Hi so I've had AnyDVD HD and Clone Bluray for awhile now but I've only ever used blurays from my own region USA. Recently i've been wanting to get an anime that is sold out the in the USA and is available in the UK. It is a region B bluray though. I know AnyDVD HD can remove region coding but my question is do I need a special external pc Bluray reader and writer for AnyDVD HD to do that as the one I currently have I bought in the USA? Because of that i'm not sure if the one I currently have will to initially remove the region coding before I make a copy of that to a new bluray so I can use it in my tv bluray player. My current external bluray reader writer is an ASUS brand Model BW-12D1S-U. Basically does it matter what region the bluray external computer bluray drive is for the software to remove the region code of a movie that's region code maybe different from where the drive was purchased? Or are pc bluray drives even region coded to begin with?
Also as a side question is the only way to remove the region coding by making an ISO 1 for 1 copy or can you pick and choose if you want all the extras while still removing the region coding?
Thanks so much for your time!!! I really appreciate any help given!!!!! I wish you all a wonderful day!!!
If you remove the BD region-code correctly, there is no lack in BD-disc features. It's just, when you rip a BD with wrong region code setting in AnyDVD,which the disc doesn't have, then playback software like PowerDVD, which supports BD extras like BD-disc menus, it will have playback issues, that the copy won't play. (other playback software doesn't care of BD-region code, also no matter if falsely removed (see quotes below),playback will be no issue (except those doesn't support BD-disc menus)
Afaik you can copy BD-disc with removing all other protections, but leaving disc-region code on the copy, eg. when being unsure about if BD-disc was region free or region coded and how. So later when wanting, you can recopy from old image to new image removing region-code additionally.
I never tried this, but this should be possible. Never read about any warnings not to do so.
(An 1:1 copy just refers to all raw data (encryption, restricting data). The effective actual usuable data to watch the movie and all BD extra features, is still also in the decrypted copy whether region code removed or not removed, no matter when AACS encryption is already remvoed). Addionally you can mark checkbox "Disable/remove BD-Live in AnyDVD Blu-ray section. BD-Live afaik is mainly a spy code, when taking disc into BD-standalone player+its software and watching via TV,
that if took a burnt BD with e.g. protection removed, and that is connected via internet, e.g. needed if you didn't decrypt those discs, and the player needs to download new AACS key, that aside a "feature" like BD-Live could report that via BD-standalone player via internet. So afaik BD-Live is mainly not useful, maybe also to show some extra advertising data of disc movie info, you also find in the internet looking yourself.
https://forum.redfox.bz/threads/2-noobish-questions.77309/#post-5
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AnyDVD can only remove the region and make it playable in all regions due to that. Neither AnyDVD nor CloneBD (or the combination) can recode the disc to a different region. It's either the region it came with, or all regions
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https://forum.redfox.bz/threads/2-noobish-questions.77309/#post-505212
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So MPlayer and VLC (and Kodi etc. afaik) for example don't check BD-region codes, even if you copied BD falsely with wrong disc-region code setting. It still plays fine with those, but afaik the region-code on the copy can be corrupted, not correctly removed, but Mplayer and VLC don't matter, and (maybe some region-free standalone players), but standalone players which are not region free and some licensed Playback software , which check for BD-region codes, could/will make problems with playback with corruped/incorrectly removed region-code copies.
So when attempting to backup a region-coded BD-disc, it is mandatory to declare the correct region of the BD-disc to AnyDVD, so PowerDVD software e.g. won't make issues.
If removing the region-code, declaring the correct BD-disc region code to AnyDVD in the first place is very important, because afaik it's not possible, or at best rather only in rare cases to try to remove BD-region code correctly afterwards from old copy, where it was tried before with wrong region-code setting.
You will find the region code on the BD-disc, and/or BD-disc package.
Some package don't have listed any region code, in many cases disc it is region-free (A+B+C) then.
When BD-disc is A+B or A+C or B+C, you can choose any appropriate region (which is inluded) in one of a pair.
So if disc is A+B e.g. you can copy with AnyDVD set to region A or set to region B, to get a region-free copy..
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You could also always make a mostof 1:1 ISO-copy, by keeping all protections (raw-copy) with AnyDVD "Any DVD rip to image ->Keep protection setting)
(This leaves also the original region code of course.)
Principially this is the same as copying BD-disc rawly to image with "dd" or "ddrescue" in Linux.
Special case when BD-disc uses bus-encryption, and when using "dd" or "ddrescue" to get a mostof 1:1 disc copy you'll need makemkv in background, to remove bus-encryption discs, (as AnyDVD doesn't run in Linux).
In Windows, AnyDVD will remove bus-encryption, to get a usable and mostof 1:1 raw-copy, (Keep protection setting)
(The only thing AnyDVD "Keep-protection" setting doesn't keep is bus-encryption, as otherwise staying that double-encryption on top afaik would make copy fully unusable).
