Region Free DVD Players

You are perplexed at being unable to view anything except the message ?region error,? while trying to view a set of region-free labeled DVDs on your NTSC player. The reason is simple. The DVD discs have nothing wrong with them and are really region free but the DVD player which you are using has the ability to play only NTSC compatible DVDs and not even a combination of PAL and NTSC DVD. Moreover the disc might be in PAL or SECAM format and your NTSC DVD is incompatible in playing such CDs..

How zonal difference makes the standards different

Different regions in the world use different standards for TV and DVD. While North American and Canadian countries prefer NTSC, European and Asian countries prefer the PAL standards. Then there are a few countries like France that still prefer the older SECAM standards. Some of the countries use combination of standards. All these divergences create real problem for a viewer, since a different device, having the right compatibility with the local standards, is required each time the region changes.

Who requires a region free DVD player most

The people, who are on constant move, may be a businessman on business pursuit, a researcher on different scientific and academic research, a traveler who travels for enjoyment, a pilgrim who travels on religious pursuit, a trekker or explorer who travels for adventure and many others, would need such a DVD player which is region free. Then there is that smaller sector of people who might be shifting from one zone to other with both zones using a different standard for DVD viewing.

The solution

It can never be an adequate solution to go for separate players every time you change your zone for whatever reasons, and even rentals does not seem to be an economically viable solution. Then there is also the problem of availability of real quality items on rental or whatever source it might be.

So what is the solution that would solve the problem of compatibility without being economically strenuous? The real solution to the issue is a region-free DVD player.

What is a region-free DVD Player?

A region free DVD player is capable of playing all region code DVD discs regardless of the standard used by the DVD disc. It means, that with such a region free DVD player you can watch a PAL standard DVD on an NTSC TV. However, if you use a DVD/VCR combo unit, then a multi system TV or a video format converter may be required to play a DVD not originally compatible with the device standard.

Different disc regions

This brings us up to the issue of different DVD disc regions. The region code was used in USA to control the release of movies in regions 2-6 as they were released in region 1. DVD region locking system determines which DVD can be played on which regional DVD player. The Regions are as follows:

United States and Canada combine to form region 1.

Europe, Japan, Egypt, Greenland, South Africa and Middle East form region 2.

Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, and Indonesia form region 3.

Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America, Mexico, Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean form region 4.

Eastern Europe, India, North Korea, Major part of Africa, Mongolia, and Russia form zone 5.

China alone forms zone 6. Effect of Internet and on line purchase of DVD

Division in zones refers to the fact that DVD players, belonging to a particular zone is incompatible in playing DVDs from another region. But with the advent of Internet and on line purchase of DVD, you have the access of DVDs of your choice, being released through out the world. Therefore, a region free DVD player is the solution to your problem of standards compatibility.

The difference of standards ? features

What are these standards that we are referring to so often? Countries, world over, use one of the three main TV broadcast standards. These are PAL, NTSC, or SECAM broadcasting standards. Colour broadcasting system, first introduced in the United States of America during the year 1953, is based on National Television System Committee (NTSC) standard. It has 525 lines/frames and used mostly in North America and Japan. On the other hand, the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system that came up in 1960s is used in most Asian and European countries and this standard uses 625 lines/frames. The quality of picture is a trifle better with PAL system than the NTSC. The last one is Sequential Color with Memory (SECAM) system, mostly used in France, has the same lines/frame density as that of PAL system, but transmits colour information sequentially.

The following are the features of the different standards:

NTSC Standard

SYSTEMNTSC M

Lines/Field525/60

Horizontal Frequency15.734 kHz

Vertical Frequency60 Hz

Video Bandwidth4.2 MHz

Sound Carrier4.5 MHz

PAL Standard

SYSTEMPAL B,G,HPAL IPAL DPAL MPAL N

Line/Field625/50625/50625/50625/50525/60

Horizontal Frequency50 Hz50 Hz50 Hz50 Hz60 Hz

Color Sub-carrier Frequency4.433618 MHz4.433618 MHz4.433618 MHz3.582056 MHz3.575611 MHz

Video Bandwidth5.0 MHz5.5 MHz6.0 MHz4.2 MHz4.2 MHz

Sound Carrier5.5 MHz6.0 MHz6.5 MHz4.5 MHz4.5 MHz

SECAM Standard

SYSTEMSECAM B,G,HSECAM ,K,K1,L

Line/Field625/50625/50

Horizontal Frequency15.625 kHz15.625 kHz

Vertical Frequency50 Hz50 Hz

Video Bandwidth5.0 MHz6.0 MHz

Sound Carrier5.5 MHz6.5 MHz

Options

A DVD player does convert a Video standard and therefore the problems will be that a PAL DVD will not play on a NTSC DVD player. However, a multi system TV, that is able to receive all types of signals, will allow you to watch DVD of any standard you want to see. You can also use an external converter to convert the signals from PAL to NTSC or vice versa, but obviously, the best choice would be the region free DVD player with a built in video standards converter.

Region free DVD player ? a modern requirement

The days of visiting an outdoor movie theater to watch the movies of your choice is now practically over. You can watch them in the cool comfort of your home, at a time convenient to you. You may like to watch the video in parts, depending on the availability of your time, or you may like to have a family get together to view them. The prices of both players and discs are on the down slide while quality is going up with the application of the sate-of-art technology. In every respect, DVD is the best home entertainment today. But with its phenomenal success has brought in the difficulties relating to region coding or region lock.

The legal standing

Manufacturers feel that the new releases of DVD CDs need to be protected. The reason for such protection could be the price difference of such CDs in the world market. If such a CD has been released in the United States and is made code free, that particular CD would be a lot cheaper in the Asian countries comparatively, and as such the concerned company would be making losses. To block such a purpose, the CDs have been regionally coded.

On the other hand, many consider the code enforcement to be a violation of WTO free trade agreement and other legal provisions ancillary to it. Both, the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, have taken similar stands. They have put in place laws to the effect that, DVD players sold in their countries have to be code free or region free. Such DVD players are made to be compatible to all region codes, and hence capable of playing any DVD, irrespective of the standard used or the zone to which it belongs.

Where to get REGION FREE DVD players/recorders and High Definition, HD DVD players, Blu-ray,Advanced Optical players/recorders in Blu-Ray DVD players/recorders. A multi region (aka codefree) DVD player or recorder is capable of playing DVD discs from anywhere in the world, that is all 8 regions and both PAL and NTSC standards. http://www.mindlogic.com has many. Many not only play them but convert from one standard to the other for showing movies on any TV on earth. There are also PAL-NTSC 110-220 volts DVD/VCR Combos for use worldwide. CODEFREE DVD / PAL-NTSC VCR combos and MULTISTANDARD VCRs will play 100% all known DVD discs including FRENCH DVDs. You can buy region free and region free converting DVD players and region free DVD recorders from http://www.mindlogic.com in California. They give you a LIFETIME Warranty and ship worldwide. They also carry PAL-SECAM-NTSC TVs, PAL plasma, PAL LCD and PAL DLP multisystem TVs and multisystem converting and non-converting VCRs, voltage transformers, video standards converters and more than 140,000 products. Tel.800-514-2984 or tel. 925-686-994