Ever wonder about DVD region codes?

[pearldiver]

Here is a dvd from region 1 US Cananda I think and wherever else.

Here are a couple from region 4.

These I imagine are from Mexico. To paraphrase: They got the same stuff, it's just a little different.

 

[Lil Stinkpot]

Region actually has something to do with the "language" the DVD is coded with onto the disk.

 

[swords]

Region codes matter but many DVD makers these days use region code 0 to allow it to be played almost anywhere in the world. Maybe some bigger studios still make region specific DVDs but most I've got nowadays are region free. I have "Marquis de Sade's Justine" on NTSC US region code 1 and PAL code DVD and the PAL one will not play on any DVD player or CD-Rom I have access to. I have some live concert DVDs from Japanese and Chinese metal bands and they work fine in my CD-Rom but not my regular DVD player.

 

[pearldiver]

I remember when DVD's were fairly new some player vendors were advertising players that would play any dvd with any region code. They were pretty pricey. Those two discs would not play on my older dvd players, but I have not tried on blu-ray. The early computer based dvd recorders often said they could change to play a different coded disc, but only five times. Those two discs came from a Church rummage sale and are probably well over ten years old. Up to then I had never seen a disc other than region 1 with the exception of a few all code or 0's and I think all those were imports. The Japanese got smart and refused to pay the mega-expensive licensing fees and created the vcd that plays on dvd players. Quality is about like a vhs tape so perhaps a bit of a wash. I hear their copyright laws are very different than here, so lots more live events and greater variety.