Home Theater/HDTV/et al...

[pcmodem]

What's the latest on the Lite-On DivX DVD player? Did the 2002 model ever come back or get replaced?

Is the only viable economic alternative the Phillips DVP 642?



Thanks,
PCM

[mvc]

gregsan wrote:

do they not play at all? If they do play, but you have problems...what's the specific problem. I know that they don't accept highly formatted subtitles (you see "{f10a \}" or something like that in place of the subtitles) But other than that I haven't had problems with long filenames. Also, do you have the latest firmware revision? If not...that might be your issue.

Oh. lol. I probably have some formatted subs. But the only files that worked were ones with short filenames. Rest had like {j18}, etc. Well, they still need to update the firmware for that.

[gregsan]

mvc wrote:

Oh. lol. I probably have some formatted subs. But the only files that worked were ones with short filenames. Rest had like {j18}, etc. Well, they still need to update the firmware for that.

Yeah...it won't be able to read the advanced formatting until they update (if) the firmware. But you can easily edit the subfiles using notepad and then use the subs (they won't look as nice as they do on your PC...but at least you'll get the translation!!!). Just delete EVERYTHING in your subfile from inside (and including) the {} brackets. The brackets define font size and placement. Use a find/replace to help you find all of the different brackets. There might be 5-10 combinations of f18, f12...but there shouldn't be too many different types to edit.

My suggestion is when you burn a CD/DVD for storage...save the edited sub file as v2. That way you can select v2 to watch for now, and if they add newer support for the advanced formatting you can just select the other sub file instead (and don't have to re-burn the CD/DVD since the sub file shouldn't take up that much space and you can have more than one on the CD/DVD)

[gregsan]

BTW...I was just burning some DVDs to clear up some space on my HD and I had a problem with subtitle files with the Philips player. For some reason it wouldn't read my subtitles file on the DVD.

I reburned the file to CD-R and it worked fine. There may be issues regarding which media you use and what format you burn as (ISO vs. other) in regards to subtitles. If you're having troubles with subtitles using DVD media, try a CD-R and se if that helps (I had been testing before using a CD-RW before so I had never encountered sub problems until I burnt my DVD).

[groink]

gregsan wrote:

BTW...I was just burning some DVDs to clear up some space on my HD and I had a problem with subtitle files with the Philips player. For some reason it wouldn't read my subtitles file on the DVD. I reburned the file to CD-R and it worked fine. There may be issues regarding which media you use and what format you burn as (ISO vs. other) in regards to subtitles. If you're having troubles with subtitles using DVD media, try a CD-R and se if that helps (I had been testing before using a CD-RW before so I had never encountered sub problems until I burnt my DVD).

What I've seen recently in DVD-burning software is that they burn data to the disc using UDF. If your DVD player is built to handle ISO discs, that may be your problem... UDF and ISO are different standards, though virtually any PC can read both formats. In some cases, a PC needs additional drivers to read UDF.

The next time you burn a DVD disc, see if your software's default setting has it set to UDF or ISO. If it's UDF, see if you can change it to ISO.

--- groink

[gregsan]

groink wrote:

What I've seen recently in DVD-burning software is that they burn data to the disc using UDF. If your DVD player is built to handle ISO discs, that may be your problem... UDF and ISO are different standards, though virtually any PC can read both formats. In some cases, a PC needs additional drivers to read UDF. The next time you burn a DVD disc, see if your software's default setting has it set to UDF or ISO. If it's UDF, see if you can change it to ISO. --- groink

Thanks I'll check it out (edit: yep it is UDF)...but everything else BUT the subtitles is fine. That's strange!!!

[niko2x]

gregsan wrote:

On your remote choose the "disc menu" (should be 5th button down on left). With a disc inserted the TV should go to "DATA CD MENU". In this menu, you should see a list of all files on the CD/DVD. Move the arrows up/down until you get to the subtitle file you would like to view (a picture to the left of the filename should be like a cartoon caption image with "----" inside). press the subtitle button and on the top of the screen you should see "DIVX subtitle selected" now move the arrow to the movie file (should have an mpeg4 icon to the left of it) and press play or "ok". This should begin to play the divx file using the selected subtitle file you selected. It should support .sub .srt and .smi subtitle files (though advanced formatting in subtitle files will come out strange since it won't know how to handle advanced formatting. Here's the main support page: http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DVP642/37&scy=&slg=ENG&tmplt=&SearchTxt=DVP642&grp=&cat=&sct= on the left choose software to download the latest firmware (clicking the link will open a page that opens a PDF with instructions etc... The latest revision is: 0531 here's how you can identify which version you have on your system: 1. Take note of your set model number on the white-label at the back of the set. 2. Press OPEN/CLOSE to open the disc tray. 3. Press 5 6 9 OK button on the remote control. 4. The software version (VERxxxx) and model (6xx/xx) will appear at the top of the TV screen. Hope this helps.

thx gregsan for the info. after going thru a couple of other forums to get the answer that i need for my philips, it is now firmware'ed enough to handled the .srt subs, . amarayu, you might wanna take note to this.

poweruser in anandtech forum wrote:

I was overjoyed to find that file-bases subtitles are finally supported by the Philips DVP642 (as I have a big libary of foreign films that use file-based subtitles). However, I found that the new file-based support DOES NOT WORK WITH LONG FILE NAMES. You have to rename your subtitle files (.srt, .smi, .txt) to contain less than 11 characters. Now I have to reburn about 10 DVDs because the subtitle files were all longer than 11 characters therefore they are not recognized by the DVP642. So remember, rename your subtitle files. Hopefully Philips will fix this little bug in the next firmware. Despite this little setback, I LOVE my DVP642.

gregsan, do you have a problem with long filename (> 11 characters) in your 642?
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[gregsan]

niko2x wrote:

gregsan, do you have a problem with long filename (> 11 characters) in your 642?

