# Converting DVDs by Region **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404 "2015-06-02T00:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/1 "2015-06-02T00:10:02Z")
There are several films I want to own, that I can get on non-Region 1 (US/Canada) DVDs. Is there a way to convert from one Region to another, cheaply? Is this legal? Answer the second question first, with the assumption that I bought the disc, free & clear, 100% legit (the only way I do buy). ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/2 "2015-06-02T00:20:09Z")
You don’t need to convert them. Just buy a [region-free DVD player](http://smile.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=regions+free+dvd+player&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=60715448952&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7002996620062275712&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1cwhqwlrt_e). ---
**Author:** ![Saturn\_Dreams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Saturn\_Dreams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saturn_Dreams)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/3 "2015-06-02T00:32:42Z")
To disable or convert region-coding on a commercial DVD you need to break DRM, and if my understanding is correct, this is illegal in the USA under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/4 "2015-06-02T09:27:40Z")
Any software that can rip a DVD can then burn a region-free version. ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/5 "2015-06-02T10:42:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Any software that can rip a DVD can then burn a region-free version. But the video will still be in the _format_ of the original region. Unless the TV / monitor can handle both NTSC and PAL standards, DVD playback on a regular player connected to a TV / monitor may be problematic. It is more common for PAL TVs to support NTSC than it is for NTSC TVs to support PAL, so this is particularly annoying to people in the US who wish to view foreign DVDs. Note that this also applies to DVDs that do not have region restrictions in the first place, because they were mastered that way. If you use a DVD player program on a computer, it will normally convert the video into whatever format the computer is already sending to the monitor. If you are interested in only one additional region (for example R2 for Europe / Japan / etc.) and your computer supports it, you could purchase and install an additional DVD drive. The drives normally come unset to any region, and the player software or operating system will ask you to pick a region (normally 5 changes are permitted). So you could have one drive for normal (R1 in the OP’s case) and another for “foreign” (R2, for example). This does not involve any circumvention of copy protection or region coding and should be perfectly legal (but not that I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV). ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/6 "2015-06-02T10:58:24Z")
> [@Terry\_Kennedy](#): > > But the video will still be in the _format_ of the original region. Unless the TV / monitor can handle both NTSC and PAL standards, DVD playback on a regular player connected to a TV / monitor may be problematic. It is more common for PAL TVs to support NTSC than it is for NTSC TVs to support PAL, so this is particularly annoying to people in the US who wish to view foreign DVDs. Note that this also applies to DVDs that do not have region restrictions in the first place, because they were mastered that way. > > If you use a DVD player program on a computer, it will normally convert the video into whatever format the computer is already sending to the monitor. If you are interested in only one additional region (for example R2 for Europe / Japan / etc.) and your computer supports it, you could purchase and install an additional DVD drive. The drives normally come unset to any region, and the player software or operating system will ask you to pick a region (normally 5 changes are permitted). So you could have one drive for normal (R1 in the OP’s case) and another for “foreign” (R2, for example). This does not involve any circumvention of copy protection or region coding and should be perfectly legal (but not that I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV). A DVD rip program can usually convert it to NTSC/Pal if required or you can just extract an AVI/mpeg file from the DVD, which you can either play directly or then burn onto DVD in the format you require. However, NTSC/PAL is more and more becoming a part of the past especially with digital media . ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/7 "2015-06-02T11:08:17Z")
> [@Doughbag](#): > > A DVD rip program can usually convert it to NTSC/Pal if required or you can just extract an AVI/mpeg file from the DVD, which you can either play directly or then burn onto DVD in the format you require. All of this involves processing the DVD on a computer. If the objective is to just watch the contents, the “second drive” solution simply works - just stick the disc in and go. And no need to acquire software of potentially questionable legality. > [@](#): > > However, NTSC/PAL is more and more becoming a part of the past especially with digital media . This has always bugged me - there’s a framebuffer inside a standalone DVD player. If the player is configured for NTSC, why not always output NTSC regardless of the source format on the disc? For that matter, why should there be a “source format” on the disc in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/8 "2015-06-02T12:41:06Z")
> [@Terry\_Kennedy](#): > > This has always bugged me - there’s a framebuffer inside a standalone DVD player. If the player is configured for NTSC, why not always output NTSC regardless of the source format on the disc? For that matter, why should there be a “source format” on the disc in the first place? The standard was developed when TVs could only cope with one or t’other - and it does matter - the frame rate is different - a straightforward conversion from one to the other results in odd periodic jerkyness in moving objects on screen. Most modern TVs will switch so they display the video at its native framerate, but this wasn’t always a feature. ---
