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Can anyone recomend a DVD on the L&H silents? Hope for your replies.

That's a tough question, mainly because the best sources for L&H silents on dvd are out of print. Assuming you are interested in purchasing, the very best collection on dvd is the "The Lost Films of L & H." They aren't really lost but because they are the silents, many people haven't watched them. Image originally distributed the series in the 90s and they can be quite pricey if you can find any of them today. One suggestion: check Amazon - I noticed a few used volumes priced at or even below their original price. Read the reviews on these and you'll understand what all the excitement is all about.

If you have a player that runs Region 2 discs, check Amazon.co.uk for the L&H Collection, which is truly massive - and inexpensive these days. The highlight are almost all of the Roach talkies but many silents are included, but some in substandard quality.

Last suggestion is the Robt Youngson compilations on dvd - superb and inexpensive, such as When Comedy Was King. These have many great silent comedians in addition to L&H so these are a treasure trove if you want to see silent comedy- for your purposes, the best is LAUREL & HARDY'S LAUGHING 20s but I'm not sure if that's out on dvd. However you come by them, they are well worth the search. My favorites among the silents are PUTTING PANTS ON PHILLIP, DO DETECTIVES THINK, SUGAR DADDIES, FROM SOUP TO NUTS, LEAVE 'EM LAUGHING, YOU'RE DARN TOOTIN', BIG BUSINESS, WRONG AGAIN, LIBERTY, and probably their best, TWO TARS. I'd better stop here or I'll wind up naming all of them! Good luck.

There's a 21 DVD L&H box set on Amazon.co.uk that only costs only £24.99 and has almost every short and feature done by the boys. You do need a region free DVD player but if necessary you could rerip the DVDs and convert them to NTSC with a few simple tools. See http://www.ehow.com/how_6754313_convert ... menus.html

ymmv wrote: if necessary you could rerip the DVDs and convert them to NTSC with a few simple tools. See http://www.ehow.com/how_6754313_convert ... menus.html

That's called piracy.

I don't want to get into a p***ing match with you, Louie, but it seems to me that if I were to buy the perfectly legal copies and then convert them into forms I could use -- NTSC -- for my own personal use, no one has any kick coming. Selling them, very wrong, yes, but how is this method any worse than hacking a player for multi-region use?

Bob

boblipton wrote:I don't want to get into a p***ing match with you, Louie, but it seems to me that if I were to buy the perfectly legal copies and then convert them into forms I could use -- NTSC -- for my own personal use, no one has any kick coming. Selling them, very wrong, yes, but how is this method any worse than hacking a player for multi-region use?

Bob

No need to get into a contest with me at all, just saying that there is a warning on every DVD release I have ever seen stating it is illegal to do what ymmv is saying to do. Pop in a DVD and read it for yourself.

What someone does in the privacy of their own home is their own business, but piracy is piracy.

And Bob, before coming off dicky with me, perhaps you should read what webmeister Mr. Gebert has written about copyright infringement here:

viewtopic.php?t=3456

In what universe is it a crime to convert your own PAL DVDs to NTSC??

BTW Another solution to watch PAL DVDs is to play the discs on your PC. VLC is a good media player that will disregard the region codes on the original DVDs. If your PC has a second monitor output (DVI or HDMI) you can connect it to a HDTV and enjoy the movies without first converting each and every DVD.

ymmv wrote:In what universe is it a crime to convert your own PAL DVDs to NTSC??

Apparently it's OK to copy, with a hitch (from a September 30, 2009 in US NEws & World Report):

So it's illegal to copy a DVD? Interestingly, no. Judges have said that consumers have a right to copy a DVD for their own use—say, for backing it up to another disk or perhaps watching it on another device, such as an iPod. That's the same "fair use" rule that made it legal to tape television shows for watching later, perhaps on a different TV. The problem is that consumers can't duplicate DVDs without software tools that get around the copy protection on those disks. It is those tools that Congress outlawed."

So I guess, knock yourself out, but don't start using software outlawed by Congress.

LouieD wrote:

ymmv wrote:In what universe is it a crime to convert your own PAL DVDs to NTSC??

Apparently it's OK to copy, with a hitch (from a September 30, 2009 in US NEws & World Report):

So it's illegal to copy a DVD? Interestingly, no. Judges have said that consumers have a right to copy a DVD for their own use—say, for backing it up to another disk or perhaps watching it on another device, such as an iPod. That's the same "fair use" rule that made it legal to tape television shows for watching later, perhaps on a different TV. The problem is that consumers can't duplicate DVDs without software tools that get around the copy protection on those disks. It is those tools that Congress outlawed."

So I guess, knock yourself out, but don't start using software outlawed by Congress.

Nowadays, DVD players can reproduce disc from all regions. My advice is to AVOID any Laurel and Hardy video from the United States.

