"I live in Brazil. I took some DVDs bought from Brazil when I travelled to U.K. I couldn't play these DVD on the DVD player! Is there any problem of my DVD discs? My friend Amy says it is DVD regions issue. But what are DVD regions? How to make region code free?" - Amanda
Although Blu-ray and internet streaming are taking a big bite out of DVD, but many movie enthusiasts still like DVD discs, as they can bring different experiences of playback. But many people may encounter the problem like Amanda's.
DVD Regions
What are DVD regions? DVD players and DVDs are labeled for operation on within a particular geographical regions in the DVD world. In the DVD world, there are six main geographical regions, as well as two additional regions reserved for special purpose.
Region code | Countries |
---|---|
Free | Informal term meaning "worldwide". Region 0 is not an official setting; discs that bear the region 0 symbol either have no flag set or have regions 1–6 flags set. Region 0 is commonly referred to as "Region Free", especially when talking about DVD and Blu-ray Disc players. But the formats of NTSC and PAL can be a factor in this. |
0 | |
1 | United States, Canada, U.S. territories, Bermuda |
2 | Europe (except Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan), Egypt, Middle East, Japan, South Africa, Greenland, French Guiana |
3 | Southeast Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau |
4 | Latin America (except French Guiana), New Zealand, Australia, Caribbean, Oceania |
5 | South Asia, Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Africa (except Egypt, South Africa), Central Asia, Mongolia, North Korea |
6 | Mainland China |
7 | Reserved for future use, MPAA-related DVDs and "media copies" of pre-releases in Asia |
8 | International venues such as aircraft, cruise ships, spacecraft, etc. |
9 | These region discs have all eight flags set, allowing the disc to be played in any location, on any player. |
ALL |
The region code is able to maximize movie studio's profits via theatrical releases and DVDs as DVD region code can protect the copyright and prevent from illegal copy.
But DVD region code is not welcome. It can bring the inconvenience like Amanda's. And region code has become an obstacle of movie industry growth.
To better enjoy DVD playback, you may want to remove or bypass the DVD region code. Next two parts will get it down.
How to make region code free? Adopting a DVD region code remover, you can not only bypass the region code from DVD, but also rip the DVD media content to video. In this case, you can free download Video Converter Ultimate, and easily rip DVD to video without region code limitation.
Step 1 Launch this great DVD region remover on your Windows PC or Mac. Insert your DVD to the DVD drive and click the button of Load Disc from the program to add the movies from the DVD disc.
Step 2 Click the option of "Profile" and choose the video format to which you want to rip the DVD.
Step 3 Before removing the DVD region code, you can also edit your DVD movies.
Step 4 Finally, click the button of Convert and rip DVD to video without DVD region code limitation.
There are many region free DVD players. And here, we list three region free DVD player for you.
• Play Any Region DVD including regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 / RCE & REA
• PAL / NTSC Conversion Built In! No External Video Converter Needed
• Guaranteed to play any DVD on any TV
• VCD, MP3, DVD-r, DVD-rw, DVD+r, DVD+rw, JPEG, MP3 compatible
• HDMI 1080p - Divx - USB Input
• Play DVDs from all regions including 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 etc.
• Code free - Region Free - Multi region like all our players
• Built-in PAL to NTSC converter
• Super-slim chassis
• Ultra 128MB Pal/NTSC Video converter Built-in for best picture quality
• Upconvert through HDMI upto 1080p FULL HD
• Play Any Region DVD including regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 / RCE & REA
• Play any region DVD movie from anywhere in the world on any TV Guaranteed
• Ultra 64MB PalNTSC Video converter Built In for best picture quality
In this article, we mainly show you about DVD regions and its region code. In addition, we introduce you with Video Converter Ultimate to help you remove DVD region code and list some region free DVD players.