A method by which DVD playback is restricted by geographic region. The DVD regions are defined as: Region 1 (United States of America, Canada); Region 2 (Europe, including France, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, South Africa); Region 3 (Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Indonesia); Region 4 (Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Caribbean, South America); Region 5 (India, Africa, Russia and former USSR countries); and Region 6 (Peoples Republic of China).
A method that restricts DVD playback by geographic region. The world has been divided into 6 regions to maintain control of distribution and revenue. For example, DVD discs and DVD players sold in the United States and Canada are usually coded for Region 1. A Region 2 disc from Japan will not play on a Region 1 player, unless that player has been specially modified to do so.
Region code - the software protection used on DVD discs to prevent unauthorized playback of the discs made in one country to be played in another country. Most DVD-ROM drives let you change the region code a few times, usually between 0 and 5. Once a drive has reached the limit it can't be changed again unless the vendor or manufacturer resets the drive. This limitation cannot be overridden. There are 7 regions: (1) Canada, U.S., US Territories, Japan; (2) Europe, South Africa, Middle East (including Egypt); (3) Southeast Asia, East Asia (including Hong Kong); (4) Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, Caribbean; (5) Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa (also North Korea, Mongolia); (6) China and (7) Transcontinental - used for watching DVD movies onboard the planes, ships and so forth.
Used in DVD players to only allow DVDs encoded for use in one of the six world regions to be played, as set up by the major motion picture companies.
To limit global copyright issues, the globe was divided into six DVD coding regions. These codes prevent DVDs from functioning in a DVD player not programmed for that region.
Coding hard-wired into DVD players to ensure that a DVD can only be played in one of six different world regions: Region 1: United States of America, Canada Region 2: Europe, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, Japan and South Africa Region 3: Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo and Indonesia Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America Region 5: India, Africa, Russia and the former USSR countries Region 6: People’s Republic of China A multi-region DVD player may allow you to play movies from different regions, but the difference in frame rates (NTSC 29.97 fps, PAL/SECAM 25 fps) means an adapter might be needed to make the DVD viewable.