DVD player region code unlock

[Masuro]

I bought a DVD player on the weekend and I'm very impressed by the quality of the picture. Even on my old TV it looks great. I live in Korea (region 3) but I would like to order some DVDs from Canada and other countries. I have the region unlock code for my DVD player but I'm worried about damaging my player. Nothing is physically altered but can unlock codes damage DVD player programming or ruin some functions?

Another question. I can't watch British video tapes in Korea because of the PAL/NTSC conflict but, other than region codes, are there any problems watching a British DVD on my Korean DVD player?

[Mangetout]

If the unlocking is a manufactured feature (documented or otherwise) of your player, then I can't imagine that using it is going to do any damage.

[Masuro]

That's what I was thinking. The complicated series of buttons you have to press was obviously made by the company and they wouldn't try to harm their own product.

[Mangetout]

True, but I suppose there is a remote possibility that you aren't really 'unlocking' the region code, but maybe setting the player into some sort of factory 'test' mode or something and that this might end up disabling some other set of features... I suppose it all hinges on where the code came from and how confident the code supplier is that they know what it really does.

[gouda]

I'm pretty much 100% ignorant about the encoding a player by regions... why is it done?

[Charlie Tan]

Originally posted by gouda
I'm pretty much 100% ignorant about the encoding a player by regions... why is it done?

Basically to screw Joe Consumer.

DVDs are released at diferent dates in diferent countries. Mega Blockbuster movies, say T-3, gets released worldwide within weeks. Smaller movies take longer, sometimes up to six months or a year. This means thet a Hollywood movie might be out on DVD in the US, while it haven't opened in Holland. The coding is done, so that people won't buy the DVD from Amazon.com, thus shrinking the potential audience for theatres in Holland.

With tv shows it works the other way. E.g. Buffy will have to run its course in syndication in the US, which is where the producers make money, before it's released on DVD. It doesn't work that way over here, so S.6 of BtVS is out, and I think S.7 is scheduled for release by Christmas. Meanwhile, the tv channel showing the show is only up to S.3, IIRC.

[nicky]

Is the output format (NTSC, PAL) on the DVD disc itself, or due to the DVD player?

For your video you either need a standards converter or buy a multi-system VCR - try the Samsung SV5000 (Korean!).

[Desmostylus]

Originally posted by Masuro
Nothing is physically altered but can unlock codes damage DVD player programming or ruin some functions?

It's unlikely, but if the people that made and programmed the DVD player in the first place stuffed things up, then it's possible. I've never heard of this happening, but it's certainly possible.

Originally posted by Masuro
Another question. I can't watch British video tapes in Korea because of the PAL/NTSC conflict but, other than region codes, are there any problems watching a British DVD on my Korean DVD player?

Originally posted by nicky
Is the output format (NTSC, PAL) on the DVD disc itself, or due to the DVD player?

DVD discs, just like VHS tapes, are made as either NTSC or PAL. Some DVD players can do NTSC to PAL conversion and vice-versa, but not all of them can. Most new TVs can accept either NTSC or PAL inputs, but yours obviously can't.

[BwanaBob]

This whole region garbage sucks because it seems to screw the region 1 market the most.

Most players overseas seem to be multi-region/multi format. The upshot is that they can watch anything.

We poor slobs in the DVD "third-world" of region 1 never get multi region players so we are relegated to watching our local stuff only.

So why can some Korean watch Buffy before it's released there, but I can't watch, say, some obscure Brit-com because it's only PAL region2?

Don't tell me I can get one of these players if I so desire. My point is why aren't those players the standard here like they are overseas.

I thought the whole point of region-coding was to stop non-region 1 people from seeing region 1 stuff before they're officially released locally. This sure as hell isn't happening!!

[Mangetout]

Region-free players don't seem to be in the high street here in the UK, but they are widely available online and from mail order. I'm not sure if this is the result of legislation or just the preference of the high street retailers.

[Aro]

Originally posted by Masuro
That's what I was thinking. The complicated series of buttons you have to press was obviously made by the company and they wouldn't try to harm their own product.

One thing to bear in mind - Depending on the make and model of your player, the code for changing from 'Region 1' to 'Region 2' or to 'All regions' may have a built-in maximum number of changes allowable - sometimes as low as three. Make sure you don't mess with it too much or you may lock it on a setting you don't want.

[spanna]

Many DVD players have region free codes which should be perfectly safe.

If in doubt do a web search for multi region or region free followed by your dvd model number

[nicky]

The big retailers want to keep the makers sweet.

Desmostylus, thanks for the clarification. Masuro has to get a

multi-region multi-standard DVD

or

a multi-region DVD and a standards converter

[Desmostylus]

No problemo, nicky.

Originally posted by nicky
...a standards converter

I think it'd be cheaper to throw away the TV and get a new one.

[paulberserker]

Mangetout, I dont know which high street shops youre looking in, but every big electrical store ive been in recently (Comet, Currys, Richer Sounds etc) all do multi region players.
i only wish id have bought one

[Tapioca Dextrin]

Originally posted by Desmostylus
I think it'd be cheaper to throw away the TV and get a new one.

