Interesting.... DVDs Region Codes/Formats

[saurabh]

I know you cant play Region 1 DVD's in Region 4 or others but I also know that you have Regionfree DVD players....or you can tweak your DVD's to be region free.......but the real question coming to my mind is :

Can you play a Region 1 DVD in Region 4 on a regionfree dvd player ?????

Keep in mind Region 1 uses NTSC and Region 4 PAL format. Does it make a diff for the DVD's region code or format (NTSC/PAL/SECAM) as long as the DVD player can play it ?????

I dont know..........

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm not entirely sure myself, but my gut instinct says that DVDs are actually encoded with raw MPEG data, they aren't formatted (as such) as NTSC/PAL/SECAM. So, when the data comes off the DVD to begin with, it is a standardized MPEG stream, and it is the hardware AFTER the data that converts it to our local format - NTSC in the states.

That would be my shot in the dark educated guess. I've made about a dozen DVDs from scratch w/video editing, but I've never really asked myself that question. I like the question.

 

[tbewick]

Frankly I find your question a little confusing. A region-free player, by definition surely, will play back any DVD of any region.

The 2nd post (BMXTRIX) is incorrect.

DVD's are mastered either in NTSC or PAL/SECAM format, and are then played back in that (native) format by the DVD player. MPEG (followed by a version number, and I can't remember what it is for DVD, 2 maybe?) refers to the video compression technology used in storing that format.

An interesting fact is that films formatted in PAL run 4% faster than they should on DVD. This is because in motion pictures, film is recorded at 24 frames per second, so to get it running correctly on 25 p/s PAL, the film is sped up! To convert 24 f/s to 30 f/s for NTSC, another process is used which is slightly more complicated, but results in a lack of smoothness in motion for pan shots on NTSC DVD's.

Their format is totally independent of their region coding, though there maybe some standards that regional DVD's must conform to (ie. region 1 must be NTSC).

An NTSC DVD can be converted by some DVD players into a playback format I think is called 'PAL-60'. This function is there to allow NTSC playback on a PAL television that does not support the NTSC format.

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

OK, help me out here. I've been living in this cave you see and...

...anyway, what is a Region 1 or 4 or whatever DVD? Aren't all DVDs the same?

 

[tbewick]

DVD incorporates a technology called regional encoding, which is designed to prevent DVD's from different regions (Europe, North America, etc.) from being played back in another region (if the DVD producer so wishes). The reason for this technology is to allow Hollywood studios to release DVD's at different times (and charge different prices) in different regions.

DVD player manufacturers don't really like this technology, and they're probably forced to apply it to satisfy the demands of the Hollywood studios. This is why DVD players can be 'hacked' so that they can play DVD's from any region.

For the average consumer, they probably want region-free DVD's so that they can buy their DVD's more cheaply, or so that they don't have to wait for it to be released in their country. For cinema enthusiasts, they may want to get DVD's of other regions because another region's version of a film is better.

Very generally, region 1 DVD's (usually NTSC) are the best in terms of picture quality compared to region 2 (usually PAL), except for the earlier ones which were more highly compressed. An exception is the Back to the Future trilogy on region 2, which has utterly superb sound and picture quality. The Star Wars trilogy on region 1 is also meant to be superb quality (I haven't seen this though).

I've noticed only a slight but definite difference in picture quality when I've played my DVD's back in progressive scan mode (on a computer monitor through a software DVD player). People with better systems will probably notice an even greater improvement in picture quality. Note that this isn't a cable 1 v cable 2 difference or a CD player v CD player 2 kind of difference, but a real and precise one.

I've plugged this site a number of times but I'll do so again:

www.dvdscan.com (though it's doesn't seem to be working at the moment)

 

[saurabh]

Okay...after posting this...i searched for my DVD player manual and found that it needs to be configured for the output type (TV) PAL/NTSC and it will convert any DVD disc to play in the format of the TV(PAL/NTSC), although its not a regionfree DVD.

Also I differ with tbewick on the quality of the DVD, since its also the quality of the picture, played by the TV, in which case PAL is better than NTSC. I think the below link will help clarify all doubts for ppl who are unaware about DVD region codes and PAL/NTSC.

http://hometheater.about.com/cs/dvdlaserdisc/a/aaregioncodesa.htm

 

[tbewick]

Although PAL has a higher possible resolution, not all (in fact hardly any) region 2 DVD's make full use of this extra resolution.

NTSC looks much worse than PAL when compared in composite mode. In component/HDMI mode, you'll find that most NTSC DVD's look better than PAL ones.

NTSC DVD's also tend to have better colour reproduction. An example of this is seen in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Director's Edition region 1 disc. I bought both the versions, first the region 1, then the region 2 version (the region 2 disc was very cheap). If you compare the two discs, the NTSC version is far better, with sharper detail and higher colour saturation. According to the site I referred to, which unfortunately is down at the moment, this difference is fairly typical.

You should note that early (~1998) region 1 (film) discs were single-layer format (less storage space) as compared to region 2 (film) discs which are almost always dual-layer. The single layer format reduced the quality of these early region 1 film discs, because more compression had to be used. I think though that most region 1 films are now dual-layer, so this is no longer an issue.

I mentioned the Back to the Future trilogy because this is one of the few very good region 2 transfers I've seen.