DVD question

[Czas na Zywiec]

I'm not the brightest crayon in the box when it comes to the subject of DVDs, so this might sound like a stupid question. I'm on this one website and there's a few DVD's I'd like to order, but the thing is it's a website specializing in European music/movies. They do a lot of their business in the states and they have deals going on like free shipping in the US if the order is like over $100, but I don't know if I have the correct specifications for my DVD player. (I know video tapes from Europe don't work in our VCR's, and vice versa, so that's why I was wondeirng) Here's what it says.

Encoding: Region 0
Format: DVD
Video Format: NTSC

Will that play on my DVD player here in the states?

[Brian]

Region 0 encoding means it's playable on any DVD player around the world so it should work. Since it's also NTSC, it will play in all North American DVD players as well.

[AKA]

Yeah. Region 0 means there's no region encoding (so it plays on all DVD players), and NTSC is the video format used in the United States and Japan. It should be just fine.

[Czas na Zywiec]

Thanks! I just wanted to be sure before I ordered a bunch of DVDs and later find out they won't work in my player.

[dawsongirl]

In order to view regions 2-6, you'd need a multi-region DVD player with a built in PAL->NTSC converter. I just bought one so I could buy DVDs from the UK.

[Czas na Zywiec]

Originally posted by dawsongirl
In order to view regions 2-6, you'd need a multi-region DVD player with a built in PAL->NTSC converter. I just bought one so I could buy DVDs from the UK.

Just out of curiosity, what are all the regions? For example, is region 1 just the states or is it all of North Amerca?

[AKA]

Originally posted by Czas na Zywiec
Just out of curiosity, what are all the regions? For example, is region 1 just the states or is it all of North Amerca?

Region 1: United States and Canada
Region 2: Japan, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East
Region 3: Southeast Asia and East Asia
Region 4: Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands
Region 5: Indian Subcontinent, Former Soviet Union and Africa
Region 6: China

[PZelda]

Originally posted by Czas na Zywiec
Just out of curiosity, what are all the regions? For example, is region 1 just the states or is it all of North Amerca?

REGION 1 -- USA, Canada
REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 -- S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 -- China
REGION 0 or REGION ALL -- Discs are uncoded and can be played Worldwide, however, PAL discs must be played in a PAL-compatible unit and NTSC discs must be played in an NTSC-compatible unit

Originally posted by AKA
Region 1: United States and Canada
Region 2: Japan, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East
Region 3: Southeast Asia and East Asia
Region 4: Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands
Region 5: Indian Subcontinent, Former Soviet Union and Africa
Region 6: China

Damn, you beat me to it

[Czas na Zywiec]

Originally posted by AKA
Region 1: United States and Canada
Region 2: Japan, Europe, South Africa and the Middle East
Region 3: Southeast Asia and East Asia
Region 4: Australia, New Zealand and some Pacific Islands
Region 5: Indian Subcontinent, Former Soviet Union and Africa
Region 6: China

Oh, so countries like...Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc., would be under region 5 instead of region 2? Interesting...

[AKA]

Originally posted by Czas na Zywiec
Oh, so countries like...Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc., would be under region 5 instead of region 2? Interesting...

Yeah, that's how I understand it.

[Czas na Zywiec]

Originally posted by AKA
Yeah, that's how I understand it.

Hmm. Funny how CDs are pretty much universal while there's all these different regions for DVDs. Is that because you have different amounts of volts or whatever you call those in outlets and electricity in the different parts of the word? Cause cassettes are pretty much universal too, but video tapes aren't.

[AKA]

Originally posted by Czas na Zywiec
Hmm. Funny how CDs are pretty much universal while there's all these different regions for DVDs.

I guess it has to do with theatrical releases.

Movie studios in Europe, for example, don't want their consumers importing, say, a region 1 DVD of an American film that's still playing in theatres in there.

[dawsongirl]

I also think it has something to do with the video standard they use. NTSC, which we use here, was first. Then Europe improved on it and created PAL. Then the French improved on that and made SECAM. So because everyone seems set in their ways and not willing to use a universal video standard, they'll always be split.

And since CDs are just audio, there's no problem.

[vashti1999]

I assumed I had two multi-region dvd players, without really checking first, just assumed they both had the capability. Ordered online a region 4 dvd of City of God because it has more bonus stuff than the American dvd. Turns out a region "all" player will play region "all" dvds, not necessarily a disc labeled region 4. Now I've got a region 4 dvd waiting for a region 4 player.