Retail DVDs containing movies and television shows are encoded with a region code. Movies sold in North America are coded to work with DVD players sold in North America. Other regions include Europe and Asia.

The idea is to prevent consumers from bypassing the marketing and release schedules established by the movie studios and others in the entertainment industry. American movies are released on DVD usually six to nine months after the film leaves the theaters. In Europe however, movies generally hit the theaters about this time.

By preventing American sold DVDs from playing in European machines, European consumers are prevented from importing a disc and watching the film at home rather than buying an overpriced cinema ticket.

DVD Region Codes for DVD Players

In central London for example, a stroll down the high street will reveal many electronics stores offering encoded players, as there is a particular demand for American DVDs. Besides advanced access to movies, the cost is often much less. Additionally, there is an international demand for movies originating from Asia. These cost even less, even when they are legitimate, non-pirated copies.

Just abort every DVD player can have their region encoding removed, thus permitting acceptance of any DVD. The guide available below describes the process for just about every player sold in the last ten years or so.

Download the PDF Document Here.