Region encoding - Blu-ray Forum

conan1975 · 09-20-2006, 12:08 PM

Hi guys

This is my first post so if this question has been done a few hundred times already I do apologise.

My question is this: what are the regions for BD discs and what are their intercompatability constraints , and how closely do all manufaturers stick to them? I want to buy a BluRay player (stand alone player) in the UK and play US movies on it. Will this work?

Chris Beveridge · 09-20-2006, 11:44 PM

Region A Blu-ray - North America, South America, East Asia except for China

Region B Blu-ray - Europe and Africa

Region C Blu-ray - China, Russia and other countries

zombie · 09-21-2006, 04:30 AM

Where does Australia fit in? I used to import a lot of DVDs from there because they were cheaper than ours and often times anamorphic when ours weren't. I would hope to do the same with BDs some day.

Blue · 09-21-2006, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyg

Where does Australia fit in?

As far as I'm concerned this is the multi million dollar question. Years ago it was proposed that we were region A. There has been nothing except speculation since then, most saying C because of "other". Blu Ray is supposed to be released here mid November, so at worst case we will find out then.

Deciazulado · 09-21-2006, 02:43 PM

nyg, according to the blu-raydisc site Australia is region B

Blu-ray regions break down into this:

Region A: America, Japan, Corea, South East Asia
Region B: Grøenland, Europa, Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand
Region C: China, India, Russia, + a few others remaining in Asia

here's a map that shows it even better:

zombie · 09-21-2006, 07:07 PM

^ Perfect, thank you!

Chris Beveridge · 09-23-2006, 03:01 AM

Region B isn't surprising but it'll be interesting to see if they really go through with it in the hardware/software because of all the DVD legalities. It's like asking to be sued all over again if they do.

What's really worth looking at when it comes out is how the DVD side of the BD players are encoded. If they play up region 4 on it then they're bound to get into a heap of trouble.

Blue · 11-16-2006, 11:34 AM

Can anyone tell me if
Terminator 2
Total Recall
have region encoding? No guesses or assumptions please.

I finally saw 2 Sammy Blu Ray players in action. Although both were playing the demo disc of mainly animation and close to it (Willy Wonka) it looked well stunning. It would be even more amazing if they were set up correctly as staff at these stores would not even know a DVD player if it fell on them - the same applies to customers (they are those nuisances that interrupt a good social life). I’m going to round a few of the staff up and enter them into 50m sprint at the next Olympics Gold medals for certain.

Alas it will take time to start get titles here. Although I'm not running out to purchase a 1st Gen player I want to start to get a few disc's as I know when I get a player any title I want will not be in stock (how many DVD's do you have, because they were the only option?).

One of the stores actually had a stand with about 3 titles - none of which interested me, but they did have "B" in sort of hexagon on the back (I assume that's the region encoding).

I want to get a few CD's from my online store so will get a the above titles if they are not locked down. Oh the titles here are about 25% more expensive (after exchange rate is taken into account)

Thanks

Zinn · 11-16-2006, 10:12 PM

Check here:
http://bluray.lindsite.dk/

xerxes · 01-20-2007, 07:31 PM

I have a Japanese Playstation 3 and so far all of my UK Blu-Ray movies work fine on it but will Blu-Ray movies become region locked sometime in the future? Personally I dont think that it would be good for business for this format to region lock its discs.

Chad Varnadore · 01-20-2007, 08:51 PM

I hope not. At least Japan and the US are the same region this time. Fortunately, BD is a lot more flexible than DVD was regarding the rules. My understanding is that region coding is optional on BD. I've only heard of a couple European titles from Fox using it. It was also reported that Warner is against coding. Hopefully they aren't the only ones. But, it might come down to how such freedoms are exploited, same as bootlegging. If not for the scammers, studios wouldn't need to develop elaborate forms of copy protection, which drives the cost of both software and hardware up, handicaps the medium, not to mention the hassle it causes the honest consumer.

dialog_gvf · 01-20-2007, 09:13 PM

Region locks are optional, and can't last for more than a year.

