# DVD not playing in PS2 -- ideas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872 "2010-01-06T05:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/1 "2010-01-06T05:38:21Z")
My daughter received a couple of DVDs for Christmas, including _17 Again_, and _High School Musical 3_. She generally plays DVDs on her Play Station 2, and has successfully done so today with her _17 Again_ disk. This evening, she tried to watch _High School Musical 3_ on the Play Station, and got a “disk read” error. We have confirmed that the disk plays properly on the main household DVD player. So, what gives? Both disk boxes have the international symbol for “copy-protected” on the labels. Possibly salient differences:[ul] _17 Again_ is released by Warner Bros.[/ul] [ul]_HSM:3_ is released by Disney[/ul] [ul]The “copy-protected” icon on the Warner disk is accompanied by a statement that the disk can pnly be played on specially-licensed devices[/ul] [ul]The icon on the Disney DVD carries no such statement[/ul] My working hypothesis is that Disney and Warner use different copy-protection technology, and that the one on Disney disks successfully, and by design, prevents those disks from playing on a PS/2. I _really, really_ don’t want this hypothesis to be valid. Does anyone know what might be going on here? Thanks for any responses. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/2 "2010-01-06T14:48:47Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > My working hypothesis is that Disney and Warner use different copy-protection technology, and that the one on Disney disks successfully, and by design, prevents those disks from playing on a PS/2. I _really, really_ don’t want this hypothesis to be valid. Does anyone know what might be going on here? It’s not copy protection so much as just the way the disk is encoded. Most DVD players support all of the standards, but there are a few that miss one or two. This is rare but if its gonna occur, its gonna happen with old players and new DVDs. And PS2 is old tech. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/3 "2010-01-06T15:29:16Z")
Oh. If I were to get a second-hand Playstation 3, do those play DVDs? ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/4 "2010-01-06T15:35:21Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh. If I were to get a second-hand Playstation 3, do those play DVDs? yes - and blue-ray too ---
**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:** [January 6, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/5 "2010-01-06T15:40:16Z")
You might see if a firmware upgrade is available for the PS2. It might correct this problem. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/6 "2010-01-06T16:11:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh. If I were to get a second-hand Playstation 3, do those play DVDs? Yes. But if you want to use it as a replacement/substitute for the PS2 (i.e. play those old PS2 games as well as DVDs), you’re going to pay out the nose for it. Backwards-compatible PS3s are a hot commodity. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/7 "2010-01-06T16:15:26Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Yes. But if you want to use it as a replacement/substitute for the PS2 (i.e. play those old PS2 games as well as DVDs), you’re going to pay out the nose for it. Backwards-compatible PS3s are a hot commodity. Adding on to this to explain a bit more: the backwards-compatible (plays PS2 games) PS3s were only the first couple of models, which stopped being available in stores years ago. You’re only going to find those if you hit eBay, find a reliable seller, and pay a whole ton of money. So if you get a PS3, you’re probably going to be like most people in your situation and have both consoles - the old PS2, and the DVD-playing new PS3 that doesn’t play PS2 games. ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/8 "2010-01-06T17:03:02Z")
to be clear: The PS3 uses Blue-ray disks and therefore has a built in blue-ray player. It will play DVDs. Older versions (1st gen) of the PS3 were backwards compatible with PS2 Games. The newer PS3s (gen 3 and 4) are not PS2 compatible. ---
**Author:** ![xnylder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbce88/32.png) [@xnylder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xnylder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/9 "2010-01-06T17:15:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > You might see if a firmware upgrade is available for the PS2. It might correct this problem. I’m afraid there’s no such thing as a PS2 firmware upgrade. ---
**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:** [January 6, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dvd-not-playing-in-ps2-ideas/523872/10 "2010-01-06T17:23:36Z")
Sorry. I based that suggestion on my experience with the PS3.