This is very bad advice. Modern PAL TVs will accept an NTSC signal, but not visa-versa. The Korean TV of the OP will be NTSC.

As for region code unlocking, it's a two-edged sword. It won't harm the player, but making the player region-free means that it won't look for regional coding information. Some DVDs have RCE (Regional Coding Enhancement) which will not work in your region free DVD player.

That's enough acronyms for one post.

[Desmostylus]

Originally posted by Tapioca Dextrin
This is very bad advice. Modern PAL TVs will accept an NTSC signal, but not visa-versa. The Korean TV of the OP will be NTSC.

You're kidding, right? You think that a TV capable of decoding both PAL and NTSC will say to itself "hey, I ain't dealin' with this PAL shit"? How the fuck would it know that it was a NTSC TV in the first place? Most modern TVs handle both PAL and NTSC. Lots of modern TVs are actually made in Korea. For fuck sake.

[Fern Forest]

As I understand it there are 3 main ways in which you can change the region for your DVD player.

1) Physically altering the board to add wires and such. You can buy these kits which you have to trust a 3rd party manufacturer. They scare the hell out of me since it would be easy to damage the DVD player since they require you to take it apart. Plus going back will be impossible, or at least very very difficult. Don't buy this type of player. Although I suppose the ones where the region is a switch inside wouldn't be so bad but I understand they don't make those anymore.

2) Changing the programming by placing a special disc in the player. You can buy these discs but again you leave it up to a 3rd party manufacturer that they programmed it right. Usually the way they work is you put the disc in and it sets your player to no region. What some people call region 0. And then when you put it in again it undoes what you've done. At least the one I looked at did. This one's also kind of scary.

3) Entering a code to alter the region. This is something they do themselves. These are typically easily reversable and my recommended method. What I do is change the region from 1 to 2 to 3 and so forth. I never use no region because I don't play discs from various regions very often and I don't want to constantly change it if I run into any RCE discs.


RCE - The region coding in a player works by checking the disc to make sure it's the same region as the player. If you set you player to no region then it doesn't check the disc. But RCE does rides on the disc and it checks the player to make sure that a region is set. Despite all my fears that this would become a major thing it surprisingly hasn't. Yet.

Check this forum for your dvd region hacks and see how they worked for other people. Sometimes the code will change over the production lifetime of a model a few times. Read the fascinating FAQ. It answers nearly every question you could have about DVS.

This site lists the known RCE enabled discs. 41 discs in the nearly 3 years they've been piddling with it. There must be something keeping them from rolling it out in greater numbers. But anyway it's easily defeated by having a player which can be changed to any of the 8 regions at any time.

As for those NTSC/PAL issues, if you have a computer with a DVD player then your computer should be able to handle anything you throw at it. I bet you could even toss a SECAM its way and it'll play. I don't know much in this area. It's just as well. All the places I know of from where I can oder foreign DVDs are outrageously priced to the extent that I'd rather wait.

[Mangetout]

Originally posted by paulberserker
Mangetout, I dont know which high street shops youre looking in, but every big electrical store ive been in recently (Comet, Currys, Richer Sounds etc) all do multi region players.
i only wish id have bought one

I recently emailed customer services at Comet regarding their DVD HiFis and players and they told me that all of their players were region 2 as sold and I should contact the manufacturer to see if any of them could be unlocked. If the shops in my area are selling multi-region players, there is certainly nothing in the shelf-labelling to indicate it (I have looked and looked, as I have just finished shopping for a player - I bought a custom-chipped VCR/DVD combo player online from www.techtronics.co.uk in the end).

[handy]

If you post the model & manf of the player I can check to see if it's region free or can be made so. I'm in the USA & I bought an Action Replay disk for my ps2 from ebgames.com & it makes your PS2 region free.

[sailor]

In the USA you can get region free, ntsc/pal, macrovision etc players for something like $50. They do it all out of the box so that should be the way to go. I just got one on ebay but I paid extra for the shipping.

[handy]

You're lucky sailor, I haven't found them there that cheap before.

[Masuro]

Thanks for all the information. I found the region unlock code on a Korean electronics site and, if I remember correctly, the region lock is reversable and you can choose the region when you enter the code. I should check again, though.
I'll be getting a new widescreen TV in a few months but I'm not really worried about the NTSC/PAL features. I was mostly just curious. I would assume that someone produces British films for NTSC since most of them are probably exported to North America. Still, it'd be nice to order some European films on DVD so I can get English subtitles. I'll have to check out the TV before I buy it.

[Apollyon]

Originally posted by Tapioca Dextrin
As for region code unlocking, it's a two-edged sword. It won't harm the player, but making the player region-free means that it won't look for regional coding information. Some DVDs have RCE (Regional Coding Enhancement) which will not work in your region free DVD player.

It'll depend on the way the player unlocks. My Mustek player has an "All" zone option accessible via an arcane combination of buttons, and I've played RCE disks just fine. YMMV.

In addition to the links people have already offered, lots more DVD info can be found on the DVD Demystified FAQ.

[Thylacinewas taken]

This site is awesome:
http://www.regionfreedvd.net/players.html