Sony has already stated its policy is to not use region codes on catalog titles. And deal with it on new releases on a case by case basis.

Since Sony is the most evil anti-consumer studio (

), it follows the other angels will be even more anti-region code.

xerxes · 01-20-2007, 10:38 PM

Thanks guys for the helpful info

NuSoardGraphite · 01-20-2007, 11:27 PM

If Sony is so "Anti-consumer" then why are all PS3 games not region coded?

dialog_gvf · 01-20-2007, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NuSoardGraphite

If Sony is so "Anti-consumer" then why are all PS3 games not region coded?

Sorry, the

was meant to imply what others are saying. I was being ironic.

Sony is NOT anti-consumer, quite the opposite. Witness the best studio support we see is paidgeek on here. Tremendous!

Gary

jayd · 01-21-2007, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xerxes

I have a Japanese Playstation 3 and so far all of my UK Blu-Ray movies work fine on it but will Blu-Ray movies become region locked sometime in the future? Personally I dont think that it would be good for business for this format to region lock its discs.

Hi, can you tell me how you managed this. I have tried to play Pal uk discsin my imported PS3 from Honk Kong, but it won't play Pal, it saying Pal not supported.

NuSoardGraphite · 01-21-2007, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

Sorry, the

was meant to imply what others are saying. I was being ironic.

Sony is NOT anti-consumer, quite the opposite. Witness the best studio support we see is paidgeek on here. Tremendous!

Gary

Yeah, I noticed your little "wink" after I posted. Doh!

jorg · 01-21-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayd

Hi, can you tell me how you managed this. I have tried to play Pal uk discsin my imported PS3 from Honk Kong, but it won't play Pal, it saying Pal not supported.

what game(s)?
a ps2 or ps3 one?

HDJK · 01-22-2007, 08:16 AM

I wouldn't bet on it. A lot of BD titles are region free:

http://bluray.lindsite.dk/

dobyblue · 01-22-2007, 12:01 PM

They should move Europe into Region A, leave the rest as is.

09-20-2006, 12:08 PM	#1
conan1975 New Member Member since:Sep 2006	Region encoding Hi guys This is my first post so if this question has been done a few hundred times already I do apologise. My question is this: what are the regions for BD discs and what are their intercompatability constraints , and how closely do all manufaturers stick to them? I want to buy a BluRay player (stand alone player) in the UK and play US movies on it. Will this work?

11-16-2006, 11:34 AM	#8
Blue Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Jan 2005 Location:Melbourne Australia Blu-ray collection:206	Region encoding Can anyone tell me if Terminator 2 Total Recall have region encoding? No guesses or assumptions please. I finally saw 2 Sammy Blu Ray players in action. Although both were playing the demo disc of mainly animation and close to it (Willy Wonka) it looked well stunning. It would be even more amazing if they were set up correctly as staff at these stores would not even know a DVD player if it fell on them - the same applies to customers (they are those nuisances that interrupt a good social life). I’m going to round a few of the staff up and enter them into 50m sprint at the next Olympics Gold medals for certain. Alas it will take time to start get titles here. Although I'm not running out to purchase a 1st Gen player I want to start to get a few disc's as I know when I get a player any title I want will not be in stock (how many DVD's do you have, because they were the only option?). One of the stores actually had a stand with about 3 titles - none of which interested me, but they did have "B" in sort of hexagon on the back (I assume that's the region encoding). I want to get a few CD's from my online store so will get a the above titles if they are not locked down. Oh the titles here are about 25% more expensive (after exchange rate is taken into account) Thanks

01-20-2007, 07:31 PM	#10
xerxes New Member Member since:Apr 2006	Will Blu-Ray movies be region locked? I have a Japanese Playstation 3 and so far all of my UK Blu-Ray movies work fine on it but will Blu-Ray movies become region locked sometime in the future? Personally I dont think that it would be good for business for this format to region lock its discs.

