DVD Regional Codes
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DVD (Digital Video Disk or Digital Versatile Disk)
DVD region coding, or "zone locking," is a system used to control which DVD disks will play on which DVD players in various parts of the world. The code is a type of digital encryption placed on the disk by the manufacturer. DVD players and most DVD-ROM computer drives look for this region code to determine if the disk has the same code as the player. DVD regional coding has nothing to do with, and does not correspond to, the world's three different TV standards (NTSC, PAL, SECAM), which are analog systems. DVDs sold for the German market are coded Region 2. The DVD world is currently divided into six regions, with codes 7-8 reserved for future uses:
| DVD Regional Codes | |
| Code | Location |
| 1 | USA (incl. territories), Canada |
| 2* | Europe (Germany), Japan, South Africa |
| 3 | Southeast Asia |
| 4 | Latin America, Australia, New Zealand |
| 5 | Russia, rest of Asia and Africa |
| 6 | China |
| 7-8 | For future use |
| 0 | No disks are zero coded, but players may be zero coded. |
| *Region 2 DVDs may be sub-coded D1 through D4. "D1" identifies a UK-only release. "D2" and "D3" identify European DVDs that are not sold in the UK and Ireland. "D4" identifies DVDs that are distributed throughout Europe. | |
| Web Links: DVD Regional Code Map DVD - FAQ from DVD Demystified |
|
As you can see from the chart above, the DVD codes have little to do with geography. Region 4, for example, includes Australia and distant Mexico, Central and South America. Japan is grouped with Europe in Region 2. Japan uses the NTSC standard for broadcast TV and video, while Europe uses both the PAL and SECAM television standards. This just underscores how the codes arose purely for marketing, not geographical or video system reasons.
Is It Legal to Bypass the Codes?
See our DVD Guide for German - Part 2 for more on this topic.
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