Foreign DVDs - need special player?
Mar 4th, 2006, 10:11 AM
#21
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If it's anything like the UK just pop into somewhere like Wal-Mart and buy their cheapest dVD player as virtually all of them are All-Region straight out of the box and unless your TV is very old there should be no problem with PAL/NTSC either
Mar 4th, 2006, 12:48 PM
#22
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Thanks for all the info. I don't have any French market DVDs but was going to buy some if I could play them but guess I won't. Just have to make do with what French movies I can rent on Netflix. Someone recommended Les Bronzes which Netflix doesn't have.
Mar 4th, 2006, 12:54 PM
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Seeking enlightenment, I consulted Wikipedia under "DVD". Unless you really get off on technobabble I don't recommend doing likewise - that way lies madness.
I did however discover that "the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned that DVD-Video players that enforce region coding may violate the Trade Practices Act" and that "the government of New Zealand has ruled similarly".
This may or may not explain why region coding is routinely disabled by Australian vendors. Another reason may be the large number of pirated disks bought by Australians when visiting Asian countries. Sadly, the US$0.75 disks I bought in China typically only survive a few playings before the sound and vision go out of synch and scenes freeze. Now I'm told that if you want high-quality disks you have to pay $1.50. Curse my Scots heritage.
I did however discover that "the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has warned that DVD-Video players that enforce region coding may violate the Trade Practices Act" and that "the government of New Zealand has ruled similarly".
This may or may not explain why region coding is routinely disabled by Australian vendors. Another reason may be the large number of pirated disks bought by Australians when visiting Asian countries. Sadly, the US$0.75 disks I bought in China typically only survive a few playings before the sound and vision go out of synch and scenes freeze. Now I'm told that if you want high-quality disks you have to pay $1.50. Curse my Scots heritage.
Mar 4th, 2006, 03:31 PM
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The main reason Australians disable regional encoding may be the smaller selection of DVDs for their region.
The vast majority of DVDs come out in region 1 (USA), perhaps because that's where the vast majority of movies are made (I presume, and excluding Bollywood, of course). I know that's why region 1 DVDs are popular in Europe—a lot of movies are never released in any other region.
France will continue to broadcast over the air in SECAM until about 2010, if there is still anyone left by then watching over-the-air analog broadcasts.
The vast majority of DVDs come out in region 1 (USA), perhaps because that's where the vast majority of movies are made (I presume, and excluding Bollywood, of course). I know that's why region 1 DVDs are popular in Europe—a lot of movies are never released in any other region.
France will continue to broadcast over the air in SECAM until about 2010, if there is still anyone left by then watching over-the-air analog broadcasts.
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