Region 2 DVDs, Questions
posted on january 28, 2004, tag: tech
Can someone explain to me why multi-region DVD players can't be sold in the United States, but can be elsewhere? I thought region encodings had something to do with copyright, but after some research today I found that to be untrue.
It seems region encoding is just a way for countries to control how their products are sold and to which group of people. The past few years I've been thinking that importing region 2 DVDs (UK, etc) was at least borderline illegal, but that's not so. It's perfectly legal... it's just difficult because US DVD manufacturers make it so damned difficult to play anything but region 1 discs.
After looking endlessly for a multi-region DVD player that I could buy without having to deal with a "black market" or "Russia," I found some interesting information today—my DVD player can be hacked to remove region encoding requirements. As far as I can tell, hacking your DVD player to remove this restriction is not illegal, as the encoding has nothing to do with copyright. So long as you're not going to use this hack to play stolen DVDs, copied DVDs, etc, it's legit to do it.
It also seems like most DVD players have a hack to do this (which makes sense, since I'm sure manufacturers test the DVD players for all regions before locking them down based on their sales location), and therefore most people can turn their current region 1 (or 2) DVD player into a multi-region player. Then it's all about buying DVDs from Amazon.co.uk.
Does anyone have any experience in this regard? I would like to hear from anyone who is currently living in the US and playing Region 2 discs. I don't want to feel like I'm losing quality or working crazy hard to view discs from the UK, and I don't want to damage my DVD player. What I do want, however, is to be able to buy BBC and other UK DVDs when they are released, rather than waiting a year to get them in the States. If I change my region to 0, that means I'll be able to play any encoded (or non-encoded) disc, right?
Your input is appreciated.
Comments
There are 10 comments, comments are closed
Richard on 01/28/2004:
I'm in the UK, and we quite often get DVDs from the States for the same reason (and price)! I find that quite amusing :)
Multi-region players are very common over here.
If you can unlock your DVD player, then do so. I don't think it even could cause a problem - sometimes there are problems with unlocking DVD-ROM drives, but rarely with standalone players.
Region 0 will allow you to freely play DVDs from all regions - the UK won't be a problem at all. Check that your player/TV combo can deal with PAL encoding though - just in case.
That way you can also get DVDs from Hong Kong for cheap ;)
Garrett on 01/28/2004:
Right... I had forgotten about the PAL -> NTSC thing... are UK DVDs encoded in PAL?
Thanks for your input, very helpful.
brian w on 01/28/2004:
Yes, UK DVDs are PAL. You can't play a PAL DVD on an American NTSC television. However, if you have a PowerBook or iBook handy, you can get region-free firmware for its DVD player, hook your TV up to the portable through the S-Video port, and watch PAL DVDs to your heart's content: the computer handles the translation automatically. You will not suffer any lack of quality. I flashed the DVD drive on my PowerBook about three years ago and haven't had any issues with it whatsoever (through OS 9, Jaguar and now Panther).
Ben on 01/29/2004:
Just a word of warning - try to "hack" your dvd player so it can be switched between specific regions, rather than just to 0. Many DVD's include protection that won't let them play on a region 0 player, just the region they are made for.
Not normally a problem, as most hacks allow you to switch between regions as many times as you want.
Jason on 01/29/2004:
My understanding is that DVD region encoding was basically something that the studios insisted in putting in, so that they could time their releases. Right now most major Hollywood movies come out in the US first, followed by Europe about 6 months later, then Asia, etc. The fear was that since films come out on DVD in the states while still in the theatre in Europe that it would rob from European ticket sales. I think one of the models for this kind of regionalization was video consoles, which have long prevented you from playing Japanese games on American consoles (for example). It also allows different pricing in different regions.
I second the solution of using your computer to play the DVD codes, since it's relatively easy to use software that allows you to switch your player's region to match the disk you're trying to play. An alternative to the computer is buying a multi-system (common in Asia) DVD player, many of which allow multiple region encodings from the factory.
Tarsh Einfallsreich on 01/29/2004:
I live in Australia (Region 4) and own an LG DVD player, it has a simple button combo you put in with the remote control (given to me by the store that sold me the player) to switch it to region free. Most players here are either already un-advertised region free or easily modified without physical changing anything in the hardware. I’m not sure as the legal ramifications of such a modification, I know it is illegal for a store to rent or sell DVD’s of another region, but as far as I know it is not illegal to own one. I personally buy a DVD if it is available here, but there are titles that are not released here, my fiancé is obsessed with Tank Girl, a title that is not available here, so we imported it form the US. Like anything, it’s only illegal if you get caught.
Donna on 03/07/2004:
I bought a region 0 DVD and I have 3 DVD players and it won't play on any of them and I don't understand why I have read on a few websites that a region 0 should play on all players but that is not true.
Lisa on 06/20/2004:
Hello Tarsh,
I also live in Australia and have an LG DVD player. I've bought a DVD from the US that I can't play. It is a multi-zone player though, so I must be able to change it. Could you
tell me how to do it, please?
Brian on 06/25/2004:
On a recent visit to the UK my wife bought a BBC DVD without realizing the difficulties of playing it here in Canada. Within two weeks we have a cheap solution.
Of course the disc is PAL encoded and presumably (but not indicated on the package so perhaps not) a Region 2 disc. My high end Samsung DVDHD931 player will not play it and there appears to be no hack for that player available on the Internet. Then I discovered that there are certain players that will play such a disc right out of the box without hacking and convert to NTSC on the fly as well. A popular one in the US seems to be the Daiwoo DVP480 advertised as low as $50, but I could not find Daiwoos in Canada. However the London Drugs chain had three different models in stock that do the same thing (Curtis, Akai and Himage). So I bought one for CAN$99 and it works. But like all these el cheapos, its physical appearance is crappy.
WARNING! Do not get the Curtis DVD1066. It seems to have a firmware bug that kills it once you have used the component output (which didn't work anyway, only the S-Video worked, and just once). Not only did the one I first bought do this, but when I took it back and they tried a second one it did exactly the same thing. So I ended up with the Himage HJ2205 instead.
Karl Bedingfield on 06/30/2004:
Hi there,
I recentely brought my girlfriend (She lives in Ocean Springs, MS, I live in the U.K.) a DVD player from the States that plays all regions. I brought (online) from this company: http://www.northstarproducts.com/store/comersus_listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=22
I have since sent several UK DVDs and all have played excellent I am told.
HTH
Karl