dvd region 9

[dauerbach]

It is my understanding that dvd region 9 will play on all 8 defined regions. Is this true?

[Q.E.D]

The last I heard there were 6 defined regions, with Region 0 disks playing on all 6. Has this changed?

[neutron_star]

There are six world regions in use, but a seventh and eighth are set aside for other purposes, and presumably rather seldom-used. Here are the regions:

1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
2: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
3: Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
5: Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
6: China
7: Reserved
8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)

Notice the absence of a region 0. That’s because it’s not officially defined. However, in common usage, region 0 does refer to a disc that has no region at all. Region codes are optional in the DVD spec.

I’ve never heard of a disc called “region 9,” but I know that in the menus for some region-unlockable DVD players, “region 9” means “region free.” I guess that’s where it came from.

[KP]

Region 9 is reserved for future use, and hence not listed on most lists

Region 9 behavior is undefined, but the ‘region free’ hacks on many DVD players involve setting he player’s region to region 9. Whether this is just a software bug, or an intentional underground marketing feature is left as an issue for speculation.

[sailor]

I just programmed a DVD player to be “region 9”. It seems some players use this region code as a universal player so that it will still play those DVDs which will not play in region 0 players. I bet we will soon see DVD disks which will not play in region 0 OR 9 players.