What does a DVD Region Code (i.e. R1, Region 1) mean?
The idea behind Region Codes for DVD movies was created to control the exportation of movies to other countries, thus eliminating the possibility of purchasing a DVD movie which has yet to be played at a local movie theatre.
- For example: standard DVD players purchased in the U.S. or Canada will only play DVDs that specify they are REGION 1 dvds; standard DVD players purchased in New Zealand will only play DVDs that specify they are REGION 4 DVDs.
- For example: Region 4 DVDs WON'T PLAY in a standard Region 1 DVD player; Region 1 DVDs WON'T PLAY in a standard Region 4 DVD player.
- U.S.A. and CANADA share the SAME REGION CODE: Region 1. An R1 dvd purchased in Canada is exactly the same as an R1 dvd purchased in the U.S., and vice versa.
Here is a list of DVD Regions and their corresponding countries:
- R0 Region 0 ~ Playable to all
Whereas most DVDs sold for home entertainment purposes are "region coded", region 0 DVDs are unrestricted and unencoded discs that are playable on (most) DVD players worldwide (however not all players/TVs play/display NTSC or PAL discs (they'll play at least one of the two standards) and this should be verified).
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 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.
- R1 Region 1 ~ U.S.A., U.S. Territories and Canada
- R2 Region 2 ~ Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
- R3 Region 3 ~ Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong
- R4 Region 4 ~ Mexico, South and Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
- R5 Region 5 ~ Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Africa (excluding South Africa), North Korea, Mongolia
- R6 Region 6 ~ China
- R7 Region 7~ RESERVED Channel
And known as Hardware rather than Software
- R8 Region 8~ IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT / Cruise ships
DVDs are also formatted for use on two conflicting regional television systems: 480i/60 Hz and 576i/50 Hz, which in analog contexts are often referred to as 525/60 (NTSC) and 625/50
(PAL/SECAM) respectively. Strictly speaking, PAL and SECAM are analog color television signal formats which have no relevance in the digital domain (as evident in the conflation of PAL and SECAM, which are actually two distinct analog color systems). However, the DVD system was originally designed to encode the information necessary to reproduce signals in these formats, and the terms continue to be used (incorrectly) as a method of identifying refresh rates and vertical resolution. However, an "NTSC", "PAL" or "SECAM" DVD player that has one or more analog composite video output (baseband or modulated) will only produce NTSC, PAL or SECAM signals, respectively, from those outputs, and may only play DVDs identified with the corresponding format.
NTSC is the analog TV format historically associated with the United States, Canada, Japan,
S. Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, and other countries. PAL is the analog color TV format historically associated with most of Europe, most of Africa, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, North Korea, and other countries (and Brazil, but using the refresh rate and resolution commonly associated with NTSC). SECAM, while using the same resolution and refresh rate as PAL, is a distinct format which uses a very different system of color encoding. Some DVD players can only play discs identified as NTSC, PAL or SECAM, while others can play multiple standards.
In general, it is easier for consumers in PAL/SECAM countries to view NTSC DVDs than vice versa. Almost all DVD players sold in PAL/SECAM countries are capable of playing both kinds of discs, and most modern PAL TVs can handle the converted signalHowever, most NTSC players cannot play PAL discs, and most NTSC TVs do not accept 576i video signals as used on PAL/SECAM DVDs. Those in NTSC countries, such as the U.S generally require both a region-free, multi-standard player and a multi-standard television to view PAL discs, or a converter box, whereas those in PAL countries generally require only a region-free player to view NTSC discs. There are also differences in pixel aspect ratio (720 × 480 vs. 720 × 576 with the same image aspect ratio) and display frame rate (29.97 vs. 25). Again, NTSC discs can be played on most DVD systems worldwide. While PAL discs play on very few players outside of PAL/SECAM countries.
No comments:
Post a Comment