DVD region code

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DVD Regions

DVD region codes are a DRM technique
designed to allow motion picture studios to
control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price,
according to the region. DVD video discs may be encoded with
a region code restricting the area of the world in which they can be
played.

The commercial DVD player specification
requires that a player to be sold in a given place not play discs encoded for a
different region, however region-free DVD players are also commercially
available.[1]
There are six different official regions and two informal variations. DVD discs
may use one code, a combination of codes (Multi-Region), most codes (Region 0)
or every code/no codes (Region All). In addition, many DVD players can be
modified to be region-free, allowing playback of all discs.[2]

Contents

1 Region codes and
countries

2 Region Code
Enhanced

3 Purpose

3.1 PAL/SECAM vs.
NTSC

4 Implementations of region
codes

4.1 Standalone DVD
players

4.2 Computer DVD
drives

4.3 Software DVD
players

4.4 DVD Discs

5 Blu-ray Disc Region
Codes

6 Criticism and Legal
Concerns

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

[edit]
Region codes and
countries

Region code

Area

0

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 region 1–6 flags set.

1

Canada,
United States; U.S.
territories; Bermuda

2

Europe
(except Russia, Ukraine and Belarus); Middle
East; Egypt; Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho; French
overseas territories; Greenland

3

Southeast Asia; South
Korea; Taiwan; Hong
Kong; Macau

4

Mexico;
Central and South America; Caribbean; Australia; New
Zealand; Oceania

5

Ukraine; Belarus; Russia; Africa (except Egypt, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho and
French
overseas territories); Central and South
Asia; Mongolia; North
Korea

6

People's
Republic of China; Hong Kong

7

Reserved for future use (found in use on protected screener copies of MPAA-related DVDs and "media
copies" of pre-releases in Asia)

8

International venues such as aircraft, cruise
ships, etc.[3]

ALL

Region ALL discs have all 8 flags set, allowing the disc to be played
in any locale on any player.

DVDs sold in the Baltic States use both
region 2 and 5 codes. DVDs sold in Japan use the region 2 code, while Macau and
Taiwan use the region 3 code. Hong Kong has historically used Region 3 and has
added region 6 since the reunification, now using both.
Region 0 (playable in
all regions, except 7/8) is widely used by China, and the Philippines. DVDs in
Latin
America with the Spanish use both the
region 1 and region 4 codes. Most DVDs in India combine the region 2, region 4,
and region 5 codes; Indian Disney discs
contain only the region 3 code.

European region 2 DVDs may be sub-coded "D1" to "D4". "D1" are United
Kingdom–only releases; "D2" and "D3" are not sold in the UK and Ireland; "D4" are
distributed throughout Europe.

Any combination of regions can be applied to a single disc. For example, a
DVD designated Region 2/4 is suitable for playback in Western Europe, Oceania,
and any other Region 2 or Region 4 area. So-called "Region 0" and "ALL" discs
are meant to be playable worldwide.

The term "Region 0" also describes the DVD players designed or modified to
incorporate Regions 1–6, thereby providing compatibility with most discs,
regardless of region. This apparent solution was popular in the early days of
the DVD format, but studios quickly responded by adjusting discs to refuse to
play in such machines. This system is known as "Regional Coding
Enhancement".[3]
In turn, Region Free players have all 8 flags set, similar to Region ALL DVDs.
Many also include RCE breaks, to skip repeating menus or bypass static
images.

[edit]
Region Code Enhanced

Also known as just "RCE" or "REA",[3]
this was a retroactive attempt to prevent the playing of one region's discs in
another region, even if the disc was played in a region free player. The scheme
was deployed on only a handful of discs. The disc contained the main program
material region coded as region 1. But it also contained a short video loop of a
map of the world showing the regions, which was coded as region 2, 3, 4, 5, and
6. The intention was that when the disc was played in a non-region 1 player, the
player would default to playing the material for its native region. This played
the aforementioned video loop of a map, which was impossible to escape from, as
the user controls were disabled.

However, it is easy to work around the scheme. A region-free player tries to
play a disc using the last region that worked with the previously inserted disc.
If it cannot play the disc, then it tries another region until one is found that
works. RCE could thus be defeated by briefly playing a "normal" region 1 disc,
and then inserting the RCE protected region 1 disc, which would now play. RCE
caused a few problems with genuine region 1 players.

As of 2007[update], many "multi-region" DVD players defeat regional
lockout and RCE by automatically identifying and matching a disc's region code
and/or allowing the user to manually select a particular region.[4][5]
Some manufacturers of DVD players now freely supply information on how to
disable regional lockout, and on some recent models, it appears to be disabled
by default.[6][7]
Programs such as DVD Shrink are also capable
of removing RCE protection, provided the operator knows what the region of the
disc actually is. If the region is specified correctly, the copy will play in
any region.

