Oppo BDP-83 Blu-ray Player Region Free Resources
A big part of why I was hoping for HD DVD to win the HD format war of a while back was that there were no such thing as regions in the HD DVD spec, while the Blu-ray spec had decided to stick with that most annoying concept, albeit a simplified version.
As it turned out, Blu-ray won that battle and we are now stuck with those annoying region restrictions yet again. The good news is that, unlike last time, it hasn’t taken very long for region free players to become available. And the even better news is that the player that is widely considered the best Blu-ray player on the market today, the Oppo BDP-83, can be made region free quite easily with a solder-free hardware mod, or a downloadable firmware mod.
Anyway, enough yammering. Here are the resources I mentioned in the headline to this post:
Official Stuff
- Main BDP-83 listing
- Download the manual
- Download the latest firmware
Region Hacking
As mentioned above, there’s two ways of making the BDP-83 region free: a hardware mod and a firmware mod. Both mods will make the player region free for Blu-ray as well as DVD. The benefit of going the hardware mod route is that you can keep up-to-date with Oppo’s official firmware, while still retaining region free playback for both Blu-ray and DVD, and the downside is obviously that you have to pay for the mod. The upside and downside are the exact opposite with the firmware mod.
FIRMWARE MOD
- Download the firmware hack
- AVForums’ discussion thread for this firmware mod and the BDP-83 in general
HARDWARE MODS
CRT Hardware Mod
Note: This is the mod I bought and tested, works beautifully.
- A solder-free hardware mod to make it region free for Blu-ray and DVD
- Instructions on how to install above mod (the kit comes with these printed out)
- AVForums discussion thread for this hardware mod and the BDP-83 in general
Bluraychip.dk Hardware Mod
Note: This mod is not tested by me
- Another solder-free hardware mod to make it region free for Blu-ray and DVD
- Instructions for how to install the bluraychip.dk mod
JVB Hardware Mod
Note: This mod is not tested by me
- Another solder-free hardware mod to make it region free for Blu-ray and DVD
- If anyone has instructions for this mod, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll add them
AVS Forum Stuff
- BDP-83 FAQ (very good)
- The BDP-83 dedicated thread
- The BDP-83 vs. other players thread
For Canadians
As far as I know, there’s only two authorized re-sellers in Canada:
- http://www.onlybestrated.com/
- http://www.solutionsav.ca/
I bought my old Oppo 983-H DVD player from Only Best Rated and had no problems with them. I did local pickup, but did not have any kind of post-sales interaction, so I can’t speak for their customer service should something go wrong.
I bought my BDP-83 from Solutions AV. They’re selling the player a few dollars cheaper, they have free shipping, and their return/exchange policy is better. I also did local pickup with Solutions AV. Like with Only Best Rated I haven’t had any kind of post-sales interaction, and can’t speak for their customer service should something go wrong.
Only Best Rated is the only Canadian re-seller listed on Oppo’s website, but an e-mail from Oppo’s customer service department has confirmed that Solutions AV are authorized as well.
If you have any questions regarding the Oppo BDP-83 and/or the mods, feel free to leave a comment.
DVD & Blu-ray Region Maps and Country Lists
While not BDP-83 related, I figure I should point out the region maps and country lists that I host here on the blog. It’s basically a resource you can use to figure out if a foreign disc you’re interested in importing is from your region or not. Naturally this isn’t necessary if you’ve got a modded player, but for those of you that don’t, here’s the link: