this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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https://www.220-electronics.com/ is having a sale. I have bought several players from them and they've been great

Now, I know what your thinking, are region free players piracy? Well, it depends which country you live in

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I haven't used a disc player in years. 🤷

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I bought one recently for 4k BRs. It's awful, even though I bought one of the highest-recommended ones. They're still slow, lose your place, and generally suck. And if there's any dirt on the disc, you've got a major problem, no matter how small the smudge.

And that isn't even counting the problems with the format, such as unskippable intros and copyright notices.

Ripped media is so, so superior that it's absolutely ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Oh God I totally forgot about the copyright FBI notices..... How much collective time living has been wasted watching that wretched screen???

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I stopped for a long time, but I've continued with the launches of things like Metalocalypse or Venture Bros. Smaller productions that I want to support but aren't streaming in my country.

Heck, back when Metalocalypse released their first movie there was a limited edition version with a skull cup that was only available in Australia for some reason. I imported the set for my SO, and I had to rip the bluray myself :/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Speaking of that kind of show though, you know ATHF is coming out with new episodes?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Before finding out about Backblaze I still did file backups to disc lol. Now the only time I touch a disc is when it's being ripped 😂

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

How do you like backblaze for media storage? Do you store your media encrypted on their servers?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Same here, but after reading those losing access to digital purchases as the rights for the properties change vendors, for those that want to truly own the thing, they can no matter where they live.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

This is why I still believe in physical media. While most of my purchases are digital nowadays, I consider them disposable basically. For movies and games I really care about and want to be able to keep, I like physical.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

Its a shame drm free digital purchases was never a thing with movies like with music.

Buy, download, bam, its yours forever.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

What's a Region free player??

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Found the millenial :p /jk

It's essentially a player which ignores the region locks on bluray discs.

[–] [email protected] 39 points 9 months ago (3 children)

Found the millenial

millenial? Some of us are now in our forties. We grew up in the format wars

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

the VHS vs Beta format wars, not the HD-DVD vs Blu-ray format wars for the young'ns out there.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago

Digital format wars were a thing while Blockbuster was still around. They know both

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

How quickly we forget Laserdisc and Video CDs.

Oh and UMD, but I don't think "I want to watch a movie in poor quality on a tiny screen on a device that'll probably run out of battery before the movie finishes" was a market anybody was really interested in.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Sony minidisc says hi :p

I remember a time when i was hoping they'll implement the minidisc as an alternate removerable storage for PC. More robust compared to floppy disks, less delicate compared to CDR, and is rewritable too. LOL

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I remember ripping a CD to one with an optical cable. It split by tracks and everything.

I felt like Johnny Mnemonic.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Don't forget about VideoNow

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

I think they're saying the opposite: millennials as "boomers" so-to-speak.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Millennial because they grew up only knowing MP3s and digital media and didn't get to experience disc based media. :p

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

What in the world??

I’m a millennial and I grew up with 8 tracks and cassettes. I was in grade school when we got our first CD player.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

TIL bluray discs have region locks

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Same. Maybe DVDs have them to, what a wild world

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Dvds have more regions, 6, while blu-rays just have 3

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

I just rip any disk I get, I haven't had to think about region locks for at least 15 years.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

I had heard of this company a while back when I was looking for this exact same thing. They have been in the business for many years and their methods of cracking have been mostly reliable till now. If you need one, get it from them or through their Amazon store

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Will damn I just bought a Panasonic ub820

Edit wait damn, lol they're selling em for $750 bucks. I got mine for $350, but region locked.

[–] vulgarcynic 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

I have been out of the region free game since the dvd days. What's a good place to shop from now? Used to have a few different foreign sites I used and trusted in the early 00's but they appear to be long gone. I live in the US currently.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)
[–] vulgarcynic 11 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Man, I bet that pissed you off, lol. Apologies. I'm looking for the media, not the devices. I have a few LG region free players already. Looking for a place to purchase discs that's reputable and has a decent selection.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No not at all lol, I just figured you missed it. I try to be helpful not angry :) I see what you mean though, I have no idea where to get the media unfortunately.

[–] vulgarcynic 1 points 9 months ago

Much appreciated on that! Looks like there's some decent suggestions for media in the thread.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

https://www.blu-ray.com/deals/ is a great place to view deals on movies and shows. Most of them are sold on Amazon though. https://grindhousevideo.com/ is another store I've bought from. They seem to have a decent selection of more obscure titles.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

What I do is change the country on amazon and order it from that country directly. The shipping can be expensive tho

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Damn! If I had more region exclusive DVDs/Blu-rays and didn't already have the Vizio I got from a thrift store I'd definitely keep this in mind!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

If you're ripping, does 4K upscaling and 10 bit/hdr and dolby help with anything?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Not really, the ripping software has to get around the region before it can list the contents available to rip