[edit]
Purpose

This section does not cite any
references or
sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable
sources. Unsourced material may be challenged
and removed.
(March 2009)

There are many purposes that region coding can achieve, but the primary one
is price
discrimination, i.e., allowing the manufacturer to demand a higher or lower
price depending on what the market will allow. There is great
disparity among the regions of the world in how much a person is willing to pay
for a DVD. Price discrimination is especially applicable to DVDs, as the marginal
cost of selling one DVD is relatively small, allowing the seller a great
deal of flexibility in pricing.

Another purpose is controlling release dates. One of the traditions of movie
marketing that the advent of home video threatened is the practice of releasing
a movie (to theaters) later in some countries than in others. Video tapes were
essentially regional anyway, since video tape formats had to match those of the
encoding system used by television stations in that particular region, such as
NTSC and PAL. DVDs are less restricted in
this sense, and region coding allows movie studios to better control the global
release dates DVDs.

[edit]
PAL/SECAM vs. NTSC

DVDs are also formatted for use on two conflicting regional television
systems: 525/60 (NTSC) or 625/50 (PAL/SECAM). NTSC is the TV format used in
Canada, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, United States, and other countries.
PAL is the TV format used in most of Europe, most of Africa, China, India,
Australia, New Zealand, Israel, North Korea, and other countries. Some DVD
players only play NTSC or PAL discs, while others can play both standards.[8]

In general, it is easier for consumers in PAL countries to view NTSC DVDs
than vice versa. Almost all DVD players sold in PAL countries play both kinds of
discs, and most modern PAL TVs can handle the converted signal. However, most
NTSC players can't play PAL discs, and most NTSC TVs don't work with PAL video.
Those in NTSC countries, such as in North America, generally require both a
multi-standard player and television to view PAL discs, or a converter box.
There are also differences in pixel aspect ratio (720x480 vs. 720x576), display
frame rate (29.97 vs. 25), and surround audio options (Dolby Digital vs. MPEG
audio). Again, NTSC discs (with Dolby Digital audio) play on over 95% of DVD
systems worldwide, while PAL discs play on very few players outside of PAL
countries.[9]

Most DVD PC software and hardware can play both NTSC and PAL video and both
audio standards.[10]

[edit]
Implementations of
region codes

[edit]
Standalone DVD
players

Usually a configuration flag is set in each player's firmware at the factory. This
flag holds the region number that the machine is allowed to play. Region-free
players are DVD players shipped without the ability to enforce regional lockout
(usually by means of a chip that ignores any region coding), or without this
flag set.

However, if the player is not region-free, it can often be unlocked with an
unlock code entered via the remote control. This code
simply allows the user to change the factory-set configuration flag to another
region, or to the special region "0". Once unlocked this way, the DVD player
allows the owner to watch DVDs from any region. Many websites exist on the
Internet offering these codes, often known informally as hacks. Many
websites provide instructions for different models of standalone DVD players, to
hack, and their factory codes.

[edit]
Computer DVD drives

Older DVD drives use RPC-1 ("Regional Playback
Control") firmware, which means the drive allows DVDs from any region to play.
Newer drives use RPC-2 firmware, which enforces the
DVD region coding at the hardware level. These drives can often be reflashed or
hacked with RPC-1 firmware, effectively making the drive region-free. However,
this usually voids the warranty.[11]

In most computer drives, users are allowed to change the region code (i.e.
change region code) up to five times.[12]
However, if the number of allowances reaches zero, the region last used will be
permanent even if the drive is transferred to another computer. This limit is
built into the drive's controller software, called firmware. Resetting the
firmware count can be done with first- or third-part software tools, or by
reflashing (see above) to RPC-1 firmware

[edit]
Software DVD players

Most freeware and open
source DVD players, such as VLC, ignore region
coding. Most commercial players are locked to a region code, but can be easily
changed with software.

Other software, known as DVD region killers, transparently remove (or hide)
the DVD region code from the software player. Some can also work around locked
RPC-2 firmware.

[edit]
DVD Discs

One can circumvent the region coding of a DVD disc by burning a copy that
adds flags for all region codes, creating an all-region DVD. DVD backup software
can do this, and can usually remove Macrovision, CSS, and disabled user
operations (UOPs) as well.

In common region-locked DVDs (not in RCE-DVDs), the region code is
stored in the file "VIDEO_TS.IFO" (table "VMGM_MAT"), byte offset 35 decimal
(23 hex).

A "really" region-free (for "pseudo-region-free," see below) or an
RCE-protected DVD has the value 0 / 00.

Here are the values of the Regions (decimal / hexadecimal):

"Pseudo-region-free" (Regions 1-6 are supported, but Region 7 and / or Region
8 are not):

R1-R6: 192 / C0, R1-R7: 128 / 80, and R1-R6+R8: 64 /
40,

Regions:

R1: 254 / FE, R2: 253 / FD, R3: 251 / FB, R4: 247
/ F7, R5: 239 / EF, R6: 223 / DF, R7: 191 / BF, and
R8: 127 / 7F

DVDs made for more than one Region have other values, e.g. a DVD for
Regions 1 and 4 has 246 / F6, one for Regions 2 and 4 has 245 / F5, one for
Regions 2 and 5 has 237 / ED.

