How to Make Your LG Blu-ray Player Region Free — All Models

Your LG Blu-ray player is sitting there refusing to play a disc you legally bought, or a streaming app on it is showing a completely different library than the one you want. Either way: frustrating, and not how things should work.

Here's the thing — region locking on Blu-ray players is a holdover from the early 2000s. The studios pushed for it. Hardware manufacturers implemented it half-heartedly. And the result is a system that punishes legitimate buyers while doing almost nothing to stop piracy. You bought the disc. You should be able to watch it.

This guide covers both problems: unlocking the physical disc region on your LG player, and getting around streaming region restrictions so the Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+ library you actually want is the one you see.

The Two Different Region Problems (And Why They Need Different Fixes)

Before you start punching buttons, it helps to know what you're actually dealing with. There are two separate region systems at play here.

Blu-ray disc regions divide the world into three zones: Region A (North America, Latin America, East Asia, Southeast Asia), Region B (Europe, UK, Australia, Africa, Middle East), and Region C (Russia, China, Central and South Asia). A Region A disc won't play on a Region B player by default.

Streaming region locks are different. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ all show different content libraries depending on where your internet connection appears to be coming from. So even if your LG player's smart TV apps work fine, you might be missing hundreds of titles that are available in another country. This is a network-level restriction, not a hardware one — and a VPN is what fixes it.

How to Unlock the Disc Region on LG Blu-ray Players

The Universal Code Method (Works on Most Models)

LG left a back door in most of their Blu-ray players — a hidden service menu you can access with a specific remote code. This works on the vast majority of LG models, including the BH, BP, and UBK series.

1. Put the player in standby mode (red light showing, not fully off).
2. Press the Open/Eject button on the remote.
3. Type in the code: 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9 on the number pad.
4. A region menu should appear on screen.
5. Select region 0 (sometimes shown as "ALL") to make it region free.
6. Confirm and let the player restart.

That's it. No screwdrivers, no firmware hacks. Try a disc from a different region to confirm it worked.

If the Code Doesn't Work on Your Model

Some newer LG models — particularly the UBK90 and UBK80 4K Ultra HD players — use a different code or have region unlocking disabled at the firmware level. A few things to try:

• Try the code with the disc tray open instead of in standby.
• Try the alternative code: standby → open/eject → 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.
• Check our LG model-specific code database — we keep it updated.

And if your specific model genuinely has region locking baked into the firmware with no override? You're not out of options — some third-party firmware mods exist, but we'd only go down that road if you're comfortable with the idea that it could void your warranty. For most people, the standard codes work fine.

A Note on 4K Ultra HD Discs

4K UHD Blu-rays are technically region free by design — the spec doesn't require region coding, and most studios release them without it. So if you're specifically dealing with a 4K disc that won't play, the issue might be something else: HDCP 2.2 compliance, or a TV that doesn't support the right HDR format. Region coding probably isn't the culprit there.

How to Fix Streaming Region Locks on Your LG Player

This is where a VPN comes in. When you use Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+ through your LG player's built-in apps, those services look at your IP address to decide what country you're in — and serve you that country's library. A VPN replaces your real IP address with one from a country of your choosing.

We'd recommend NordVPN here, and not just because it's the biggest name. It's specifically because NordVPN consistently unblocks Netflix (including US, UK, Japanese, and other regional libraries), Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+, and it has a Smart DNS feature called SmartDNS that's particularly useful for Smart TVs where installing a VPN app isn't straightforward. It runs about $3.99–$6.99/month on longer plans (around £3.20–£5.60 / €3.70–€6.50), depending on which deal is running when you sign up.

If NordVPN doesn't suit you, ExpressVPN is rock-solid on streaming and has good Smart TV support. Surfshark is the budget pick — cheaper, and still capable on the major streaming platforms.

Option 1: Use NordVPN's SmartDNS on Your LG Smart TV

Your LG TV runs webOS, and while you can sometimes install VPN apps on it, the easier route is SmartDNS — it reroutes just the DNS traffic that streaming services use to detect your location, without needing an app installed on the TV itself.

1. Sign up for NordVPN (SmartDNS is included with your subscription).
2. Log into your NordVPN dashboard and find the SmartDNS section — you'll see two DNS server addresses.
3. On your LG TV: go to Settings → Network → Wi-Fi Connection → Advanced Wi-Fi Settings.
4. Turn off "Set Automatically" for DNS.
5. Enter the NordVPN SmartDNS server addresses.
6. Restart the TV and open Netflix or whichever service you want — you should now see a different regional library.

