Topic awaiting preservation: DVD "Region" formats (Page 1 of 1)

I'd just like to take a moment from your day to rant about the fact that DVDs from the UK/Europe can be played on North American DVD players, and vice-versa. How painfully stupid is that? There are so many British DVDs I'd buy in a heartbeat if they (or their VHS counterparts) would work on my machines.

Does anyone know if there's an actual reason for it (besides annoying me, that is)?

[Edit: Yep, Bit, I did mean 'can't'... This is why I don't rant very often... ]



Evil in theory, not so much in practice...

[This message has been edited by Wangenstein (edited 04-10-2003).]

First I should probably say that you mean they can't work across the platforms.

The reason is that the US and Europe use different resolution TV's (PAL vs NTSC) so the films need to be mastered in the correct format.

That being said I thought the DVD's could be played on both systems though there would be some degradation if you played say a NTSC DVD on a PAL DVD/TV



.:[ Never resist a perfect moment ]:.

The main reason is not this one, Bitdamaged. The main reason is commercial. Indeed, many movies are played in the cinemas in the USA a few months before it is played in Europe. So, when it is played in Europe, the movie is available in DVDs in the USA. And here is the commercial problem. I mean, when the film is played in Europe, people can get it on DVD by purchasing it via Internet to the USA. And this contradicts the law : ordinary, nothing must be sold about the movie that would lower its entries in the cinemas. So the DVD players are voluntarily made to read only the DVD of special zones to avoid this difference.

yeah- I hate when I can watch the same movie at home and abroad. I think it's bullshit. I look foward to buying all-new stuff when I travel.

nah, Moon Shadow.. I think you're way wrong on that one, bit's got it right..

Funny how a single letter and an apostrophe can completely change the meaning of an entire post.

And the reason for the regional encoding is to cut down on exporting/importing of DVD's. That way Disney Co Europe doesn't have to compete with Disney Co USA on sales of Little Mermaid discs.

Also, the PAL vs NTSC problem is mostly a factor for VHS tapes. For example, both New Zealand and the UK use the PAL format, but New Zealand is in region 4 and the UK is in region 2, so even though they're the same format you can't play a DVD bought in one region on a player from another region.

Oh, and the regional encoding is entirely optional, and there are some discs (well, mostly porn) that are mastered without any regional encoding and can be played anywhere.

Most PC dvd players will allow you to change your region up to five times before it locks the region code.

[edit]
Actually, Moon Shadow's right --> clicky



[This message has been edited by silence (edited 04-10-2003).]

Actually what he says makes more sense. I was pretty sure that NTSC and PAL DVD's could be played on both sides of the pond (though VHS can't)

Here's an article about DVD region codes

It looks like there are ways to get around the Region Codes here's one



.:[ Never resist a perfect moment ]:.

It just seems like they could've come up with a better way to do these things that gives them more flexibility. How about some code on the DVD that contains a region code and a date, and if the date received from the DVD player (through the same function that auto-sets the time) isn't greater, it won't play? That way, they could sell DVDs that would 'activate' in, say, six months, to allow time for the movie to make its way through theaters? Yeah, I know that idea has its own drawbacks for the studios, but dammit!, I want to watch those DVDs...

I absolutely hate regional codes...

You know, software dosn't have 'regional codes'...so why the hell do DVDs? Just to limit the market, and make more money? Ok, I would buy that...but what really happens is, many movies in the states (or vice versa, here in Europe) doesn't reach an extended audience because of these damn regional codes! They just do not get released in other regions, if it looks like it isn't going to be making any money...

And that ticks me off. Especially with PSII games...same thing. GRRR!!!!

^ Amen, brother. My mom sends me DVDs from the States, but I also have Korean DVDs. I can only set my (computer) DVD player to one region at a time, and I can only switch codes five times before it permanently fixes on the last code.

Regional codes are like purposely breaking a CD so it won't play on computer CD players--a measure that probably seemed good at the time because the people making the decisions think only about the short run and money and have their heads up their butts.

I mean, it's not like it prevents what it's supposed to prevent, at least not here--all Korean DVD players are sold "region-free," which means they can play DVDs from any region. I'm gonna be gettin' myself one o' dem real soon.





www.liminality.org

I believe that most standalone DVD players have a code to switch to another region, without 'counting down' on the amount of region changes they're allowed to perform. Most of the time it's some sort of 'cheatcode' for testing the DVD players. A little 'googling' with the manufacturers name and serial number can turn up all kinds of nice results...

While looking around for methods to make a DVD-drive regionfree, I foun this page. Naturally, it's all on one's own risk, and you didn't hear me say anything.

Am i being really stupid here which i think i am but can't you get multi region dvd players? I have a stand alone dvd player in the UK it plays dvd's from all regions??????

Cheers Aroma

It's all so dumb.

Release movies on the same date world wide.

Release DVD's on the same date worldwide.

Remove all zones/regions from DVD formatting.

Problem solved. If disney US and Disney EURO don't want to argue... make the price the same on both products.

GrythusDraconis
"I'm sick of hearing that beauty is only skin-deep. That's deep enough. Who wants an adorable pancreas?" - Unknown

yes, you can get dvd players that are multi-zone. i don't know if you can get them in every country though. my parents bought a pioneer dvd player a few months back that is multi-zone (they are in australia).
their vcr isn't a multi-zone, so when you play an american tape in it the colors are sort of 'washed' out...but you can still view the movie perfectly otherwise.

as for playstations, i believe you can get a mod chip off the net that will let you play non american games. it's not the same chip that will let you played copied games....from what i understand. i brought my psII with me from oz and forgot the plug adaptor, so i haven't tried it to see if it will work here.

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Cell 1007::SST

GrythusDraconis: totally!
Why the fuck keep it for ages ? Like Lord of the Rings , it came out on the same date worldwide, not sure if its a regional disc though .. anyone know ?

Another reason for the time gap is for regional censoring/packaging and language stuffs, but also cinemas wont show films that do shit in the US, so they let them go first.

Okay, having done some research, I came upon this (search for 'dvd player region'). You can buy multi-region DVD players at Amazon's UK site, but they won't ship it outside of the United Kingdom! How screwed up is that?!?

[This message has been edited by Wangenstein (edited 04-12-2003).]

hahahah have it sent to emps' house and have him send it to you

though, you'd then have to buy a plug in thingy (yes....it's a thingy)

__________________________
Cell 1007::SST

I bought, sometime ago, a $38 DVD player (Pioneer DVD-116), for my computer, searched the internet, and found the way to make it region free, and in 10 minutes my DVD player was region free. You also need a special software to make all the regionfree stuff work fine (I repeat, you need a hardware and a software that will make you system play any region coded DVD). I use DVD Region Free, along with PowerDVD. BTW, I searched first for the firmware patch and then I bought the corresponding DVD player because there are many players that you won't find a firmware to patch it and make it regionfree. So, search before buying. http://forum.firmware-flash.com/portal.php

I did some searching on the 'region-free' front, and found that my player is too new and hasn't been cracked yet... Sigh... Still, at least there's hope. I figure I'll revisit the issue in about six months and see if any progress's been made...