What Are DVD Region Codes? Unlock DVD Regions Easily

Suppose you have a DVD bought from another country, but can't play it on your DVD player or computer. Why? That's because there's a specific DVD region code on your DVD and DVD player, which stops playing if the region codes don't match. For example, you cannot play a UK DVD on a DVD player produced for the US. Therefore, the question is how you can deal with those DVD region codes. This article will help you understand them and provide instructions on how to unlock DVD region codes easily.

Part 1. What Are DVD Region Codes?

Definition of DVD Region Code

DVD region codes are a digital rights management (DRM) technique that allows film distributors to control the release date, price, and content of a movie based on the region in which it is sold. A DVD player will only play a DVD disc if the both have the same DVD region code.

Purposes of DVD Region Codes

DVD region encoding is a form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) designed to protect global distribution rights. A DVD player that supports DVD region code 1 cannot play a region 2 DVD. With region codes, film studios and media organizations can manage release schedules, pricing, and localized content across different regions. This system plays a crucial role in the global media industry, which generates hundreds of billions in annual revenue through international import and export.

Why Is DVD Region Code Important?

Generally speaking, a movie usually releases in the original region first. The audiences in other regions have to wait for several days to a few months to buy the authorized disc with different DVD region codes.

Moreover, the movie content may differ due to different regions. The movie industry utilizes DVD region codes to permit and control the import and export, ensuring that the DVD content is legal in different countries or regions. In short, audiences could enjoy the movies at home only if the DVD player and the disc have the same DVD region code. You can check the DVD region map below.

Region 0 DVD: Worldwide (also known as all region or region-free)

Region 1 DVD: USA, Canada, and Bermuda

Region 2 DVD: Japan, Europe (except Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine), South Africa, Middle East, Greenland, British overseas territories, overseas France, Eswatini, and Lesotho.

Region 3 DVD: South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of Southeast Asia

Region 4 DVD: Oceania (except French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and Hawaii) and Latin America (except French Guiana, Puerto Rico, and the French West Indies).

Region 5 DVD: Africa (except Lesotho, Egypt, South Aftica, Eswatini, Mayotte and Réunion), Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Central Asia, South Asia, Mongolia, and North Korea.

Region 6 DVD: Mainland China

Region 7 DVD: MPAA-related DVDs or "media copies" of pre-releases in Asia.

Region 8 DVD: Reserved for special international venues, like aircraft, cruise ships, and spacecraft.

Now, you can figure out what DVD region is in USA - Region 1. Also, all DVD players sold in the US are made to only play discs encoded with DVD region code 1.

How to identify DVD region codes:

Suppose you want to check whether your DVD is a Region 1 DVD in the US, you can find it on the package cover. Or you can check the back of your DVD to see its region code.

If you have a DVD player, you can check its region code in the manual. Sometime, the region code is also printed on the back of the DVD player package.

Part 2. How to Unlock DVD Region Codes Using 3 Methods

1. Bypass DVD Region Codes in DVD Player

If you want to watch your DVD without being upset by DVD region codes, why not choose a DVD player that can ignore all those tiring DVD region codes? Tipard Blu-ray Player is an excellent player on your Windows or Mac computer to enjoy your fantastic DVD movies. It can automatically bypass all DVD region codes and directly play your DVDs on your computer.

Step 1 Insert your DVD into an optical disc and connect it to your computer. Launch Tipard Blu-ray Player and click the Open Disc button to load your DVD.

Step 2 This region-free DVD player program can play your DVD with any DVD region codes. Just enjoy your DVD movie in excellent quality.

2. How to change region code on a DVD player

If you already bought a DVD player, but its region code is not compatible with your DVD you can change your DVD player's region code. Remember that this method is not useful for all DVD players, and it may have limits - only 5 times. We use the Philips DVP2880 as the example. The workflow to unlock other DVD players is similar.

Step 1 Power on your DVD player and do not insert any disc into the player.

Step 2 Go to Setup menu and choose Preferences.

Step 3 When the preferences highlighted, select Region.

Step 4 Select 0 by Up and Down button. 0 means region free.

Step 5 Finally, hit the OK button to confirm your selection.

After applying it, you can play DVDs with any region code on your DVD player.

3. Purchase a region free DVD player

There are many region free DVD players. If you are ready to purchase or upgrade DVD player, you can choose a region free DVD player as your family entertainment device. Besides, you can review region free Blu-ray players here.

Philips Region Free DVD Player is a low-end DVD player allows audiences to play discs with any DVD region code. This region free DVD player is able to play CDs and various DVD formats, such as VCD, DVD and DVD +- R/RW. Another benefit is to scan videos and optimize image quality up to 1080p automatically.

Samsung DVD-D530K is another DVD region free DVD player available on market. In addition to play discs with any region code, this DVD player also has the capacity to convert between PAL and NTSC. Its playable formats include DVD, DVD+R/RW DVD-R/RW, CD, CD-R/RW.

SONY BDP-S3700 is a high-end DVD player. This DVD player supports a wider range of discs, including CDs, DVDs with any region code and 2D Blu-ray discs with any region code. The built-in Wi-Fi is able to connect to wireless home network without additional cables.

Part 3. FAQs about DVD Region Codes