 | 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.
|
|
Highlights from The Royal Opera
Price: £17.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) Music from: Les Contes d'Hoffmann, La Bohéme, Der Rosenkavalier, Don Carlo, ... |
Fidelio
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Ludwig van Beethoven Cast: Gabriela Benackova, ... |
Carmen
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Maria Ewing, Luis Lima, Leontina ... |
Peter Grimes
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Jon Vickers, Heather Harper, Norman ... |
Lucrezia Borgia
Price: £27.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Joan Sutherland, Alfredo Kraus, Anne ... |
Orfeo ed Euridice
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Jochen Kowalski, Gillian Webster, Jeremy ... |
Andrea Chenier
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Placido Domingo, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Giorgio ... |
Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Deon van der Walt, Inga ... |
Romeo and Juliette
Price: £29.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Roberto Alagna, Leontina Vaduva, Francois ... |
Mitridate, re di Ponto
Price: £29.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Cast: Bruce Ford, Jochen Kowalsky, Ann Murray, Luba ... |
Die Zauberflote
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Simon Keenlyside, Dorothea Roschmann, Will ... |
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Placido Domingo, Luciana Serra, Agnes ... |
La Boheme
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Ileana Cotrubas, Neil Shicoff, Marilyn ... |
La Fanciulla del West
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast : Placido Domingo, Carol Neblett, ... |
Tosca
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Film by Benoit Jacquot Cast: Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero ... |
Manon Lescaut
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, ... |
Samson et Dalila
Price: £19.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Jon Vickers, John Tomlinson, Maldwyn ... |
Die Fledermaus
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn ... |
Die Fledermaus
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Kiri Te Kanawa, Hermann Prey, ... |
Der Rosenkavalier
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Kiri Te Kanawa, Anne Howells, ... |
Salome
Price: £22.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Catherine Malfitano, Bryn Terfel, Kenneth ... |
Don Carlo
Price: £19.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Luis Lima, Ileana Cotrubas, Giogio ... |
Aida
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Cheryl Studer, Luciana d'Intino, Dennis ... |
Un ballo in Maschera
Price: £27.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Giuseppe Verdi Cast: Plácido Domingo, ... |
Falstaff
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Bryn Terfel, Roberto Frontali, Kenneth ... |
Otello
Price: £27.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, ... |
Rigoletto
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast Includes: Marcelo Alvarez, Peter Auty, ... |
Stiffelio
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Giuseppe Verdi Cast: Gwynne Howell, José ... |
La Traviata
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast Includes: Angela Gheorghiu, Frank Lopardo, ... |
Il Trovatore
Price: £24.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) A Royal Opera House Production Cast: Jose Cura, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Yvonne ... |
Maria Callas
Price: £19.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) Maria Callas at Covent Garden 1962 and 1964. Includes: Don Carlo, ... |
Gold and Silver Gala
Price: £19.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) Gold and Silver Gala with Placido Domingo. Including: Roberto Alagna, ... |
Angela Gheorghiu
Price: £19.99 (Including VAT at 17.5%) Live from Covent Garden Music by Handle, Mozart, Massenet, Charpentier, Puccini, ... |