The RCE protection can be hidden in all .IFO files. It is in one or several
PGC's as PRE-command.

[edit]
Blu-ray Disc Region
Codes

Main Article-Blu-ray Region
codes

Blu-ray Disc uses a much
simpler region code system than DVD with only 3 regions, labelled 'A', 'B' and
'C'.

Region A includes most North, Central and South American and Southeast
Asian countries plus Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.

Region B includes most European, African and southwest Asian countries
plus Australia and New Zealand.

Region C contains the remaining central and south Asian countries, as well
as China and Russia.

[edit]
Criticism and Legal
Concerns

Region code enforcement has been discussed as a possible violation of World Trade
Organization free trade agreements or competition law.[13]
The Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has warned that DVD players that
enforce region coding may violate their Trade Practices
Act.[14][15][16]
Under New
Zealand copyright law, DVD region codes and the mechanisms in DVD players to
enforce them have no legal protection.[17]
The practice has also been criticized by the European
Commission[18]
which is currently investigating whether the resulting price discrimination
amounts to a violation of EU competition law.[19]

The Washington Post has
highlighted how DVD region coding has been a major inconvenience for frequent
travelers, students of foreign languages, immigrants who want to watch films
from their homeland and foreign film enthusiasts.[20]
Another criticism is that region coding allows for local censorship. For
example, the Region 1 DVD of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes
Wide Shut contains the digital manipulations necessary for the film to
secure an MPAA R-rating, whereas these manipulations are not evident in
non-Region 1 discs.[21]

In March 2009, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown received a
"wrong region" message on a screen when attempting to watch a DVD set of classic
American movies received as a diplomatic gift from US President Barack
Obama.[22]
On Feb. 7, 2001, NASA
sent two multiregion DVD players to the International Space Station.[23]

[edit]
See also

Blu-ray Region
codes

Broadcast
television systems

DVD Copy
Control Association

Regional lockout

User operation
prohibition

[edit]
References

^ Breaking Down DVD Borders, Washington Post, June 1, 2001.

^ DVD FAQ: DVD utilities and region-free information

^ a
b
c
Regional Coding Enhancement FAQ from DVD Talk

^ RCE/REA Info

^ Regional Code Enhancement

^ "Cheap DVD players come at a cost". The Sydney
Morning Herald. 2007-05-28. http://www.smh.com.au/news/reviews/cheap-dvd-players-come-at-a-cost/2007/05/26/1179601725641.html. Retrieved 2007-08-22.

^ "The DVD doctors". The Tribal Mind (The Sydney
Morning Herald). 2005-03-30. http://www.smh.com.au/news/The-Tribal-Mind/The-DVD-doctors/2005/03/29/1111862384019.html. Retrieved 2007-08-22.

^ DVD FAQ: Is DVD Video a Worldwide Standard? Does it Work with
NTSC, PAL and SECAM?

^ DVD FAQ: Is DVD Video a Worldwide Standard? Does it Work with
NTSC, PAL and SECAM?

^ DVD FAQ: Is DVD Video a Worldwide Standard? Does it Work with
NTSC, PAL and SECAM?

^ Doom9 on RPC1.

^
"Rulemaking hearing: Exemptions from prohibitions on
circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted
works". 15 May 2003. pp. 287 line 18. http://www.copyright.gov/1201/2003/hearings/transcript-may15.pdf. Retrieved 1 June 2009.

^ Openlaw DVD FAQ

^ "Restricting DVD's illegal: ACCC" The Australian IT.
March 27, 2001. Retrieved May 11, 2006.

^ "Consumers in dark about DVD imports: ACCC".

^ "Difficulties between the pro-competitive community and
Intellectual Property" (note: open one of the attachments and search for
"RPC" to find the relevant section).

^ Copyright Act 1994 No 143 (as at 01 December 2008) section 226
part b.

^ Keeping Downward Pressure on Consumer Prices - EU Press
Release

^ Probes into Regional DVD Imperils Studio Strategy, Paul
Sweeting, Variety, June 3, 2001.

^ Breaking Down DVD Borders, Washington Post, June 1, 2001.

^ Closed Borders and Open Secrets: Regional Lockout, the Film
Industry and Code-Free DVD Players, Brian Hu, Mediascape: Journal of
Cinema and Media Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2

^
March 18, 2009 Gordon Brown is frustrated by 'Psycho' in No 10 Walker, Tim.
The Daily
Telegraph

^ http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.10 DVD FAQ: What
are "regional codes," "country codes" or "zone locks"?

[edit]
External links

DVD region information with regards to RCE from Home Theater
Info

Region Coding - Explanations & Help from The DVDCodes
Source

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code"

Categories: Digital
rights management | DVD | Self-censorship

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