There are sites that tell you how to make most dvd players region free.
I just received my OPPO 983 yesterday. I hooked it up via HDMI two different ways. First I hooked it up directly to the my Pioneer PDP-6010FD 60" Kuro plasma. Second, I hooked it up to my Integra DCT-9.8 surround pre-amp and the pre-amp to the HDTV. Both connections worked without a hiccup and offered near HD pictures on well made SD DVD's. The audio, while without the new lossless audio codecs was still superlative. The ABT chipsets for de-interlacing and scaling were flawless. Far superior to any Faroudja set-up I have ever used.
I next set-up the OPPO 983 to my bedroom Sony XBR2 and switched out my Denon 2910 dvd player. Thedifference in performance was far more noticeable with the Sony, undoubtedly due to the OPPO's superior de-interlacing and scaling. The Pioneer PDP-6010FD is very good on both, so the differences were far less dramatic.
Greg