dvd drive regional code disabling

Hi,

I recently bought an ibook g4. I am a sailor, and thus pend a lot of time all over the world. I want to be able to watch dvd's wherever i am, but the dvd in said lappie has a regional code setting which can only be changed five times (well, 2 more times now). I suppose this annoying code is fine for folks who stay in one place, but given the nature of a laptop is that it's portable, its a bit suprising. Does anyone know how to disable this codeing so that i can watch films locally wherever I am?

Thanks.

I wouldnt have a clue how to disable the one on dvd player provided by apple but you might want to try http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ as a media player.

I dont think it has region settings, I guess you can try with your existing dvds.I am pretty sure that its not illegal due to the fact that you can buy region free dvd players, however, if it is and this post breaks forum rules please remove and accept my apologies.

This is one thing that really irritates me, why when we have region-free dvd players do they still region code your dvd drive? Can anyone explain that to me?

dvd regions

hey

this is one that comes up all the time

sadly to my knowledge at least there is not a fix

i don't think you can get round it with vlc as suggested

as the mac settings won't allow for it. i have seen many expert

copyright arguments put forward and no doubt somebody will

come along in this thread and tell us all again -why apple set

the regions as such. me personally its one thing i don't like about apple

regards

If the movie industry wants people to stop stealing movies, perhaps they need to move to a system where they (1) don't treat everyone like a criminal, and (2) stop trying to squeeze the consumer for as much cash as possible. Part of this has to do with the fact that they want to price things differently in other countries. If, for example, you were to see a DVD in Europe that was cheaper than in the US, would you buy it here or there? Stopping you from buying a movie in one place, and playing it in another, is about the stupidest thing these guys have come up with. Most people have no idea what region codes are, and would have no idea, if they were on vacation, that the DVD they just purchased will not work at home. The average consumer is paying the price for piracy, rather than the media companies doing something about it, like moving to a system (like iTunes) that makes the ratio of legal purchases higher when compared with illegal downloads and general piracy. I wish I could get all broken up when I hear about people stealing movies, but I have this little voice inside me that whispers, "The companies deserve it for being arrogant and lazy."

Treat people like criminals, and you get criminals.

Apologies for my rant above. I got a little carried away. This stuff just annoys me.

Hey i understand totally and their are people who need a drive with no region code for business

medtoy said:

Hi,

I recently bought an ibook g4. I am a sailor, and thus pend a lot of time all over the world. I want to be able to watch dvd's wherever i am, but the dvd in said lappie has a regional code setting which can only be changed five times (well, 2 more times now). I suppose this annoying code is fine for folks who stay in one place, but given the nature of a laptop is that it's portable, its a bit suprising. Does anyone know how to disable this codeing so that i can watch films locally wherever I am?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

VLC is your friend. And if you have the hard drive space to spare, so is mac the ripper.

I don't believe region code are used for copy protection, but protection from release dates. In most cases the movies are release at different times across the world. The code is used in preventing the movies in one region to work in other areas.

If you notice, you can not change the region codes on a table top DVD player.

Not only that, but certain countries have censorship laws about movies that don't affect the release versions of said movie in other countries. For instance, in Japan it's illegal to make and release a film that actually shows full frontal nudity (their porn is actually censored), so you might see an "uncensored" American version of a movie whereas the Japanese want their regional release to be censored. Obviously the japanese government would have a vested interest in making Region 2 DVD players only able to play Region 2 DVDs.

rman said:

I don't believe region code are used for copy protection, but protection from release dates. In most cases the movies are release at different times across the world. The code is used in preventing the movies in one region to work in other areas.

Click to expand...

It's not about copy protection...they've more or less given up on that since the day the Linux community cracks their worthless encryption. I think it's more about pricing in other places. The have different price points for different markets. If you could get a DVD in another country for cheaper than you can get it here, wouldn't you buy it online and do that? They know this. What you say is probably also true. I'm sure it also has something to do with the release dates. I just don't think that's all there is to it.

Discerptor said:

Not only that, but certain countries have censorship laws about movies that don't affect the release versions of said movie in other countries. For instance, in Japan it's illegal to make and release a film that actually shows full frontal nudity (their porn is actually censored), so you might see an "uncensored" American version of a movie whereas the Japanese want their regional release to be censored. Obviously the japanese government would have a vested interest in making Region 2 DVD players only able to play Region 2 DVDs.

Click to expand...

LOL. That's a really good point. I'm not sure which is more disgusting: the movie industry stopping you from playing a movie that you purchased while on vacation, or governments censoring things so that they can "protect" their citizens. Greed and censorship. The whole thing stinks from one end to the other.

Guys I have read all of this with keen interest. I have an iMac and a powerbook and a supercool multi-region DVD recorder. I need a TV to use the latter. So now I got three dvd players and threes screens, but I'm not the man who fell to Earth. I can only watch one screen at a time so do I need all this gear, I don't think so and what's more some one gets richer and richer with all these different systems, I think when it comes down to it the reason for all these different regions and sytems is to flood the planet with techno lust and rip us all off at the same time. I don't believe the movie makers are interested in anything other than making money (I mean porducers and distributors and the like)...................and as cool as Apple gear is, well Uncle Steve likes his money too I'm sure

rman said:

If you notice, you can not change the region codes on a table top DVD player.

Click to expand...

Actually, on many players, there's a secret code you can punch into the remote to change the region code. Make it region 0, and it will play all discs, assuming it can output the proper video format. For instance, sure region 4 discs will play, but most of them are sold in Austrailia, and therefore use the PAL video system. The USA uses NTSC. You'll be able to play the disc, but it will be black and white and flickering. Therefore, if you really want to be able to play any disc, get a player that can convert PAL to NTSC or vice versa, and make sure it has a region-free hack.

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

medtoy said:

Hi,

I recently bought an ibook g4. I am a sailor, and thus pend a lot of time all over the world. I want to be able to watch dvd's wherever i am, but the dvd in said lappie has a regional code setting which can only be changed five times (well, 2 more times now). I suppose this annoying code is fine for folks who stay in one place, but given the nature of a laptop is that it's portable, its a bit suprising. Does anyone know how to disable this codeing so that i can watch films locally wherever I am?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I don't know how to disable the coding but here is a workaround. Use Mac The Ripper to strip the region code from your DVD. Then do one of two things. Option 1: Burn the new file to a blank DVD using Toast. Option 2: Use Handbrake to convert the file to a Quicktime Movie to either store on your hard drive or burn to a disk.