01-20-2007, 08:51 PM	#11
Chad Varnadore Senior Member Member since:Aug 2006 Location:Salisbury, NC Home Theater Gallery:5 Blu-ray collection:349 Blu-ray reviews:19	I hope not. At least Japan and the US are the same region this time. Fortunately, BD is a lot more flexible than DVD was regarding the rules. My understanding is that region coding is optional on BD. I've only heard of a couple European titles from Fox using it. It was also reported that Warner is against coding. Hopefully they aren't the only ones. But, it might come down to how such freedoms are exploited, same as bootlegging. If not for the scammers, studios wouldn't need to develop elaborate forms of copy protection, which drives the cost of both software and hardware up, handicaps the medium, not to mention the hassle it causes the honest consumer. Last edited by Chad Varnadore; 01-20-2007 at 08:59 PM.

01-20-2007, 09:13 PM	#12
dialog_gvf Moderator Member since:Nov 2006 Location:Toronto Blu-ray collection:320	Region locks are optional, and can't last for more than a year. Sony has already stated its policy is to not use region codes on catalog titles. And deal with it on new releases on a case by case basis. Since Sony is the most evil anti-consumer studio (), it follows the other angels will be even more anti-region code.

09-20-2006, 11:44 PM	#2
Chris Beveridge Moderator Member since:Sep 2006 Location:Hudson, MA Blu-ray reviews:3	Region A Blu-ray - North America, South America, East Asia except for China Region B Blu-ray - Europe and Africa Region C Blu-ray - China, Russia and other countries

09-21-2006, 04:30 AM	#3
zombie Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:May 2004 Trading Score:864	Where does Australia fit in? I used to import a lot of DVDs from there because they were cheaper than ours and often times anamorphic when ours weren't. I would hope to do the same with BDs some day.

09-21-2006, 02:43 PM	#5
Deciazulado Site Manager Top contributor Member since:Aug 2006 Location:USiberia Home Theater Gallery:6 4K collection:1159 Blu-ray collection:7044 DVD collection:4044	nyg, according to the blu-raydisc site Australia is region B Blu-ray regions break down into this: Region A: America, Japan, Corea, South East Asia Region B: Grøenland, Europa, Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand Region C: China, India, Russia, + a few others remaining in Asia here's a map that shows it even better:

09-21-2006, 07:07 PM	#6
zombie Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:May 2004 Trading Score:864	^ Perfect, thank you!

09-23-2006, 03:01 AM	#7
Chris Beveridge Moderator Member since:Sep 2006 Location:Hudson, MA Blu-ray reviews:3	Region B isn't surprising but it'll be interesting to see if they really go through with it in the hardware/software because of all the DVD legalities. It's like asking to be sued all over again if they do. What's really worth looking at when it comes out is how the DVD side of the BD players are encoded. If they play up region 4 on it then they're bound to get into a heap of trouble.

11-16-2006, 10:12 PM	#9
Zinn Active Member Member since:Oct 2006 Location:Sweden	Check here: http://bluray.lindsite.dk/

01-20-2007, 10:38 PM	#13
xerxes New Member Member since:Apr 2006	Thanks guys for the helpful info

01-20-2007, 11:27 PM	#14
NuSoardGraphite Active Member Member since:Nov 2006	If Sony is so "Anti-consumer" then why are all PS3 games not region coded?

01-22-2007, 08:16 AM	#19
HDJK Blu-ray Guru Member since:Oct 2006 Location:Switzerland Trading Score:2	I wouldn't bet on it. A lot of BD titles are region free: http://bluray.lindsite.dk/

01-22-2007, 12:01 PM	#20
dobyblue Super Moderator Top contributor Member since:Jul 2006 Location:Ontario, Canada Home Theater Gallery:71 4K collection:55 Blu-ray collection:655 Blu-ray reviews: 15	They should move Europe into Region A, leave the rest as is.

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