What Region DVD do we buy?
 

I've never bought a DVD on ebay before, and the ones for the film I want to buy right now say Region 1 DVD or Region 3 DVD.

Stupid question time: Which ones work on American DVD players?

Region 1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
Region 2: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
Region 3: Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5: Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
Region 6: China
Region 7: Reserved
Region 8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)

Thanks man. I ASSumed we were Region 1, hence why I asked.

Region 0 = Region Free (Plays on all DVD players ;)

There really isn't anything such as "Region 0." Its a myth because some DVDs are produced without regional encoding. This is so that DVD players won't block the playing of these titles, however there are some DVD players that will not play these "Region 0" DVDs because the correct flag isn't there.

The only way to ensure that a DVD player can play all regions is to buy a region free DVD player. They are available in Hong Kong (and many of these units are imported, gray market, into the US.) Also, many players can be hacked to be region free.

If you want to try to hack your current machine, check your owner's manual (or better yet, check the owners manual posted on the manufacturers website) - on my polaroid portable dvd player, it listed how to do it for anyone to see. just a simple code with the remote.

it's not a myth. I took a couple dvds of mine and backed them up without any region codes. Region free means it will play on all 8 regions. I haven't had a dvd player that wouldn't play region free dvds, but I'm guessing they are older models that require a region code.

Don't worry, soon there will be Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats coming out, so the rules will change again.

just checked the web:

"However, the regional coding system is entirely optional and discs without Regional Codes will play on any player in any country."

http://www.sendit.com/help/help_dvd_regions

I was in the AV industry for 9 years, and sold region free DVD players. I worked at a high end AV store in Manhattan where I spoke with industry executives (on the software and hardware side) on a regular basis.

"Region 0" is not part of the DVD spec. It doesn't exist. What you are talking about is a coined term for a loophole that usually works with DVDs that don't have regional encoding.

As fas as HD-DVD goes, that has been technically possible since the first day that DVD players hit the market. It hasn't happened yet because of Hollywood's paranoia about piracy. No one really knows when it will happen. DVD is the most popular format in the history of consumer electronics. Everyone is making money on it. Don't hold your breath for HD-DVD to come out anytime with a real software title base. The incentive isn't there.

I know there isn't an official "region 0" code, but it is used on the web frequently to describe a region free dvd. Regardless, call it a region free dvd if it sounds better to you. The point is that they do exist and should work on any dvd player like the link describes.

Any news on any other standards, or do you think they'll just stick with the current format? I don't know anyone in the industry so it sounds like you would have more knowledge on this...

On the subject of HD-DVD, I don't directly know anyone with decision making power on the subject. I do know people who have spoken to people about this.

The thinking goes like this. DVD was introduced in 1997, and to replace an 8 year old format now will allienate a lot of consumers. Everyone in the industry is making money with DVD. There will come the day when DVD player sales slow down, and DVD software sales growth also slows down. When that happens, look to see HD-DVD launched with full force. 2007 would be the absolute earliest, but no one thinks that it will happen that soon. 2012, or later is a better business target, but that could could be moved forward.

If cable companies introduce PPV HD, there will be an incentive to introduce HD-DVD. Also, if piracy of regular DVDs becomes widespread over the internet, HD-DVD could be introduced with extremely solid anti-piracy. One of the two main reasons (the other is that royalties fopr the format expired) why SACD and DVD-A were introduced is because CD has no real anti-piracy provisions.

Almost seven year bump for the win.

For the hard core movie buffs (I am describing the buffs, not the movies): What is the best way/where is the best place to purchase international DVDs and Blu-Rays? I am getting myself a region-free (or multi-region, if you will) DVD/Blu-Ray for myself for Christmakwanzaakuhwali.

Holy thread bumps, Batman!

I don't have an answer to your question; but, for a second there, I thought DeltaSigStan had come back.

.....Kelly :)

I get mine from amazon UK