I’ve got a roommate with a US DVD player, and I’ve got a dozen or so DVDs (US). From what I understand, all DVDs and players are set up for “regions”. What is a region, and why is it set up this way (I’d assume to prevent piracy).
In any case, when I move out in a month or two, I’ll need to buy my own DVD player. If I drive up to Winnipeg or Regina to buy one, will it be ‘compatible’ with my US DVDs (i.e. are they of the same “region”)?
And for the record, you can now buy “Strange Brew” on DVD from Amazon. I just did [sub]kinda pricey though. . .[/sub]
Tripler
Of course, I haven’t asked about ‘compatability’ since Windows 3.1. :dubious:
Regions are mostly to stop people from buying from different countries where rleease dates vary. (Say ‘Star Wars’ comes out in May in the US, and not until Sept in England; so the English order it from Amazon.com and get it early)
The US and Canada are both ‘Region 1’…no problem there.
Canadan and the US are all Region 1, so you’ll have no compatability difficulties. Heres a map of the various regions. It’s set up that way to control distribution so that, say, Brits can’t order a movie on DVD from North America that has yet to hit British theatres thereby cutting into theatrical release profits. Of course DVD regions are just a minor pain in the butt and region-free players are very common outside of North America.
BTW, if you’re looking for cheap Canadian online DVD stores, I highly recommend CNL.
I have been told that if you search the Internet, you can reset DVD players to the factory settings, ie region 0, so it’ll play all DVD’s. It’s different for each model, so have a google.
DVDRHelp: http://www.dvdrhelp.com/
The source of info about recordable DVDs, also VCDs and SVCDs. Includes a list of DVD players, searchable by feature.
But beware, handy of Regional Code Enhancement – a programming on the disc that prevents it from playing in a region-free player, unless you somehow trick-out the player. (As usual, this safeguard will hinder a true bootlegger about five minutes, but make someone who is a fan of movies that will never be released in their own region have to buy two decks)
Region 1 is the US (including overseas territories) plus Canada
I just wanted to elaborate that while RCE can, indeed, defeat region-free players, region selectable players are still able to play all discs. Typically, these players allow a viewer to manually set the player to the desired region via firmware. As far as I know, the movie industry hasn’t figured out a way to defeat this.
Kinda related, if you get a Gameshark for your PS2, it’s got a feature that will allow you to play DVDs from any regions. I use it alot for my Japanese dvds. Very handy, and cheaper than buying a region free player.