You got that British TV series DVD that you have aged. Now you are back at home in the USA. You are waiting impatiently to put it in your DVD player and watch the series. Something wrong! The one thing you can see it displayed, “Wrong Region” or words that effect. You are amazed to see that enough. Is your DVD player not working? Or the DVD is faulty? What is human? Says the box, the DVD came in, the disc is region free, which means that it is intended for Region 0 or All Region. Is not it mean that the role of DVD anywhere in the world? Well, good news is, there is nothing wrong with your DVD player or DVD disc. The bad news is you recognize that the world is suffering a great DVD Region Coding Region Locking or as sometimes termed as. Do you want me, what is DVD Region Coding and why it is needed?
A Region Free, Region Free, Region Zero or on each disc region is designed to play on any player Region Locked, but the question of compatibility between PAL and NTSC video formats. For example, suppose you got the DVD Region Free from the UK and try to play in NTSC player in U.S.. The DVD will not play, since the disc is in PAL video format. Misconception is that since the DVD based on the digital format, it matters less if your player is NTSC or PAL. All digital video formats based on either PAL or NTSC video systems.
But what PAL and NTSC video systems? Let me explain briefly.
Countries around the world use one of the three largest television quality broadcast. The three standards – PAL NTSC and SECAM. But the three standards are incomplete with the other person. Take for example the DVD Region Free, which you bought in the UK. It was not properly play NTSC U.S. DVD player because the DVD in PAL video format. Misconception that I mentioned somewhere in my discussion above, does not hold well and as I said, all digital video formats, including DVD based always on the PAL or NTSC video systems.
Let me briefly outline PAL and NTSC systems with better understanding.
The first ever broadcast of color who came to USA in 1953. This was based on NTSC – National Television System Committee standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent and also in Asia, also, in countries including Japan. NTSC runs on 525 lines / frame.
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system was introduced in early 1960s and was available in most European countries, except France. PAL used to chanel-Bandwidth wider than NTSC, which provides better quality picture. The system runs on 625 lines / frame.
Lines Couleur Avec Memoire or lines of color with memory (SECAM) standard introduced in the early 1960s and was in force in France. SECAM transmits color information sequentially but use the same Bandwidth as PAL. Runs on standard 625 lines / frame.
To have a better understanding of the following presentation:
NTSC Standard
SYSTEM NTSC M
Lines / Field 525/60
Horizontal Frequency 15.734 KHz
Vertical Frequency 60 Hz
Video Bandwidth 4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier 4.5 MHz
PAL Standard
PAL SYSTEM
B, G, H PAL
I PAL
D PAL
PAL M
N
Line / Field 625/50 625/50 625/50 625/50 525/60
Horizontal Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 60 Hz
Color Sub-carrier Frequency 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 3.582056 MHz 3.575611 MHz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 4.2 MHz 4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 6.5 MHz 4.5 MHz 4.5 MHz
SECAM Standard
SYSTEM SECAM B, G, H SECAM D, K, K1, L
Line / Field 625/50 625/50
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 KHz 15.625 KHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 6.0 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.5 MHz
Like VCRs multi-system, DVD players will not convert video standards. It will accept standard PAL DVD player with DVD formatted disc in SECAM.
Point is considered to end your despair. If you are a multi-TV system, capable of receiving both PAL and NTSC video signals, you can very well watch the DVD you received from the United Kingdom. You could also use a converter, which convert a PAL into NTSC and vice-versa. In this way you can watch the DVD from the UK, a standard NTSC television was on, the converter is doing the processing for you. You could very well buy the DVD Region Free Player, also known as Multi Region Code Free DVD Player or DVD Player, with built in video standards converter.
The region is called, during a hearing so much about when buying a DVD disc or player, is catagorised the following way:
1. Region 1 – The U.S., U.S. territories and Canada
2. Region 2 – Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
3. Region 3 – Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong
4. Region 4 – Mexico, South America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
5. Region 5 – Russia (okay, former Russia), Eastern Europe, India, most of Africa, North Korea, Mongolia
6. Region 6 – China
In the traditional way that statistics say, people in Region 1 to get to the first DVD. Region 2 will wait another 6 months and Region 3 will be people that year to their favorite movie on DVD.
The DVD home entertainment brought to life. Players and DVD movie discs were selling like hot cakes around the world as prices tumble for the products. Comes the concept of home theater as well, with better quality of audiovisual presented by the DVD. Entire rooms in many homes keep aside just for the home theater .. However, matching the success of DVD, that dirty little secret: the Lock or Region Coding Region.
Why this coding, you may want to find out. Well, what do they tell us is the way that they wish to protect copyright. However, most other aspects of the Coding Region of the surface lately. It is perhaps because of price fixing on the DVD at various regions.
According to many opinions, enforcement of code violations under WTO agreement for free trade, reflecting the competition law. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to seriously accept the coding and coded warning that such violate the Trade Practices Act. A similar control by the government of New Zealand. Therefore, in practice, that the DVD players sold in countries of the Region to be 0. The Region 0 DVD players to incorporate necessary Regions 1-6 at the same time, there-by providing the ability to plat any disc, irrespective of region it belongs to.