Regional lockout

The region code is a technical feature of DVD -Video and Blu- ray Disc He intended to prevent stored movies can be played at the following international media. These will be reviewed by appropriate software- or hardware-based devices, if a player has the same region code as the inserted storage medium.

The region code on DVD-Video

For DVD video, the implementation of region codes is not optional. However, the manufacturer has the option to release a DVD for use in some or all regions. A " region code 0 " does not exist, similarly, a DVD not technically be "code -free". However Colloquially DVDs that are designed for playing in all regions, often referred to as. For players, however, there is a real possibility that the region code is set. If a DVD is in derogation playback on code-free players are not explicitly using special script routines (Region Code Enhanced, RCE ), all regions can be played on such devices DVDs.

In region- protected DVDs (not in RCE - DVDs ) the region code while the VIDEO_TS.IFO file ( table VMGM_MAT ) stored in the byte at offset 35.

Each bit is not set this byte shows the shared regions, thus for ever only one freely passed region results in the following masks:

  • R1: 1111 1110
  • R2: 1111 1101
  • R3: 1111 1011
  • R4: 1111 0111
  • R5: 1110 1111
  • R6: 1101 1111
  • R7: 1011 1111
  • R8: 0111 1111

In a region free - often referred to as Region 0 - DVD, but also in RCE protected DVDs, so that all bits are not set. Some DVDs are only " pseudo- region free", ie Regions 1-6 are supported region 7 and / or region 8 but does not:

  • R1 -R6: 1100 0000
  • R1- R6 R8: 0100 0000

The RCE protection can be hidden in all. IFO files. An RCE - protected DVD can be enabled for only one region. For a long time RCE was used exclusively by Columbia Tristar and only for region 1 DVDs. Only since about 2008 also draw other labels back on this technology and also provided DVDs from other regions with it.

The region code for Blu- ray Disc

Unlike other originally conceived as a successor to DVD formats (eg HD DVD) sees the Blu -ray disc before a regional code, however, there are only three different regions, which differ therefore from the regions the DVD. In a license- compliant Blu -ray player must be exactly to a region code set. For the Blu -ray storage media, however, the use of regional code is optional, and many manufacturers have currently on the implementation. About 70 % of all films currently available on Blu- ray Disc are code-free.

The Blu -ray region code is different from the DVD region code, but not queried only by the player software, from the drive or the computer operating system. For standalone players he is part of the firmware. One can find in the Internet "hacks ", with which you can reset the region counter of player programs and thereby make multiregional.

There are also quite a few stand-alone Blu -ray player that can play both discs from region A and the region B ( region C is usually not supported, so these players are not really multi-regional, but most Blu- rays from region C are code-free ).

  • Optical data storage medium
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