DVD players

Hello all,

Is there such a thing as a universal DVD/VHS player? We have a lot of DVD's and even VHS's for my young daughter. Can I get a universal DVD/vhs player once I'm in England?

Also, I'm wondering if my stereo speakers will work on British-style stereo systems.

Thanks.

Steve Peck

Not sure about VHS, but for DVDs, you will be looking for a "multi-region DVD player".  Or I have also heard that BluRay players will play all regions of DVDs.

Hi Steve,

There used to be such things as multi region VCR's but seeing as VHS has pretty much died in terms of formats, you'll have to hunt them down or find an older UK spec VHS machine that had the 'NTSC playback' function. Plenty of machines had that function which means you can bring your US tapes over, stick them in the machine and it'd output the video for a normal UK PAL tv to display. Have a look up on eBay to purchase one of those if needed. True 'Multi system' Video recorders exist(ed) as well, again, no real call for them nowadays.

i'd suggest perhaps converting the VHS tapes you have over there to a Computer format and then burn those to DVD, you could then sell off the VHS tapes themselves to collectors etc and then use the DVD's on a computer drive or on a normal DVD player.

As for your speakers working on UK stereo systems - there's no such thing as a 'british style stereo' - there are no standards or settings between the US and UK for audio components. However, if your speakers are of a high end design and may be bi-wired or require specific amplification, then do look into that a little more. If they're standard bookshelf/floor standing 4 or most usually, 8 Ohm speakers, you'll have no issues.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Not sure about VHS, but for DVDs, you will be looking for a "multi-region DVD player".  Or I have also heard that BluRay players will play all regions of DVDs.

We tried playing our Region 2 PAL DVD's on my mom's brand new Sony BluRay and it wouldn't play it stating it was 'Not a Region 1 DVD'.

if your speakers are of a high end design and may be bi-wired or require specific amplification, then do look into that a little more. If they're standard bookshelf/floor standing 4 or most usually, 8 Ohm speakers, you'll have no issues.

Even in merrie olde England, they've heard of bi-wiring speakers. I bought some floor standing Eltax Silverstones in Richer Sounds, I don't think you'd call them "high end" really, but they came with removable links for bi wiring. The sales guy told me they sell special cables but that personally he thought it was all hocus-pocus, a point of view I thoroughly agree with.

There used to be such things as multi region VCR's but seeing as VHS has pretty much died in terms of formats, you'll have to hunt them down or find an older UK spec VHS machine that had the 'NTSC playback' function. Plenty of machines had that function which means you can bring your US tapes over, stick them in the machine and it'd output the video for a normal UK PAL tv to display.

I have one of these... it's actually a VCR/DVD combo machine that plays all DVD regions and supports NTSC video playback. However, I've had it for over 5 years so I'm not really up on all the different machines that are available now .

We tried playing our Region 2 PAL DVD's on my mom's brand new Sony BluRay and it wouldn't play it stating it was 'Not a Region 1 DVD'.

Funnily enough, big-name DVD players are more likely to abide by the region coding than cheap ones.  My mother-in-law won an Alba DVD player that probably costs about £25, and it plays PAL and NTSC, Region 1 and Region 2.  I'd never have picked it over a Sony, but will probably hang onto it forever in order to play my US DVDs. 

Most if not all DVD players have cheat codes that you can punch in via the remote control to change the region. You can look them up on Google.

Here's what I'll be using.  http://www.dvdcodes.net/codes.htm.
I can't say it's 100% ethical, but hey, it works and it's YOUR product.  The manufacturer included this option in the product when they programmed it. you SHOULD be able to use it, right?
So, you just select the brand and model from the drop-down menu and follow the instructions.