by Brother Munro on Wed Jan 12, 2005 2:42 pm
DVD's are encoded with a 'region', presumably to stop piracy, but with multiregion players (and multiregion discs) its become more of an irritation, especially to those who want DVD's that are only out in America. The regions are:
1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
2: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt) (Us)
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 (Not including Hong Kong = weird)
7: Reserved (God knows who for)
8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)
0: Will play in any region player
A Multiregion player will play all of these discs, in theory. Beware of dodgy DVD's from Singapore that don't work!