Option 2: Set Up a VPN on Your Router

This is the most powerful approach. If NordVPN is running on your router, every device on your network — including your LG Blu-ray player and Smart TV — automatically gets the VPN benefits without needing any setup on the TV itself.

NordVPN has router setup guides for most major router models. It's a bit more technical than the SmartDNS route, but once it's done, you basically never have to think about it again.

Option 3: VPN on Your Phone or Laptop (For Non-Smart Players)

If your LG player doesn't have smart TV features and you're just using it for discs, this section isn't really for you — skip ahead to the FAQ. But if you're also using streaming services on other devices:

On iOS or Android: Download the NordVPN app, sign in, tap the country you want to connect to, and open your streaming app. That's genuinely it.

On desktop: Same deal — download the NordVPN app for Windows or Mac, connect to a server in the country whose library you want, then open the streaming service in your browser or app.

Why a Free VPN Won't Cut It Here

Free VPNs get blocked almost immediately by Netflix and other streaming platforms — the services actively maintain lists of known VPN IP addresses and block them. The major paid services invest heavily in rotating their IP pools to stay ahead of those blocks. Free VPNs don't have the resources to do that, so they get blocked and stay blocked.

Beyond that, free VPNs are typically slow (which makes streaming painful), have data caps, and — the uncomfortable truth — some of them make money by logging and selling your browsing data. That's a bad trade-off for saving $4/month.

Common Problems and Fixes

"I entered the code and nothing happened"

Make sure the player is in standby (not fully powered off) and that you're pressing the buttons at a normal pace — not too fast. Some models need the tray physically open rather than in standby. Try both.

"The disc plays but the picture quality is wrong"

This usually comes down to PAL vs NTSC — a video format difference between regions. Most modern TVs handle both automatically, but if yours doesn't, check your TV's video input settings and see if there's a manual override.

"Netflix still shows the same library even with the VPN on"

Try clearing the Netflix app's cache on your TV (Settings → Apps → Netflix → Clear Cache), then close and reopen it while the VPN is connected. Sometimes the app caches your location. If that doesn't work, try a different server in the same country — NordVPN has multiple servers per region for exactly this reason.

"My LG player can't find the region code menu at all"

A small number of LG models — mainly very recent 4K players — have had the region menu fully removed. If you've tried every code variation and nothing appears, your best bet is to check the specific firmware version on your model and look for community-sourced workarounds on AVS Forum or similar.

FAQ

Will making my LG player region free void the warranty?

The software code method doesn't modify any hardware and doesn't alter the firmware — it just uses a built-in service menu. Strictly speaking, LG could argue it voids the warranty, but in practice it's reversible and leaves no trace. If that concerns you, you can re-lock it before sending a player in for repairs.

Does this work on LG 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray players?

The region code method works on most LG 4K players, but as mentioned above, 4K UHD discs are mostly region free anyway. The bigger issue with 4K players tends to be HDCP and HDR compatibility rather than region locking.

Can I switch back to a specific region after setting it to region 0?

Yes. You can run the code again and select a specific region instead of "ALL." Some people do this if they're having playback issues with a specific disc, though region 0 should be compatible with everything.

Is using a VPN for streaming legal?

In most countries, yes — using a VPN itself is legal. You'd be violating the terms of service of the streaming platform, but that's a civil matter between you and the service, not a criminal one. No one has ever been prosecuted for watching the wrong regional Netflix library.

Will a VPN slow down my streaming?

A small amount of speed reduction is inevitable, but with a quality VPN like NordVPN on a decent internet connection, you won't notice it. 4K streaming needs around 25 Mbps — NordVPN's servers typically deliver well above that even with the VPN overhead.

Do I need a separate NordVPN subscription for each device?

No. One NordVPN subscription covers up to 10 devices simultaneously. So you can have it running on your router, your phone, your laptop, and still have headroom.

Our Honest Recommendation

If you're dealing with disc region locks: try the standby + eject + 314159 code first. It takes 30 seconds and works on the vast majority of LG players. If your model is one of the rare exceptions, check the model database or the LG community forums.

If you're trying to access a different regional streaming library on your LG Smart TV: NordVPN's SmartDNS is the cleanest solution — no app installation needed, works well on webOS, and you're covered on your phone and laptop with the same subscription. It's not free, but at around $4/month on an annual plan, it's genuinely worth it if you're regularly bumping into geo-blocks.

Region locking exists to serve studios, not viewers. The workarounds exist to serve you. Use them.