Apex AD-1500 DVD Player

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The Apex AD-1500 DVD Player was a low cost consumer DVD player considered to be a basic unit. However, for under $30 US this little unit was one of the first players on the market that allowed video pirates to play their self dubbed VCD and other video recorded onto computer CDR media. The Apex AD-1500 DVD Player could also be easily modified to play DVD media from any region with a region code hack.

In addition to removing the region code detection, the player could also be easily modified to remove copy protection schemes. This makes it easier for owners to use the player to provide video to a recording unit in order to exploit the analog hole and make backups of DVD media. To remove copy protection and region code, the owner simply downloaded the region code hack from a web site, burned the files onto a blank DVDr, and inserted that DVDr into the Apex AD-1500 DVD Player, then followed the firmware update instructions.

On the downside, the Apex AD-1500 DVD Player was known to have a weak power supply which would tend to fail over time. The PSU was slightly undersized for the power draw of the unit. The PSU could be replaced with some work by the electronics hobbyist. It wasn't that difficult to replace, but not something the average owner could do.

Even today (2013) the Apex AD-1500 DVD Player brings a premium on eBay. Again, this is because you could easily remove the copy-protection scheme and regional-encoding features. DVD Player manufacturers are required to use Macrovision copy protection technology to prevent people from connecting recording devices and dubbing copyright video.

Copy Protection Removal

Over the years, a few Macrovision-free DVD Players have slipped out onto the market. It all started back in 2000 with Apex's AD-600A, a player that had a hidden, or loophole, menu that could be accessed by a series of button pushes on the remote, sort of like a cheat code in a video game. At the bottom of the loophole menu was a warning, "You should not be here," which could be the title of the hackers' anthem.

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