DVD Region Codes & A Great Solution to Play DVDs from All Regions

Part 1. What are DVD Region Codes

When you were traveling in Japan, you bought a DVD that was never released in your country. But when you come back to the U.S., you find that your disc can't be played because it is a Region 2 DVD. So. What is a DVD region code?

DVD Region Codes, a technique introduced in 1997, allows rights owners to control their DVD distribution based on appropriate regions. They are mainly used to restrict DVDs from being played outside the specified areas. Your DVD may use all codes, multiple codes, or only one code. An all-region DVD, also named a Region 0 DVD, can be played in any area. Besides that, there are 8 DVD regions from 1 to 8, and each of them corresponds to a different region. So, what is the DVD region code in the USA or other areas? To know that, you can check the list below.

If you want to know the region codes of your DVD, you can also check your DVD package or the disc itself. The region codes are usually appeared over a small globe icon. To make sure your Region 1 DVD can be played in your DVD player, you also need to verify the region codes used by your DVD player correspond to your DVD region codes. If you want to play your Region 5 DVD using a Region 2 DVD player, then you might be disappointed.

Part 2. Why are There DVD Region Codes

At first, the regional restriction is simply due to different technical standards. Then, with the development of DVD technology, the DVD Copy Control Association constructed the region codes system as a digital fence to protect the rights and profits of publishers and distributors. Therefore, it prevents the companies who have no distribution rights from distributing DVDs in other countries and impeding the owner's rights. In the meantime, it also gives rights holders better control over their films' release dates and regions. For example, under the protection of DVD region codes, a DVD released in France in June won't affect the DVD's sale volumes in the United States in August.

However, as more and more people start to enjoy movies online, DVDs have been losing their market share. So, the DVD region codes seem less important than before, and more region-free DVD players can be found on the market. Maybe the region codes will disappear from the market one day.

Part 3. Play DVD from All Regions – Blu-ray Player

For those who don't have a compatible region-free DVD player, region code is indeed a tricky question. But after spending money on a pack of DVDs in other countries, are you going to discard them all straightforwardly? Don't do that just yet. You can overcome it using all-region DVD player software as long as you have a compatible optical drive. I recommend Blu-ray Player for you.

Blu-ray Player is a powerful region-free DVD and Blu-ray player on Windows and Mac. With this player, you can play any region DVD on computers. Furthermore, this software can play 4K UHD videos without losing quality, giving you an excellent visual experience.

Here are the steps to play DVDs using Blu-ray Player.

Step 1Launch the Blu-ray Player and insert the DVD into the compatible drive connected to your computer.

Step 2You can click the Open Disc button in the main interface or the File option in the menu bar to choose your DVD.

Step 3Then, your DVD movie will be played automatically in the player. You can also click the snapshot icon below to capture your favorite scene.

Part 4. FAQs about DVD Region Codes

• Do all DVD players play DVDs from all regions?

  No, they don't. Some DVD players are coded to play discs from a certain region. For example, Sony DVD players coded in Region 1 can't play a Region 3 DVD. But there are still some DVD players that support playing any region DVDs, such as PlayerFab DVD Player, Panasonic DVD Player DVD-S700, LG DP132 DVD Player, etc.

• Can PS5 Play DVDs?

  PS5 standard edition has a built-in UHD Blu-ray disc, which supports Blu-ray disc, UHD Blu-ray, BD-ROM, and BD-R/RE DVDs. But if you want to play a DVD with a PS5 digital edition, you might be disappointed because the PS5 digital edition has no disc drive to support DVDs. Furthermore, you can only use the PS5 standard edition to play Region 0 DVDs or the DVD that has the same region codes as your PS5.

• How to make my DVD player region free?

  The first thing you need to know is that not all DVD players can be changed to a region-free version. If you are using an LG DVD player, you can power on it and remove the disc. Then, hold and press the Pause button, and then press 0 four times. Finally, input Region 0 and press the Pause button to convert your LG DVD player to region-free. If you are using a DVD player from other brands, you can seek support from their website.