Questions about Region-Free DVD Players

[Jennifer12]

I have heard that there are DVD players available in the US that play both Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs. Can anyone give me a brand name?

Jennifer

 

[NikZane]

I have heard that there are DVD players available in the US that play both Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs. Can anyone give me a brand name?

Jennifer

There's a multi-region DVD player in this house, not sure of the brand name... and it's 2am and I don't wanna wake people up shuffling around looking for it... I'll find out tomorrow what it is and let ya know.

It plays all regions too, not just 1 & 2. (I've tried my region 4 discs and they play fine... but then there also the PAL/NTSC issue for me too)

 

[Drtooth]

The questions are...

A) do these cost more (goes without saying, but how much more), and B) do they work on normal TV's

 

[NikZane]

OK, the DVD player here is a Pioneer, Model Nº: DV-344, which is multi-region and PAL/NTSC compatible.

I've no idea on the price difference. In Australia (I know that doesn't help), they're not all that much more expensive than regular DVD players, if at all. If available here, I would expect that to be the same.

Most multi-region players usually play both NTSC and PAL formats as well, which means you need a TV which is PAL compatible, or if you're in a PAL region, one the that is NTSC compatible.

Additionally, if you run your DVD player through a VCR, that also needs PAL/NTSC compatibility. Otherwise a DVD player direct-in to a PAL/NTSC TV works fine.

In Australia (again, I know this doesn't help the US readers), PAL/NTSC compatible VCR's and TV's are plentiful. Mainly due to the fact that in Australia, you often have to buy your DVD's and VHS tapes off-shore due to that lack of release in Australia; thus the influx of PAL/NTSC compatible hardware and more recently, multi-region DVD players.

Side note:
PAL = Standard European (and Southern Hemisphere) format - displays video at 24 fps, at a slightly higher scan rate ("resolution") than NTSC.
NTSC = Standard North American format - displays video at 29.7 fps, but slightly lower scan rate than PAL.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm going to find this guy who decided to have 2 regions and sock him in the jaw!

Think of how much easier it would be...

I bet Eli Whitney is rolling in his grave!

 

[NikZane]

I'm going to find this guy who decided to have 2 regions and sock him in the jaw!

Think of how much easier it would be...

I bet Eli Whitney is rolling in his grave!

Oh man... when you find him, let me know - I'll come with ya!

Incidentally, there's 8 regions (those b@$^!d's)!

Region 1 - 1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
Region 3 - Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5 - 5: Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
Region 6 - Peoples Republic of China
Region 7 - Reserved
Region 8 - Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)

All designed to screw an extra buck out of us, the consumer.

An interesting paragraph I found when searching for the region codes:

"According to OpenDVD.org, DVD players with region codes are illegal in New Zealand. Additionally, DVD regions are rumored to violate certain World Trade Organization laws."

Go NZ for defying imposed regional coding!

However:

"Recently, the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) has developed a new system called Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE) which will be included on almost all new region 1 DVD releases. This new technology was created to prevent consumers with codefree DVD players from watching DVD discs purchased in North America. From now on, most region 1 DVD discs will be including this technology."

We just can't win.

This information came from DVD Adept

 

[Jennifer12]

I bet Eli Whitney is rolling in his grave!

Hahahahaha! This is funny! But, uh, yeah! I agree! That's economics for you. Throw the common sense out the window and welcome the bucks in.

Jennifer

 

[anathema]

Ok, let's clear up a few things

"PAL" - which isn't actually the correct way to refer to the system - runs at 25fps, not 24. Film runs at 24. "NTSC" (also incorrect) runs at approximately 29.97.

"Scan rate" is the correct term for the above numbers, although technically the scan rate is the field rate, not the frame rate. There are two fields per frame, so the scan rates are 50 for "PAL" and 59.94 for "NTSC". What you're thinking of is the vertical resolution of the picture, which is 625 lines (575 visible) and 525 lines (480 visible) respectively.

To be absolutely accurate, the two systems are referred to as "625/50" and "525/60". Most countries use 625/50; the main exceptions are the US, Canada and Japan. Colour system is a matter of choice: most 525/60 countries use NTSC (Brazil, on the other hand, uses PAL) and most 625/50 countries use PAL (but France uses SECAM). This being the case, it's common to abbreviate to just saying "NTSC" or "PAL", but it's not strictly accurate.


The vast majority of DVD players sold in 625/50 countries will also play 525/60 discs. In theory, the opposite is also true, but since this relies on your TV set being able to handle the "foreign" signal, it's not that common in the US. There are two types of US-sold DVD player capable of handling 625/50 discs: those that require the TV to be able to handle the signal, and those (more expensive ones) that actually convert the signal to 525/60 internally, and will work with a normal US television. You're always better off with the first type, as any standards-conversion introduces nasty motion artefacts and other problems, and the convertors built into consumer players are pretty basic (unless you want to spend really big bucks!).


Region coding was indeed introduced to control when and where a title was released. Hollywood films are typically released first in the US, and then to other countries a few weeks or months later. Since the distributors in these countries are purchasing exclusive exploitation rights to the movie, the last thing they want is for Joe Public to be able to stroll down to their high-street DVD store and buy the thing before it's even opened in the local cinema. It's merely a side-effect that region coding allows the studios to screw their customers over... ;-)


"RCE" is nothing new; it's been around for many years. It's a fairly simple trick, and usually fairly simple to defeat with a modified player. Most "region-free" mods will also disable RCE.

 

[NikZane]

I knew *someone* would get all technical on me after my post

I figured I was gonna be wrong with the scan rate thingy, I was looking for something similar to a dpi/ppi/lpi y-axis... yeh verticle resolution

So are there off-the-shelf players that will overcome RCE? (you're not just talking software players, are you?). Or does a region 0 player need further modifying?

Thanx for the info

 

[anathema]

I knew *someone* would get all technical on me after my post

I figured I was gonna be wrong with the scan rate thingy, I was looking for something similar to a dpi/ppi/lpi y-axis... yeh verticle resolution

So are there off-the-shelf players that will overcome RCE? (you're not just talking software players, are you?). Or does a region 0 player need further modifying?

Thanx for the info

Not off-the-shelf as such. You would typically buy your player from a supplier who would make the necessary modifications before shipping it to you.

There is also no such thing as "region 0". There are "all-region" players, and "all-region" discs.

The usual complete set of mods covers: all-region playback; disabling of Macrovision; and disabling of RCE. Depending on the player (and the mod), you may have to use your remote control to select the region before you can play the disc. Mine does this automatically.