Can my DVD player, play Region 1 DVD's?

[Icyculyr]

Hi, I have a TV I'm not sure if it's PAL-only or not, but my DVD player has a mode to run NTSC (American DVDs) on PAL-only TV's, I'm confused though about Region Codes, In Australia you need Region 4 DVDs, but I'm wondering if the region code just means NTSC IE, Region 4 means PAL, Region 1 means NTSC, or something like that?

Because I want to buy DVD's from America, that the only information they give is Region 1 (US, CA).

Does anyone have any idea?

Cheers
Icyculyr

[grilkip]

Hi, I have a TV I'm not sure if it's PAL-only or not, but my DVD player has a mode to run NTSC (American DVDs) on PAL-only TV's, I'm confused though about Region Codes, In Australia you need Region 4 DVDs, but I'm wondering if the region code just means NTSC IE, Region 4 means PAL, Region 1 means NTSC, or something like that?

Because I want to buy DVD's from America, that the only information they give is Region 1 (US, CA).

Does anyone have any idea?

Cheers
Icyculyr

Sorry, it doesn't work that way. If your DVD player doesn't explicitly state that it can play all regions 'region free' then you should assume that it can't. NTSC vs PAL are simply analog standards regarding number of scanlines, frames per second etcetera.

That last bit might be worth investigating though, a conversion between 30 fps (NTSC) and 25 fps (PAL) might not be so seamless. It's better than the other way around, but still. I have no experience with this.

[dclamp]

you know, there is a reason for the Region numbers, it is so that you cant play DVD's out of your region. Why not just buy the DVDs from Aus?

[schoolbusdriver]

you know, there is a reason for the Region numbers, it is so that you cant play DVD's out of your region....

Humph ! Don't you mean "so that hollywood can rip-off even more people"

Try googling for something like "region free unlock code intructions" together with the make and model of your player.

We used to have similar issues in the UK until the smarter manufacturers realised they could sell more players by setting them up initially for the UK, then providing the instructions and codes to make them region free. Sometimes the instructions are provided as an addendum in the retail box, or they're published on the net. Firms that try to sell region locked players in the UK are commiting commercial suicide.

AFAIK, most players are inherently region free. The region is programmed for the target country during manufacture. Playback quality via-a-vis frame rates etc. with respect to the source disc and target equipment isn't an issue - DVD players and TVs are more sophisticated than you think.

(It would be the height of stupidty for the region to be non-programmable - people make mistakes, contracts get cancelled etc, etc.....)

[BillGeek]

I've had a similar problem when I wanted to buy the whole Star Trek - Next Generation DVD's. I could buy them on amazon from the UK, but they would've cost more (almost double) than buying them directly from the startrek site. Problem? The site only offers the DVD's in Region 1. (I think that's the USA, right?) So now I'll just have to live without it.