DVD coding

[Fabienne]

If not indicated on the DVD, how can one tell if a DVD is region-coded?

 

[imageWIS]

All DVD's are region coded I believe. Best way to get around region-coding is to have a region-free DVD player that will play anything. I recommend the Oppo region-free DVD players.

Jon.

 

[Fabienne]

I am producing a DVD in the US that I need to send to various countries in the world, I want to make it as user friendly as possible, so the all regions DVD player is not terribly practical.

 

[trogdor]

I'm pretty sure that the region coding would have to be something that the producer adds. I have, erm, friends who have bought pirated DVDs which will play on any machine.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

It's possible to author it as an "all-region" DVD.

 

[A Y]

If you code it as region 0, it will play in all regions. Some DVD players will tell you the region of a DVD.

--Andre

 

[Fabienne]

Originally Posted by Patrick Bateman

It's possible to author it as an "all-region" DVD.

Thanks, I hope the company we're using is familiar with this.
I have another company DVD (produced in a Canadian studio) whose region code(s) I would like to identify before making copies to send abroad. Any idea how to do this? There are no indications on the packaging.

 

[Fabienne]

Originally Posted by Andre Yew

Some DVD players will tell you the region of a DVD.

--Andre

How do I view this, if you know? Is there a way to make copies of a, say, Region 1 DVD and have those be coded Region 0? There are no copyright issues in my case.

 

[EL72]

If it's made in Canada then it's (as well as all of NA) coded as Region 1. Europe, Japan. Middle East... is R2; most of Asia is R3... see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code

Copies can usually be made in different formats. If you are using a DVD production company, then they will undoubtedly know this and have the tools to accomodate any requests. If not, consider changing suppliers.

 

[EL72]

You can usually play any DVD on your computer btw, irrespective of region coding.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by EL72

You can usually play any DVD on your computer btw, irrespective of region coding.

You can but your DVD drive can only be associated with one region at the same time and can switch around 5 times, meaning you're stuck with the region you can read this fifth time.

Fabienne: get them to make region 0 DVDs, all players and computers should be able to read those and it's quite easy to do. Some DVD companies even use this setting for their releases (I think Artificial Eye does)

The thing you have to keep in mind is that, while a computer won't be affected by it, your DVDs will probably be NTSC and regular PAL players, like those used in France for exemple, won't be able to read them.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Fabienne

Thanks, I hope the company we're using is familiar with this.
I have another company DVD (produced in a Canadian studio) whose region code(s) I would like to identify before making copies to send abroad. Any idea how to do this? There are no indications on the packaging.

Download "dvd genie" and he'll tell you the region code (which should be 1 if there's one), you'll also be able to use this to bypass the region switching function of your drive.

 

[Fabienne]

Thank you for the tip about DVD genie. The US producer says they've been coding the DVDs with 0 for us, given our use around the world, but I have yet to hear from the Canadian producer, but plan to call him today, as I was finally able to get the number.

 

[raley]

If you use something like VLC player or some other player (Media Player Classic), won't it play any region dvd's without switching the region code of your system?

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by Fabienne

How do I view this, if you know? Is there a way to make copies of a, say, Region 1 DVD and have those be coded Region 0? There are no copyright issues in my case.

Sorry, I didn't see this. Yes, changing the region possible, with a computer. I've used DVDFab (http://www.dvdfab.com) to do this, but there are lots of other similar programs.

Some DVD players have pretty detailed displays showing the region, but it's kind of specific to the model. A better way is to use a computer: on Windows, select Properties on the DVD drive after you insert the DVD into the computer.

--Andre