Many years ago I bought a cheap DVD player (£20) from a Texas DIY store (remember them, and the 'Texas Tom' radio adverts?). Despite the spec saying Region 2 (which includes Europe), I found it also played Region 1 (USA and Canada), so I suspect it's actually region-free.
Obviously, it plays normal Region 2 PAL DVDs. However, when playing a Region 1 NTSC disc you have the choice of outputting either native 'proper' NTSC (525/60 and 3.58MHz colour), or NTSC 4.43 (NTSC/525/60 with 4.43MHz colour, just like some of the later VCRs do when playing an NTSC tape, and which most UK TV sets are happy with). Both are OK on my cheap 16" flat-screen TV set (as well, or course, PAL).