On 21 Oct 99, 14:47, Russel Oberio wrote:
> I just bought a sony DVD player model DVP-M30.
> This product is made in Japan and the default regional
> setting for the DVD ROM is Region 2 (ROM's for Japan only).
> My problem is I cannot play DVD ROM with Region 1 format (such
> as those from US).
>
> Anyone here knows where I can find the patch for the player
> to support multi region or region 1 specifically.
Taken from the DVD FAQ:
http://www.videodiscovery.com/vdyweb/dvd/dvdfaq.html
---begin excerpt---
1.10] What are "regional codes," "country codes," or "zone locks"?
Motion picture studios want to control the home release of movies in
different countries because theater releases aren't simultaneous (a
movie may come out on video in the U.S. when it's just hitting screens
in Europe). Also, studios sell distribution rights to different foreign
distributors and would like to guarantee an exclusive market. Therefore
they have required that the DVD standard include codes that can be used
to prevent playback of certain discs in certain geographical regions.
Each player is given a code for the region in which it's sold. The
player will refuse to play discs that are not allowed in that region.
This means that discs bought in one country may not play on players
bought in another country.
Regional codes are entirely optional for the maker of a disc. Discs
without codes will play on any player in any country. It's not an
encryption system, it's just one byte of information on the disc that
the player checks. Some studios originally announced that only their
new releases will have regional codes, but so far almost all releases
play in only one region. Region codes are a permanent part of the disc,
they won't "unlock" after a period of time.
There are 8 regions (also called "locales"). Players and discs are
identified by the region number superimposed on a world globe. If a
disc plays in more than one region it will have more than one number on
the globe.
1: Canada, U.S., U.S. Territories
2: Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East (including Egypt)
3: Southeast Asia, East Asia (including Hong Kong)
4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico,
South America, Caribbean
5: Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa (also North Korea,
Mongolia)
6: China
7: Reserved
8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)
(See the map at <http://www.unik.no/~robert/hifi/dvd/world.html>.)
Some players can be modified to play discs regardless of their regional
codes. This usually voids the warranty. Some discs, such as those from
Buena Vista/Touchstone/Miramax, MGM/Universal, and Polygram contain
program code that checks for the proper region. These "smart discs"
won't play on code-free players that have their region set to 0, but
they can be played on code-switchable players that allow you to change
the region using the remote control. They may also not work on "auto-
switching" players that recognize and match the disc region.
Information about modifying players can be found on the Internet
(including sites such as Code Free DVD, PlanetDVD, and
<http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/video/dvd/>) and in the rec.video.dvd
newsgroups (searchable at Deja News).
Regional codes also apply to DVD-ROM systems, but are allowed for use
only with DVD-Video discs, not DVD-ROM discs containing computer
software. (See 1.11 below for more details). Computer playback systems
check for regional codes before playing movies from a DVD-Video. Newer
"RPC2" DVD-ROM drives let you change the region code several times.
Once a drive has reached the limit (usually 5 changes) it can't be
changed again unless the vendor or manufacturer resets it. Information
and software for circumventing DVD-ROM region restrictions is available
from Internet sites such as Visual Domain.
Regional codes do not apply to DVD-Audio.
---end---
Hope that helps.
Alan
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
