# will japanese laserdiscs work in an american player?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 22, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050 "2010-01-22T22:48:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050/1 "2010-01-22T22:48:30Z")

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i want to get the Phantom Menace (only for collector’s purposes, of course)  
I have a Pioneer CLD-V2400 if it matters

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2010, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050/2 "2010-01-22T23:01:34Z")

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I have played American LaserDisks on my Japanese player, at any rate.

I’m quite certain that the format is the same.

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**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050/3 "2010-01-23T02:12:03Z")

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You should be alright. North America and Japan both use the NTSC standard and there was no region coding on LDs.

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**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050/4 "2010-01-23T06:40:44Z")

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Yes, I have played Japanese LaserDiscs on my American player.

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**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-japanese-laserdiscs-work-in-an-american-player/526050/5 "2010-01-23T06:48:59Z")

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Here’s another datapoint: yes, you can play Japenese LDs on American players, and vice versa. Hodge has the details correct. (Oddly enough, despite the fact that Hong Kong broadcast in PAL, their laserdiscs were NTSC as well, so you can safely import and play them as well.)

The Japanese LD of Phantom Menace was actually imported and sold by a number of national chains as part of their standard laserdisc selection; Tower Records and (iirc) Camelot Music both carried it.