**Author:** ![Doughbag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Doughbag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doughbag)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/9 "2015-06-02T12:48:28Z")
> [@Terry\_Kennedy](#): > > All of this involves processing the DVD on a computer. If the objective is to just watch the contents, the “second drive” solution simply works - just stick the disc in and go. And no need to acquire software of potentially questionable legality. > This has always bugged me - there’s a framebuffer inside a standalone DVD player. If the player is configured for NTSC, why not always output NTSC regardless of the source format on the disc? For that matter, why should there be a “source format” on the disc in the first place? A frame-buffer is usually there to avoid skipping. Outputting NTSC is only relevant in the NTSC region. Once your DVD player outputs the image via HDMi, NTSC or PAL goes out of the window for the most part anyhow. The “Second Drive” option is not always the easy option. Nero is not essentially a questionable legal software. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/10 "2015-06-02T16:44:20Z")
Most DVD players can be readily hacked to play any region’s DVD. Do a google. The manufacturers make one basic model then put in firmware or software to set the region to where it’s going to be sold. My son bought some DVDs that were from the UK. I had no trouble hacking his and my Region 1 DVD players to play them. It is possible to mess up while hacking and brick the DVD player. I suggest hacking a very cheap DVD player just in case something goes wrong. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/11 "2015-06-02T16:50:32Z")
I’ve never tried this, but if they are all from the same region - buy an additional DVD dive for your PC, let it default to that region, and then paly the DVD’s - possibly with something like VLC Player, which can handle a lot of formats. MOst PC’s have room for another DVD drive. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/12 "2015-06-02T18:18:53Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Most DVD players can be readily hacked to play any region’s DVD. Do a google. The manufacturers make one basic model then put in firmware or software to set the region to where it’s going to be sold. What I’ve done is to check the [Videohelp.com](http://Videohelp.com) website for the region unlocking codes for DVD players that are in stock at Target or Best Buy. I’ve found that Philips players are easy to make region free. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/13 "2015-06-02T18:55:58Z")
What is the legality of hacking the DVD player to play any region’s DVDs? ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/14 "2015-06-02T19:23:01Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > What is the legality of hacking the DVD player to play any region’s DVDs? > **[DVD region code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code)** > > DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to the appropriate region. > This is achieved by way of region-locked DVD players, which will play back only DVDs encoded to their region (plus those without any region code). The American DVD Copy Control Association also requires that DVD player manufacturers ... Towards the bottom of the article. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/15 "2015-06-03T07:29:45Z")
> [@Terry\_Kennedy](#): > > This has always bugged me - there’s a framebuffer inside a standalone DVD player. If the player is configured for NTSC, why not always output NTSC regardless of the source format on the disc? For that matter, why should there be a “source format” on the disc in the first place? Really short answer is that the DVD standard was developed in the 90s when televisions were still analog. Therefore, even though DVDs are fully digital, the NTSC & PAL standards had to be retained in their output. Even today, unless your DVD player has an ‘upconverting’ HDMI hi-def output jack all its TV connectors, S-Video or YP[sub]B[/sub]P[sub]R[/sub] component or RCA A/V composite, are all analog. ---
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/16 "2015-06-03T07:59:40Z")
Should be a law against bullshit like this. One should be able to make what ever one wants to use something else someone else makes. Like in the good old days of pirate consoles and pirate games! Like actually pirate games that were legal to sell just weren’t “licensed”. Anyway, as everyone have mentioned, it’s an easy fix. Or buy a DvD player that’s already fixed. Look on Craiglist or equivalent, might be some adds from people that “fix it” for you if following the advice linked is too difficult or time consuming. Good luck! Also, why do you care if it’s legal or not, lol? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/17 "2015-06-03T21:19:57Z")
So, best answer–buy a region-free DVD player? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/18 "2015-06-03T21:23:09Z")
Or, as I suggested, buy a DVD player that can be modified (through a series of button presses on the remote control) to be made region free. One advantage; such players are available in retail stores. I bought one at Target a couple of weeks ago for about $40. ---
**Author:** ![Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8dc957/32.png) [@Ze\_Pr0fes0re](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ze_Pr0fes0re)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/19 "2015-06-03T21:47:01Z")
Some older ones can be “fixed” mechanically too (soldering) I think, others have firmware bollox blockades that are fixed as per Deweys advice. You’ve already goten some sites listed here but sometimes you can even call your manufacturer and they will explain it to you. In a few cases it’s even intended and you have a few “region changes” until it blocks it for ever and ever… ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2015, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/converting-dvds-by-region/721404/20 "2015-06-03T22:27:19Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > So, best answer–buy a region-free DVD player? Yes. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Or, as I suggested, buy a DVD player that can be modified (through a series of button presses on the remote control) to be made region free. One advantage; such players are available in retail stores. I bought one at Target a couple of weeks ago for about $40. Or you can buy one that is already region-free and ready-to-use for [less than $40 on amazon.com.](http://smile.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=regions+free+dvd+player&tag=viglink20265-20&index=aps&hvadid=60715448952&hvpos=1t2&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7002996620062275712&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_1cwhqwlrt_e)