Honesty, what I do with my own DVD's in my own home is my own business. I'll be a lot of you folks have dubbed VHS or Beta tapes to DVD, or Laserdisc to DVD for your own personal use. Well, there is no legal difference there. A copyrighted product can't be duplicated "for profit". But it certainly can be duplicated for personal convenience by the original purchaser.

" Nowadays, DVD players can reproduce disc from all regions."

Not true.. Region coding prevents an R2 PAL DVD from being played in a R1
NTSC player. That is why software such as AnyDVD and DVD 4:3 is needed.

" Another solution to watch PAL DVDs is to play the discs on your PC. "

Without software such as sited above, your PC will ask you to recode your player to a specific region. after a few tries, it will be set to one region and you cannot reset it.

Scoundrel wrote:" Nowadays, DVD players can reproduce disc from all regions."

Not true.. Region coding prevents an R2 PAL DVD from being played in a R1
NTSC player. That is why software such as AnyDVD and DVD 4:3 is needed.

" Another solution to watch PAL DVDs is to play the discs on your PC. "

Without software such as sited above, your PC will ask you to recode your player to a specific region. after a few tries, it will be set to one region and you cannot reset it.

I bought a DVD player at Target that plays DVDs from anywhere. Because of that, I can play my R4 DVDs.

What I said is correct.

LouieD wrote:

ymmv wrote: if necessary you could rerip the DVDs and convert them to NTSC with a few simple tools. See http://www.ehow.com/how_6754313_convert ... menus.html

That's called piracy.

Give me an effin' break.

radiotelefonia wrote:

Scoundrel wrote:" Nowadays, DVD players can reproduce disc from all regions."

Not true.. Region coding prevents an R2 PAL DVD from being played in a R1
NTSC player. That is why software such as AnyDVD and DVD 4:3 is needed.

" Another solution to watch PAL DVDs is to play the discs on your PC. "

Without software such as sited above, your PC will ask you to recode your player to a specific region. after a few tries, it will be set to one region and you cannot reset it.

I bought a DVD player at Target that plays DVDs from anywhere. Because of that, I can play my R4 DVDs.

What I said is correct.

Yep. Region-free PAL-to-NTSC converting DVD players can be found everywhere on the web. Region-free Blu-ray players can be found as well.

I'd imagine this is pretty well known, but I'll post it anyway.

Most DVD players made since about '04 have "unlock codes" tied to them, just do a google search for your unlock code and directions. Regions aren't really much of an issue anymore.

Bear in mind though, you'll have to change your player back to Region 1 (or 2, etc.) mode to watch domestic DVD's.

...or if you can change the player to Region 0, it'll play all regions (including Region 1) without further modification. Blu-Ray is different, however, since it doesn't have an equivalent of Region 0.

Rodney wrote:...or if you can change the player to Region 0, it'll play all regions (including Region 1) without further modification. Blu-Ray is different, however, since it doesn't have an equivalent of Region 0.

Except there are some R1 discs that won't play in a Region 0 player - I forget what this form of obstruction is called - but fortunatey not many and maybe the newer "region free" unit work around this.

Honesty, what I do with my own DVD's in my own home is my own business.

Yes, but how you talk about it on NitrateVille is my potential legal problem.

The studios will claim that looking at their discs crosswise is a heinous crime. The reality is that courts would probably regard what we're talking about here, buying a PAL DVD and making yourself an NTSC version of it, as allowable under "fair use" doctrine, as Louie said-- which is why they have tried to outlaw the software instead, since it wouldn't be covered by fair use in itself.

So please keep the discussion within these bounds-- discussing things that are allowed under fair use doctrines of what you do at home once you've paid for the disc, but not things that involve having it without paying for it at all, passing it to others, etc.

What the person was talking about with some Region 1 that are not supposed to play on Region 0 machines is called RCE, or Region Code Enhancement. This seems to not worry any machines I have used in my country which are all chipped to Region 0 when they get here except a couple of dingbats like NEC & maybe LG. I have had no end of trouble when I have sold some excess US & UK imported titles with Region 1 or 2 coding and they bring them back screaming that I have sold then a dud. In fact it appears the motel or trailer park they were staying in(at a major holiday resort) was using NEC machines on loan to their clients during their stay.

Occasionally a WB or TCF and rarely a Columbia/Sony has RCE and I have seen the odd Region 4 but that usually is an NTSC in the first place which Columbia & Warner at one time issued a few titles in my PAL country as NTSC Region 4. Don't know why they did this. Some short run independent stuff has also been NTSC. Never problem, though here. Mix-Match PAL & NTSC files made on the one disc in my machine play full screen on all files on my HD Plasma TV, no black screen at the bottom of the screen anymore.

Who knew what was lurking of late in this thread? Not me, apparently. In any case I have pruned back the unnecessary unpleasantness and locked the thread. It's clear that there's some cabin fever going around here, please try to restrain yourself and remember that civility is what sets NitrateVille apart from Usenet.