Region Coding

[ravenstar]

Ok, techie type question I'm hoping someone can help me with.

I've bought a bunch of DVD's from Amazon, some of them are Region 0 which apparently means they'll play anywhere in the world, but some are region 1 which is US & Canada only.

Beyond sticking the DVD in my Blu Ray and pressing play, how can I find out what region - if any - my Blu Ray is set for.

Also, what is the point of region coding DVD's in the first place.

 

[seven2go]

While it's an older post it's worth looking into >>> http://www.softpedia.com/get/CD-DVD-Tools/CD-DVD-Rip-Other-Tools/DVD-Region-Killer.shtml

That's worth checking out too >>> http://www.gromkov.com/faq/faq2004-0063.html

 

[G-Lexington]

If you bought your Blu-Ray player from a standard retail outlet, it is almost certainly coded for your region.

The rationale for coding is that, oftentimes, different companies own the rights to the same movie in different countries. Thus it prevents the UK owner of the rights of a movie from selling it to Americans, thus robbing the US right-holder of the royalties for the sale.

Lex

 

[bankside]

You're in Australia right?

To my knowledge it is the only sane country in the world for region codes, where the government said "Region codes? What kind of bullshit is that? If you buy it, you get to play it." and then ordered manufacturers to ensure that DVD players would just ignore the codes and play.

 

[ravenstar]

I am in Australia bankside. I hope that's the case. Some of the DVD's are referenced as "all regions" on Amazon, but a couple are listed as Region 1 only and I didn't notice that until after I bought it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[star-warrior]

In theory, it is possible to hack any dvd player to go multiregion.

 

[oakpope]

yep, google firmware + the name of your dvd player + crack or zone free or unzone etc.
When you use your dvd player there should be a menu with properties or utilities or misc. or something like that and going trough the sub menus you should have one that list your region code.

 

[thief2000]

some players don´t even need a new firmware... a lot of them only need a "code" you can enter via your remote.. i had two players where you just ahd to push "stop stop setup slow skip right pause play" or something and voila you could eter the regional coding you wanted...

 

[JayHawk]

If they dont play and you have a dvd player on your computer then download Media Monkey then download the codec for playing the region you desire.

Media Monkey

 

[ravenstar]

Thanks JayHawk, I never even thought of trying them in the laptop. If they don't work in my blu ray it's the laptop for them.

 

[72-Jay]

what is the point of region coding DVD's in the first place

Its some BS to try & block people from watching stuff...

some players don´t even need a new firmware... a lot of them only need a "code" you can enter via your remote..

Yep..
I bought a specific model of DVD player simply because changing the region to '0' and disabling macrovision simply required codes on the remote

 

[ravenstar]

Turns out my Blu Ray player is automatically set to play all regions. I must say I'm happy with that. I bought 6 DVD's on Amazon and including postage it cost me $25 more than the 2 DVD's + postage from a local Australian seller. Pfft that.