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DVD REGION CODES

How does the DVD system work internationally?
The DVD system is a digital one, and is therefore not dependent on the regional television systems found internationally: NTSC in the USA and Japan, PAL in Europe. VHS tapes were/are dependent on these systems. DVD players sold in Europe are designed to connect to a European television set (PAL), whereas DVD players sold in the USA are designed to connect to an NTSC television, but the player itself is in neither.

Most European DVD players can theoretically play an NTSC disc. However this is complicated by the international region codes that are applied to DVDs: this is because most DVDs sold are governed by the strict control of the Hollywood studios which release movies in different countries at different times. Region coding the discs makes it possible for them to block DVD sales in a country until the film has been on general release there.

Some DVD discs are given multi-region coding, and some are coded 0, which means all regions. Code 0 is used on discs that might be regarded as of minority interest: opera and ballet fall into this category, and by issuing the discs in one code only, the distributors have an economical solution to international sales. However, it does mean that all the discs will be burned in one system or the other (PAL or NTSC). If a disc is NTSC and region 0, there should be no problem playing it in Europe.

It is increasingly common for DVD players to be sold as multi-region friendly: the machines are geared to play the local system but can easily be set to play all systems. The seller will generally tell you how to make the adjustment to play all regions when you buy the player.

DVD CODING

[ 0 ] PLAYABLE IN ALL REGIONS.

[ 1 ] BERMUDA, CANADA, UNITED STATES & U.S TERRITORIES.

[ 2 ] THE MIDDLE EAST, WESTERN EUROPE, CENTRAL EUROPE, EGYPT, FRENCH OVERSEAS TERRITORIES, GREENLAND, JAPAN, LESOTHO, SOUTH AFRICA & SWAZILAND.

[ 3 ] SOUTHEAST ASIA, HONG KONG, MACAU, SOUTH KOREA & TAIWAN.

[ 4 ] AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, CENTRAL AMERICA, THE CARIBBEAN, MEXICO, OCEANIA AND SOUTH AMERICA (SANS FRENCH GUYANA).

[ 5 ] THE REST OF AFRICA, FORMER SOVIET UNION, THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, MONGOLIA AND NORTH KOREA.

[ 6 ] MAINLAND CHINA.