Free-Region DVD Players

So the Trivia Pursuit DVD game I bought in London and brought back for my family cannot be played on any of our DVD players. Europe is Region 2, USA is Region 1, so I get the blasted "Region Error" msg on the screen.

Region coding is the dirty little secret of DVD. The world is divided into six major geographical regions, with two additional regions for specialized use. This means that DVD players and DVDs are labeled for operation within a specific geographical region in the world.

The reason for the existence of region coding is to protect copyright and film distribution rights. Since movies are released in theaters in different parts of the world at different times, a summer blockbuster in the US will be a winter blockbuster in the UK. If that occurs, the DVD version of the movie may be out in the US while it is still showing in theaters overseas.

In the UK, many stores are selling free-region dvd players so you would be able to view movies bought in the US, Asia, and other countries. Because of the popularity of such code-free DVD players, Hollywood has instituted another layer of coding on Region 1 DVD's called RCE (Regional Coding Enhancement). This would prevent selected Region 1 DVD's from playing on code-free dvd players. Another hitch are the different video systems. In the US, NTSC is the preferred method. In Europe, it is the PAL. Thus, customers in Europe own multi-system TVs that can view DVD's in either NTSC or PAL.

The best solution is to release films and videos at the same time everywhere. There have been a few cases where Harry Potter opened in both the US and UK at the same time. For Lord of the Rings, it opened at the same time in several countries. But in the end, opening it at the same time for everyone is the best result for the consumer. This would eliminate the need for region coding.

While movie and video companies believe that region coding protects them, it is just a pain for the consumer. I have to play the Trivia Pursuit DVD on my computer since I have a region-free software so we can enjoy the game. Since I travel quite a lot, I own a free-region DVD player, so by the time I get back to the states, I wouldn't have to worry about buying a DVD player for Region 1 and another for Region 2. Plus, I wouldn't have to worry about buying a NTSC or PAL player either. Some DVD programs on PC give you a certain number of tries to select your region, then it stays permanent. Fortunately, you can find many applications out there that can break it, or find a DVD player program that plays any region DVD you may have.

The only groups that are benefiting from this are the movie studios and the marketers of Code-Free DVD players since they are providing a way to get around the region coding. I am sure that if region coding is eliminated, then I wouldn't have to worry to buy a third-party free-region dvd player.