DVD Regions (and TV Formats)

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  • NeoPa
    Recognized Expert Moderator MVP
    • Oct 2006
    • 32640

    DVD Regions (and TV Formats)

    I recently started looking at buying some DVDs (Mainly series of TV programs). Pretty simple so far.

    I live in the UK and we are Region 2 here for DVDs and I believe our television format is PAL.

    Getting back to the question, I noticed that while many of the series were available in Region 2 format (and presumably PAL), some of them are only available as Region 1 - NTSC (which are the standards used for North America).

    I did some searching and found out some stuff about how they're not supposed to be interoperable, but I've heard tell that in reality these restrictions are often bypassed. I don't know what the situation is with legailty here (From what I hear it's all above board and legal but not absolutely sure).

    I use both my PC and a stand-alone DVD player to watch DVDs, and I'd like to know what situation I will be in if I decide to buy some in Region 1 format.

    Furthermore, if they are in NTSC format, will my television (or PC for that matter) even be able to handle the resulting output signal?
  • r035198x
    MVP
    • Sep 2006
    • 13225

    #2
    The PC should play them fine. The TV/DVD player specs should specify which formats of DVDs it can play.

    Comment

    • NeoPa
      Recognized Expert Moderator MVP
      • Oct 2006
      • 32640

      #3
      So, if I buy a Region 1 NTSC DVD then I must check each TV I want to play it on (direct it to) to ensure that it supports NTSC?

      As for PCs, I suspect things aren't quite as straightforward as that. They may handle NTSC ok (I don't know but I assume that's what you mean), but whenever I've selected a Region for my DVD it's warned me that only 5 changes are possible until it will no longer allow switching regions.

      I don't want to get into the situation where my main DVDs are no longer playable (on my PC) simply because I switched region too many times to play Region 1 NTSC DVDs.

      Maybe the setting is PC specific. Maybe I can set one of my PC's DVD devices to Region 2 and the other to Region 1, but I'd like to understand the situation better if I can.

      Comment

      • r035198x
        MVP
        • Sep 2006
        • 13225

        #4
        I suppose the 5 changes are possible thing comes up with Windows Media Player on windows?

        Comment

        • NeoPa
          Recognized Expert Moderator MVP
          • Oct 2006
          • 32640

          #5
          No. Not specifically. It is a DVD device item.

          Go into Device Manager of XP, select the DVD option, a DVD device then Properties.

          The DVD Region tab from there explains that you must select the region before you can play DVDs encoded for the specific region.

          This setting seems to be stored on the DVD device itself, as it warns that re-installing Windows or even moving the device to a different PC, will not reset the 'allowed changes' count.

          Comment

          • DonRayner
            Recognized Expert Contributor
            • Sep 2008
            • 489

            #6
            The DVD drive will allow 5 changes to region. After the fifth change it is coded permanently on the drive itself and can no longer be changed. Best thing to do is to install a second DVD read only drive and set it to region 1

            Comment

            • RedSon
              Recognized Expert Expert
              • Jan 2007
              • 4980

              #7
              To get a full answer Neo, we're going to need the make and model of your TVs and DVD players.

              At their heart, DVDs are merely carriers of data files with compressed audio-visual information contained therein. This information can be placed on DVD in one of two resolutions; 720 x 576 pixels (PAL DVDs), or 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC DVDs), and with various frame rates (24, 25, and 30 frames per second are common). The DVD player itself takes this data file and formats it appropriately for display in either PAL or NTSC.

              However, DVDs recorded from PAL formats will look better on PAL devices and the same for NTSC.

              You should double check your DVD player, many DVD players support multiple regions or even ALL regions. If you bought your DVD player from Australia or New Zealand it will play ALL regions. Your computer DVD drive you won't have to change the region code in. Some DVD playing software ignore region coding (VLC is a good example).

              You may have software that ignores region or that you can change infinite number of times. If you don't you can get software like this Fastest DVD Copy Software | Best DVD Decrypter from DVDFab in which you can rip your DVDs and remove region codeing and encryption and then burn it to a DVD-R and play it on anything you want. The only issue with this is that you may have problems depending on the interop between the DVD and your player and TV. Be prepared to root around in some forums to find your answers.

              More info (DVD Related Articles)

              Comment

              • NeoPa
                Recognized Expert Moderator MVP
                • Oct 2006
                • 32640

                #8
                Thanks a bundle RedSon.

                I tried some Googling but didn't find too much of help (at least that I understood). I haven't got all my details properly together yet (I was originally considering simply understanding before applying it practically), but I am in the process of doing that. It should be available to me when I get home from work.

                I've bookmarked both of those links :)

                Thanks also to r035198x & Don for replying. All assistance is appreciated.

                Comment

                • NeoPa
                  Recognized Expert Moderator MVP
                  • Oct 2006
                  • 32640

                  #9
                  I found my DVD player (LITEON LVW-5055GDL) & TV (Samsung LE46M8) manuals and I also found a link that told me how to make the DVD player "region free", which I have done.

                  The TV has many options and settings but I failed to find anything in there about running in NTSC mode. It seems that's not absolutely necessary (from RedSon's links), but may still be desirable.

                  After some further linking and digging I found that I could make both my PC's DVDs "region free" using a tool KProbe from the manufacturer (also LITEON - though rebadged as Sony).

                  Now I just need to test that it all works :D

                  Comment

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