Are USA Doctor Who Blu Rays region-free?

Discussion in 'Doctor Who' started by Lance, Nov 1, 2013.

  1. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    ^ I can honestly say I can't see a difference :cardie:
     
  2. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    Yea, my TV recorded copies have more clarity, you can't see anything in either of those pictures ;)
     
  3. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    I was really referring to the lack of pictures in StCoop's post.
     
  4. StCoop

    StCoop Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    What lack of pictures? I can see them right now.
     
  5. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    I don't see any pics in Firefox, and I'm not blocking anything.

    Chrome shows me two image icons, but still no pictures.
     
  6. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^ You might need to manually copy the urls into another window (it worked for me :techman:).

    STCoop, If I was going to pick between 'coke' and 'pepsi', I'd say pepsi is the DVD and coke is the Blu Ray. Am I right? ;)
     
  7. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    As was I. Now there's a single picture, but. not, two pics, and no broken image

    Even quoting the post in question, shows only evidence of 1 pic.
     
  8. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It seems the new US releases are still the definitive ones. There are a few things on them, like the reinstatement of the 'Next Time' trailers in Series 5 and the inclusion of the actual broadcast version of the 2005 children in need special rather than the workprint version that was mistakenly included on the DVDs, which have plagued all home releases until now -- including the current UK Blu Rays!

    It's somewhat bizarre that Series 1-4 actually differ between UK and US. My assumption was both would be from the same source (blu rays being a mostly universal format, unlike DVD).
     
  9. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    Chrome still shows 2 image icons/broken links. It can open them in new tab.

    This postimg.org must be the problem, though I don't know how.

    Looking at the images, it really is hard to see a difference.
     
  10. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    YOu've also got to bear in mind when importing stuff to the UK from outside the EU, you can get hit for customs duty( and VAT I belive) so it might look cheaper and better value but it could end up being more expensive.
     
  11. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's been confirmed now: these discs ARE region locked (and are, in fact, the first ever Doctor Who Blu Rays to be so).

    There are retailers out there online currently listing this as a region free release, but BUYER BEWARE, if you're outside the States and are ever contemplating importing the USA set, you'll need yourself a multi-region Blu Ray player or device.

    Bit of a bummer, as the USA set is clearly superior to what the rest of us are getting. Happy fiftieth anniversary. :(
     
  12. Ar-Pharazon

    Ar-Pharazon Admiral Premium Member

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    I can't believe more people don't get region-free players. But, do major brands make them, or are you stuck with a no-name?
     
  13. Sindatur

    Sindatur The Gray Owl Wizard Admiral

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    I thought Region Free Players were fairly common place outside the USA, and it's only in the USA where it takes great effort to get a Region Free Player
     
  14. Lance

    Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    ^ It's a matter of availability. You can find them relatively easy online, yes, but if you go down the high street retailer and try to buy one in a store (still the most convenient option for a lot of us) then everything in their shop window will be region locked (and some brands don't have the ability to unlock them).

    The models that do have the ability are either no-name brands of dubious quality to start with, or else they've got a prohibitively high price point.
     
  15. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    An alternative is to have two separate players. Depends on how much cash you have to burn.
     
  16. ATimson

    ATimson Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Most US Blu-ray players don't support 1080i50 playback. In the UK, you'd want the Blu-rays to have those and use the native frame rate, whereas in the US we'd need them pulled down to 1080i60.