Sleepyjack

We got out first proper DVD player (before it was just the DVD player in my brothers computer, which was a little unreliable) on the weekend.

Normally it's hardcoded to region 4, which is the Australian Region. However, my brother had a few DVD's that were from other regions and wouldn't play on the DVD player. However, it's a multiregional player, or plays most of the DVD's out there and we unlocked it witha code we got off the net (probably fucking the warranty, but we didn't really care).

Why then, do they need to have different regions? i thought the pupose of a format (DVD in this case) was to make it universal so it's good to go anywhere?

LINK

Why Did They Make Regions?

When studios initially release a movie in theaters, the first country to see it is usually America. Six months later, (more or less) theaters in Japan and Europe show their first screening, six months after that Asia, and so on following in the order of region codes. Meanwhile, 6-18 months after a studio releases a movie in America, the American DVD (region #1) is released for home viewing. What often ends of occurring, is that Americans and Canadians have the opportunity to own their own personal copy of a movie before someone in China can see it in a movie theater.

This in itself is not a big problem, where the problem lies is in the potential for cashing in on the time difference. With the explosion of the internet, people in America (if the codes were not implemented) could have bought American DVDs and sold them to people in China who in turn would not go to the theater to see the movie. This time lag, without region codes, would have meant tremendous box office losses (or lack of gains) in other countries.

Region codes also allow studios to sell their DVDs to match different market demands. In some countries, where per capita income is lower and consequently people have less disposable income, DVDs are priced less. Conversely, in America where people have more disposable income and where the demand for DVDs is greater the prices are higher.

Some would make the argument that “Since the studios can sell the DVDs for less in other countries, they are just gouging Americans.” And I would agree with that statement in part. But really folks, especially those who have not studied economics, if people are willing to pay a high price then why would you lower it? If people were willing to buy rocks from my backyard for $1000 a piece, heck I would sell them. I would make a killing. In economics, price plays a small part in determining cost.

I will admit that region codes are bad for the consumer, but from the standpoint of the studios, it is quite smart.

I've read this, and can see were they're coming from. With that though, why haven't they done the same thing with cd's or VHS? (aside from the fact that PAL and NTSC aren't interchangable anyway, that's a technological thing, not marketing)

I guess i am being a whiny customer/consumer at the moment, but does anyone else get a little pissed off about it. Although, the mentality, when more barriers or obstacles are put up, people may be more likely to rebel against it? ....or that could just be a load of crap

Also, how come America got Region 1?

JStrider

region 0 dvds are good! (regionless) ive got a handful of anime titles that are region 0

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Charlatan

The reason it wasn't done with VHS and CDs is that piracy wasn't the problem it is now when these platforms were first released.

CSflim

I really hate the idea of DVD regions.
It is just blatant anti-consumerism. The big companies want to ensure that they can keep control over the market, and it facilitates their blatant price fixing.

CDs and DVDs are all available for RIP-OFF prices here in Ireland.
As crazy as it seems, I can order CDs from America (Amazon.com etc) and PAY POSTAGE AND PACKAGING (something like $8 for first cd, and $3 for every extra cd), and PAY the exchange rate and STILL it is FAR cheaper than going to town and buying a CD there.

With DVD regions, this is much harder to do, as American DVDs are not compatible. So the rip-off culture in Ireland can continue thanks to price fixing and control. (€35 for a DVD? Fuck off!)

As it happens, with my brand spanking new multi-region player, I can ignore all of this nonsense, but this new "Enhanced Region Encoding" is worrying me. Again, no justification, just a blatant Fuck You to the consumer.

DVD regions are anti-consumer and anti-competition.

/rant

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strcrssd

I don't know if I'd call it anti-consumerism, because it is just explotation of the consumer...it does not stifle the consumer's throw-away culture or hurt the economy that has built up around it.

It is, however, a brilliant piece of marketing that is making the companies billions in revenue by being able to sell the very same product for different amounts in different areas of the world.

Same thing happens with textbooks... In the US, students pay double what european students pay.

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KungFuGuy

companies charge what people are willing to pay...

u could always jsut go down to chinatown and get all your regionless copies there if you want. (if u live close to chinatown that is....probably not the case for most of you)

The japanese really get screwed through this too, cause DVD's in the USA are actually cheaper than the ones they can buy over there. This includes dvd's like anime and japanese movies that orignally made over there to begin with! I dont remember where, but a dvd in japan costs like $35 US.

punx1325

At first it was because of piracy issues, Japan and Korea are major players in this. But now you can buy a multi-region DVD player. So it is kinda pointless....

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Charlatan

Japan and Korea are minor players in the piracy markets compared with places like Malaysia...

The pirates in Japan and Korea (and Taiwan, Philippines and Hong Kong) have been stepped on HARD by the authorities. The US put a lot of pressure on them.

The pirates there just moved to a more hospitable location in Malaysia... they will move again.

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sailor

Why? Control. It is all about control, thats what the media companies want.

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animosity

could one not buy a dvd player from america if one wanted to see a movie early?

i own over 100 dvds thats about $2000 in dvds... thats insane

Ganguro

i like regional encoding.
Think about it.. different cultures have different levels of moral acceptability. Would you want to wait a year while some comittee votes on what is and isnt acceptable content to be shown in all regions.. meanwhile the market for the DVD diminishes. With regions I can be sure that if the MPAA finds the content acceptable for me (which is another issue entirely, but i wont get into it) then i will receive my consumable good to market ASAP. Meanwhile the muckity mucks in Asian have to wait for their movie to be cleaned/edited/subbed, etc..

Plus.. it's a world economy..
dont bitch because you cant get everything that is available everywhere..
If you live in a region 3 country and want to watch region 1 material.. import, gjump through the hoops you have to to see it, or move. Hell be glad you even have the freedom to do said things.. importing media in some cases is very questionable in terms of legality anyway..

Cynthetiq

I just got a region free player with PAL to NTSC decoding. It costs a little bit more, but I just wanted to play some of the things that we've been buy on my TV instead of on my DVD-ROM drive. Reason why you couldn't play some of those other DVDs is because of RCE, regiong code enhancement where the DVD checks to see if it's a hacked player.

I love our wonderful unit, when we travel, we try to buy movies from the local markets in local languages as part of our souviniers. It's fun to have copies of Two Towers in Finnish, Matrix Reloaded in German, and Lilo and Stitch in Icelandic.

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Macheath

Region coding is bullshit. It would be nice if more region one people gave a bit of moral support to the rest of us poor schmucks.

Personally I love my LG multi region player. You can hack it using the remote - the code is the first six digits of Pi. It has an option to either select region zero (region free) or manually select any specific one of the eight regions worldwide. I've read that this manual region selection could get around RCE, but haven't had a chance to test it in practice.