JayTee Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Hi there, do any of you guys on here know where I can buy DCI & DCA dvds that play in the UK ie region 2? I've looked on the official websites and not had any luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Don't know where you can get the DVDs you are looking for, but you might be better off buying and installing a DVD-ROM drive in your computer and setting it for Region I (or whatever US is) - I think you can change those settings 3-4 times before it locks you out, but it's probably a cheaper solution to have a dedicated US DVD drive than to track down and purchase a subset of a specialty set of DVDs that may or may not even exist... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamarag Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Are DCI and DCA dvds region coded? I didn't think they were... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Matczak Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Are DCI and DCA dvds region coded? I didn't think they were... I don't even know what that means? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovindrumcorps Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 I don't even know what that means? I wondered the same thing. But a littel snooping on google, I found this: Most DVD movies contain a region code, denoting which area of the world it is targeted at. The commercial DVD-video player specifications dictates that players must only play discs that contain their region code. This allows the film studios to set different retail prices in different markets and extract the maximum possible price from consumers. With region coding, studios can dictate release schedules and prices around the world. However, many DVD players allow playback of any disc, or can be modified to do so. These players are called region-free players, and some shops sell players that are hacked directly, others sell players that can be de-zoned with a couple of clicks. So, to answer the question: No, by default your UK-bought DVD player will not play DVDs from outside your region (UK being in DVD Region 2, which includes Western Europe, Greenland, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Japan, Egypt, and the Middle East). However, browsing the net a bit should reveal whether the player you own can be made region-free, or you can consider purchasing a player that will play all zones. Additional notes: European Region 2 DVDs may be sub-coded D1 through D4. "D1" identifies a UK-only release. "D2" and "D3" identify European DVDs that are not sold in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. "D4" identifies DVDs that are distributed throughout Europe. A player set to play Region 2 discs should be able to play all sub-regions by default. Region 0 designates no actual region, but it is used as shorthand for a disc meant to be playable on all players. On such a disc, the actual region coding is R1/2/3/4/5/6. In the early days, region 0 players were created that would allow any region disc to be played in them, but studios responded by adjusting some regioned discs to refuse to play if the player was determined 0 (since no player should anyway). This system is known as Regional Coding Enhancement or just RCE. Buying a "Region 0" player may therefore not be a wise investment, but saying that, I set my LG DVD player to region 0 years ago and have had no subsequent problems with playing any discs (I own hundreds of Region 1 and 2-coded discs) Since the OP was coming from someone from the UK, it seemed appropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Interesting... knew there was the US/Europe problem with VHS because of the different players but not DVDs. Problem with VHS is because of the different voltage(?) used on both sides of the pond (think US 120 - Eur 220). LOL years ago bought a VHS tape of "The Body Guard" with Icelandic subtitles at the airport in Keflavic, Iceland to use up the rest of my Icelandic kroner. Cost me more to have the #### thing converted so I could play it than it did to buy the orignal tape. Sounds like DVDs are who nutter ballgame.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 (edited) I don't even know what that means? To retain some semblance of control, in regards to release dates, marketing, and such, most commercial DVD's (and console games) are encoded with a region setting. DVD players sold in a particular region (US, UK, India, China, etc.) will only read DVD's that are encoded with their own region setting. Some players can play multi-region discs, but you pay quite a bit more for those (licensing fees and such to the DVD alliance). Most DVD-ROM drives for computers are sold world-wide, so when you install a new one, it either has a default setting that you can change, or you have to determine at setup what region you want to set it as. Some DVD players can actually be hacked by simply holding down some combination of buttons while powering on - like the DVD-ROM drives, they are designed to be sold worldwide. Do a google search on your model and "hack" - that should bring up some advice (probably voids some warranties...). *-edit-* looks like I was slow on the typing - better explanation 2 posts up... Edited January 28, 2010 by nukeme70 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayTee Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 Thanks for the replies & input guys Problem now sorted - DCI have emailed me to say that all their DVDs are region free & so will play on any player!! I'm off now to raid my piggy-bank & place an order! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 Thanks for the replies & input guys Problem now sorted - DCI have emailed me to say that all their DVDs are region free & so will play on any player!! I'm off now to raid my piggy-bank & place an order! More intersting stuff.... anyone have any idea how DCI can have region free DVDs? I'm thinking the legalities involved, not the technical side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danielle Posted January 28, 2010 Share Posted January 28, 2010 If you read the posts above, region-coding is more for film companies to price and promote differently through out the world, not legal aspects for the most part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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