don't like VLC performance. It constantly drop frames on any DVDs I'm playing. Thanks for the help.

--Leonid

[lordsmurf]

It's not common, far less than in the past.

Example: https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-BD-F5...aee07e33f129ff

The reason DVD players played both PAL and NTSC is because the players were made for worldwide use. Everything from the PSU to the MPEG chipset allowed it, and only Region coding prevented it. Firmware "hacks" (usually menu access, sometimes firmware change) allowed for it. BD is often still manufactured for a region, not worldwide.

[metaleonid]

Thank you. This unit seems to be able to play from the HD, but wouldn't output PAL as is.

I guess this one is an option then:

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-UBD-K...cm_wl_huc_item

[sanlyn]

So if you found a PAL player in the U.S. how do you play PAL on TV? Region free BluRay players are not what the Hollywood establishment wants you to be able to buy in the U.S.

I don't know why people continue to recommend big box store junkware like Samsung, Panasonic, or SONY players when Oppo has been making upscale universal SACD/DVD/BluRay/HD multimedia players that have been cult favorites for years. Yes, they cost a bit (or you can get the cheaper junkware mentioned) but you get cult-level performance from the BDP-103, BDP-103D, BD-105D, BDP-93, and now they have 4K players. You also find many customizing shops that perform miracle transformations on OPPO circuitry. As for construction, the cardboard box that an OPPO ships in is built better than anything Samsung throws at the marketplace. and where can you get a 5-year warranty from SONY? Sample BDP-103D at https://www.amazon.com/OPPO-BDP-103D...s=oppo+bdp-103. If you're really into prime video players I'm surprised you haven't heard of OPPO. If you don't care for OPPO, try something from Cambridge Audio (http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CACXU).

This stuff isn't BestBuy cheapware.

[metaleonid]

I missed this post. I will look into Oppo.

I just recently found out that all US TVs have been supporting PAL (25 fps frame rate) since 2016. I had no idea about it.

It also turns out that the external hard drive can be plugged to the modern TV. The external hard drive can have all the DVDs and BDs structures ripped directly. And TV would play it. If that's the case, I don't think I will even need the player. All I will need is a BD drive that can rip BDs. I prefer to keep all multimedia on external HDs rather than have discs.
The only drawbacks are: TV plays VOB files directly and not through the DVD menu. Is there any way to hack them to play through the menu?

And the 2nd thing. Since TVs can pick files up, is it possible to hack them such that they can play Huffyuv and DV AVIs?

--Leonid

[NJRoadfan]

Sony has one player that does everything except DVD-Audio

http://www.sony.com/electronics/blu-...yers/bdp-s6700

Odd that it omits that one format, but I'm sure they can be ripped and played back on the thing.

The whole US/Canada TVs can't play PAL thing was entirely an artificial limitation to protect company's profits. The PAL capability was removed so folks in Europe couldn't import cheaper priced US models. Almost every TV sold in Europe for the past 20+ years has been multi-system PAL/SECAM/NTSC out of the box.

[msgohan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metaleonid

It also turns out that the external hard drive can be plugged to the modern TV. The external hard drive can have all the DVDs and BDs structures ripped directly. And TV would play it. If that's the case, I don't think I will even need the player. All I will need is a BD drive that can rip BDs. I prefer to keep all multimedia on external HDs rather than have discs.
The only drawbacks are: TV plays VOB files directly and not through the DVD menu.

Bigger drawback #1: With the BDs you will only be able to play the M2TS files from the folder structure. For any disc with seamless branching and/or playlist obfuscation you will have to choose the correct playlists on your PC and remux them into a single playable file.

Bigger drawback #2: Not sure if this is the case with every TV, but my 2015 Panasonic 4K can't do DTS audio. Most BDs have DTS-HD MA, so again you must pre-process and in this case recompress on the PC side.

Quote:

Since TVs can pick files up, is it possible to hack them such that they can play Huffyuv and DV AVIs?

No. They use a dedicated hardware decoder chip that can only handle certain formats, not a software decoder.

[metaleonid]

Ok, then to avoid the drawback, are players capable picking up DVD and BD ready structures from the hard drive (i.e. with menus and stuff).

Thanks.

[msgohan]

The studios really don't like that, so devices supporting either of those are few and far between. The only devices I'm aware of that support BD menus from HDD are expensive offerings by a company called Dune, that have their own bugs.

Dune BD Prime 3.0
- Supports DTS-CD but not SACD or DVD-A.
- "Filesystems: FAT16/FAT32 (read-write), EXT2/EXT3 (read-write), NTFS (readonly)". Lack of exFAT is annoying IMO, and why read-only for NTFS?

They make some HDD-only models that are licensed to play back Blu-ray structures, too.

Searching Dune-HD on Amazon also pops up this random Chinese HDD thing that says "supports Blu-Ray Navigation Menu (BD-1.0 and 2D movies only)". I think that may mean it only supports BDMV menus and not BD-J, the latter being the most common for years now IMO. Don't know to what degree the Dunes support more complex BDs, but the specs page for that player I linked claims "Playback of full Blu-ray structures from HDD and network (with Blu-ray menu, BD-J, BonusView, BD-Live)."

My WD TV Live (long discontinued, now) supports DVD menus, but the deinterlacing is so bad that you'd never want to play a DVD from it anyway.

[metaleonid]

Ok...

Then something like VLC would've been perfect... BUT.....

Does anyone else experience frame drops when playing interlaced files?