Advantages of Code Free DVD Players

Code free DVD players, also known as region code free DVD players, allow you to watch DVDs that were released in any region across the world. Region codes were an effort by the major movie studios to cut down on piracy while allowing studios to release movies to different markets at different times. The DVDs are recorded with specific coding that will only play on a DVD player that has the same coding. For the consumer, especially the consumer who travels, that means that the DVD purchased on a visit to Japan will be useless when returning home because the DVD player would be unable to play it back.

The solution to the problem is a region free or code free DVD player – one that is not locked to playing only DVDs produced for release in the same region as the player. Region free DVD players were once extremely expensive, but in the past few years, prices have dropped considerably. You can now buy a code free DVD player that is no more expensive than a traditional region-locked DVD player.

DVD Region Codes

DVD coding divides the world into six regions:

-          Region 1: North America

-          Region 2: Western Europe and Japan

-          Region 3: Southeast Asia, including Hong Kong

-          Region 4: Australia and South America

-          Region 5: Russia and India

-          Region 6: Mainland China

Discs recorded for each region include software encoding, called Region Code Enhancement, or RCE. When you put a disc in the DVD player, the RCE on the disc checks the region on the player. If it doesn’t match, the disc won’t play. So, the disc you purchased online from a Japanese distributor has a good chance of not working in your U.S. made DVD.

Format

In addition to the region coding on DVDs and DVD players, different regions of the world also use different encoding formats when recording movies. DVDs recorded in North America, Japan and Hong Kong use the NTSC format. Europe, Russia and China use PAL coding. A disc recorded in one format won’t play on a DVD that plays the other format. To make things even more complicated, the television playing your DVD must also match the format, or you won’t get any picture. Again, there’s a solution—many region code free DVD players have a built-in converter that converts from one format to the other. If you’re purchasing a code free DVD player for use with a North American TV, be sure that the player includes a PAL to NTSC converter so that you’ll have access to all the features on the DVD.