# USA DVD's OK In CANADA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-dvds-ok-in-canada/139158 "2002-11-27T17:55:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-dvds-ok-in-canada/139158/1 "2002-11-27T17:55:57Z")
Just a quick question: I want to buy my brother in Canada a couple of DVD’s for Christmas. They say Zone 1 DVD’s (standard USA issue) are good in all of North America, and if my geography is correct, I believe Canada is indeed still a part of North America. However, before I plunk down the bucks to send him a few disks, I want to make sure they will work. So - do USA DVD’s work in Canadian DVD players on Canadian TV’s? ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-dvds-ok-in-canada/139158/2 "2002-11-27T17:57:31Z")
Yes. Canada uses Region 1. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-dvds-ok-in-canada/139158/3 "2002-11-27T18:29:40Z")
DVDs are signed for Europe, Asia, or North America. North America includes both the US and Canada. But if try to play a region 1 DVD on a DVD player that you bought in Europe or Japan it won’t work. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-dvds-ok-in-canada/139158/4 "2002-11-27T18:31:29Z")
If I might tag on a question, why are there different zones and such? ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-dvds-ok-in-canada/139158/5 "2002-11-27T19:06:48Z")
There are different zones to maximize the profits of the people releasing dvds. There have been threads where people in Europe and the UK complain that software, music and movies cost a lot more and arrive later than in the states. Without region coding it would be harder to maintain the price difference in movies.