DVD Regions
 

My sister has sent me 3 DVD's from Australia, all of them region 4. My DVD, region 2, plays 2 of them but not the third. Can't find anything on the DVD cover that will differentiate between what will play and what won't.

I can play them on my pc, but prefer the big telly downstairs! My next DVD player will hopefully be a multi-region one, if such a beast exists, but can anyone suggest how to tell which ones I can play or is it just luck?

I'm going to have to revise my Christmas list!!

Ah, the region story again.

Thing to note R/O is that every DVD player is built to play every region of DVD - then adjusted to prohibit the viewing of (usually) the five regions that the player is NOT sold in.

However, the greater mass of machines will have a "software hack" that you can try to program into your DVD by means of a specific series of button pushes on the remote control.

I've just made one of my players region free by turning the machine on, ensure no disc in the drive, close the drawer, enter a code to get a (usually invisible) setup menu then enter the number 1397. Job done.

You need to enter the specific make and model of the player into a google search and all will, usually, be revealed. What make is it?

Since all these workaround tweaks are so well known, it makes me wonder why they persist in producing region specific kit at retail.

I agree Frostbite. We make/release indie DVD's -all region (i.e. region free) - and sans copy-protection - both are easily cracked by the pirates within a day or so of any changes/strengthening of the code, and it's just not worth it - certainly not worth alienating the bulk of the genuine users.

Just a note on setting codes into DVD players to make them region free - make sure you follow the instructions very carefully, or else you could end with a player that will not play any regions at all!

I said, "What make is it?".

Have a look in here - loads of hacks and help pages, some hacks are similar across model ranges and/or search the web for links.
multi-region hacks

Try www.rpc1.org. They've been my source for removing region coding for 6 yrs or so.

Thanks for the replies people, have been away for a couple of days. It is a Panasonic, about 4 years old. Will look on t'internet, and if I break it will get the 19.99 job from Currys!!