Yes and No. Per my post 1 or 2 up...I CAN view long filename subtitle files on CD-R, but haven't yet been able to view them on DVD media (though I've only burned one DVD with long filename subs)...so it may be as Groink suggested (above) a problem between UDF and ISO.

If you have a CD-RW, you might want to test a file with long filenames and see if you can get it to work.

[Mr.ChoyBoi]

Im not sure if anyone's looking for a divx player, but the Phillips DVP-642 is on sale at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000204SWE/ref%3Dnosim/slickdeals/103-4966063-0416646 for $62.99. Happy Huntings...
_________________

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[pcmodem]

Mr.ChoyBoi wrote:

Im not sure if anyone's looking for a divx player, but the Phillips DVP-642 is on sale at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000204SWE/ref%3Dnosim/slickdeals/103-4966063-0416646 for $62.99. Happy Huntings...

To paraphrase Caesar, "Veni. Vidi. Visa!"
(I came. I saw. I bought it!)

Including everything, it was only $63.94!
Less than 64 smackers is a great deal for us budget Dorama fans.

Now I'll FINALLY have a region-free DVD player that can play DivX!




Cheers,
PCM

-------------------------EDIT 2004.10.05

Wow... ordered the DVD on Thursday morning, UPS delivered it at 6:00PM Monday! Talk about fast and free delivery!

Hooked it up last night and it works beautifully. The software crack turns it into an All-Region DVD player! The DivX works smoothly too, tested it with Itsumo Futari De.
-PCM

[kazuichikun]

i was wondering if anyone in this has an all region dvd player and if anyone has any recommendations as to which brands to buy and which brands to stay away from? ive been looking at a few on ebay: phillips, cyberhome etc.
any information is appreciated. thanks
-kazu

[pcmodem]

Howdy,
Take a good tiptoe through the forums, you'll often find that a topic already exists for any given question:
http://www.jdorama.com/viewtopic.2867.htm

Recommendations on DVD region-free players are in the above linked thread.


Have a good one,
PCM

[bmwracer]

See this thread: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.2867.htm

The LiteOn 2002 that a number of us have is obsolete, but some people here have the Philips 642 and seem to like it...

If I had my choice now, I'd buy the Philips, since it's more of a name brand than the LiteOn. And the LiteOn's customer service and firmware upgrades have been pretty lousy.

[pcmodem]

bmwracer wrote:

See this thread: http://jdorama.com/viewtopic.2867.htm The LiteOn 2002 that a number of us have is obsolete, but some people here have the Philips 642 and seem to like it... If I had my choice now, I'd buy the Philips, since it's more of a name brand than the LiteOn. And the LiteOn's customer service and firmware upgrades have been pretty lousy.

Hehe!

Beat ya to the punch, amigo!
-PCM

[kazuichikun]

i c, thanks

[bmwracer]

pcmodem wrote:

Hehe! Beat ya to the punch, amigo! -PCM

Yeah, but my post has nice avatar and sig pics.....

[pcmodem]

bmwracer wrote:

Yeah, but my post has nice avatar and sig pics.....

Nice?!

You've got beautiful pics and a gif of gorgeous Ryoko-chan for your avatar and signature block and the best compliment you can use to describe her is nice!?
-PCM

[Ken-chan]

buy an xbox, modd it. then you can put in a larger and less noisy HD, new fan. voila, you have a region free dvd, and copy your dvds on the HD and watch. not noisy and really good. if you need a break you can play a game too or listen to music ^^

[dochira]

Ken-chan wrote:

buy an xbox, modd it. then you can put in a larger and less noisy HD, new fan. voila, you have a region free dvd, and copy your dvds on the HD and watch. not noisy and really good. if you need a break you can play a game too or listen to music ^^

True, but for less than $70 and little (or no) work, you have a thin player that can handle many formats, and nearly every DVD.

[groink]

Ken-chan wrote:

buy an xbox, modd it. then you can put in a larger and less noisy HD, new fan. voila, you have a region free dvd, and copy your dvds on the HD and watch. not noisy and really good. if you need a break you can play a game too or listen to music ^^

The difference between modding an XBox and disabling region free on a DVD player is the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). Because most DVD players already have some sort of hidden feature to make it region free, in practice you are not breaking any laws under the DMCA.

Modding, however, does circumvent the hardware/firmware in the XBox or DVD player that didn't already have the hidden feature. So purely for legal reasons, please do not promote the practice of using mod chips on JDorama.com. If this line of discussion continues, other users will start believing that this sort of thing is legal.

--- groink