If you have bought a DVD disc from other countries, you might meet the problem that your DVD player cannot read it and shows 'Disc Error. Incorrect Region Code'. This is because the DVD disc has region codes to protect the copyright. Is it possible to bypass or remove DVD region code? Yes, there is! Here, we are going to show you how to unlock DVD region codes and then play your DVDs freely.
For infrequent multi-region users, I’d recommend giving VLC a try first, but for hard core region switchers, a region free drive is the way to go. My thanks to everyone at rpc1.org and to the great work of XVI, Las Vegas, and The Dangerous Brothers for making the utilities and firmware available. The Latest on Region Free DVD Viewing. Aug 01, 2008 Most commercial DVDs use encryption that keeps them locked to one or more region codes.' Luckily, a simple software install can circumvent these restrictions and let you play any DVD. Dec 22, 2017 Every DVD player (that includes the one in your computer) is sold being able to play only discs with the same region as the country it was sold in. That includes Macs too, sort of. On a new Mac, the DVD drive is automatically locked to the DVD region code that is first used. Region Free Hack Method 2: convert blu-ray player to multi region (Works with most Samsung, Panasonic Blu Ray and DVD players and other players) Power on DVD Player. Open the DVD tray. Push the info button on the remote one time. Numbers will appear. Press 9 for multi-region. Keep pressing 9 until you see the number 9 in upper left.
CONTENTS
- 1. Know More about DVD Region Codes
- 2. Remove DVD Region Code by Ripping them to Digital
- 3. Unlock DVD Region Code on Computer with a Region Free DVD Player Software
- 4. Bonus – Unlock DVD Region Code by Changing the DVD Drive Region
- #1. Change the Region Code of Your Computer DVD Drive
- #2. Change the Region Code of Your DVD Player for Television
Know More about DVD Region Codes
DVD region code is a kind of digital rights management (DRM) technique, which means the DVD with the region code can only be played in that exact region. This is used in order to help film distributors and television companies to control aspects of a release including content, release date and price according to the region.
The technology is achieved by the way of region-locked DVD players that will play DVD discs only encoded to their region. DVD discs are divided into 9 region code. Thereinto, region 1-6 has marked on the DVD disc. You can view the detailed list of DVD region code and corresponding countries from the link below: Wikipedia-DVD Region Code.
With the DVD region code limit, it is inconvenient for DVD collectors to play DVDs from different countries. But, it is not impossible. To unlock DVD region code, people have discovered many ways such as updating the DVD player hardware, turning the DVD player into one that can modify the region code indefinitely, or removing the DVD disc region code by ripping DVD to digital video.
Remove DVD Region Code by Ripping them to Digital
Here you can choose to remove DVD region code with VideoSolo DVD Ripper, by ripping the DVD to some popular formats. In other words, you digitalize the DVD. The converted DVD video will have no region code limitation.
VideoSolo DVD Ripper is a powerful utility, which you can not only remove DVD region codes, rip DVD to more than 300 formats, but also enjoy the quality close to the original. To do it, please do as guidance.
Note: The Windows version of VideoSolo BD-DVD Ripper released a new version which has big changes compared with the old version. But the new version for Mac is still under the development. That means the interface and the operation of Windows and Mac will be different.
To know the details about the new version, you can read on the article: A New Version for BD-DVD Ripper (Windows) Released! See What Changes
Step 1. Load the DVD That You Want to Remove Region Code
Download, install and launch VideoSolo DVD Ripper on your computer. And then get your DVD discs into the DVD-ROM. When they can be detected by the computer, press 'Load DVD' and import the DVD to the program.
Step 2. Choose an Output Format for Your DVD
Go to 'Rip All to' and press the drop-down button, then choose an output format that fits your target device from the pop-up list. Optionally, you can press the 'Settings' icon as well. One more tip, you can type your target format in the searching bar directly too.
Tips: MP4 and MKV are the most regular formats for ripping a DVD.
Step 3. Start to Remove DVD Region Code
Last step of all, press 'Rip All' to start the removing process. Super-fast conversion speed will only take you a time that shorter than other ripping program to do it.
I highly recommend this DVD region code remover. You can convert DVD to multiple media formats according to what devices you have, including Android phone, iPad, or Television. Now you can get DVD videos of no region code limitation.
Unlock DVD Region Code on Computer with a Region Free DVD Player Software
Apart from the method above, to bypass the DVD region code, another effective method is using an all-region code DVD player software.
VideoSolo Blu-ray Player is the one we want to show you here. Its main feature is to play all different region codes Blu-ray and DVD on a computer. With it, you can bypass the limitations of DVD region code and then play almost any DVDs you like. You can get the free trial version from the button below.
Quick Guide for How to Bypass DVD Region Code
Step 1. Install this region free DVD player software on your Windows computer and open it (Now the Mac version is lack of DVD playback feature).
Step 2. Insert your DVD disc into the built-in computer drive or an external DVD/Blu-ray drive.
Step 3. Click on 'Load Disc' button and then you can watch your DVD movies in different region codes (Make sure your internet connection works well, this program need to remove the DVD region code with internet).
For a more detailed guide, please read: How to Play Blu-ray Disc on Computer. It is a Blu-ray tutorial, but the operations also work for playing DVD.
Bonus – Unlock DVD Region Code by Changing the DVD Drive Region
Finally, we would like to offer you a tip for changing the region code of your computer DVD drive or physical DVD Player, so you can play DVD from other regions.
Note: The DVD region of computer drive or DVD player can only be changed for 5 times. If exceeded, it will stop in the last changed region.
Change the Region Code of Your Computer DVD Drive
For PC
If you want to change the DVD region code on Windows PC. You can do as follows:
1. Navigate to 'My Computer' and then open 'Properties' after right click the DVD drive.
2. Press the 'Hardware' button then 'Properties' in the window.
3. After that, click 'DVD Region' and change the DVD region code for your own need, and press 'OK' to confirm the command.
For Mac
For changing the DVD region on your Mac, please follow the steps below:
1. Insert the DVD into the optical drive, then select a region for your DVD drive after a dialog box opens.
2. Make sure which region code is valid and choose it after pressing 'Change Region to'.
3. Click 'Set Drive Region' and then 'Lock' to save the settings.
Change the Region Code of Your DVD Player for Television
Step 1. Make sure the DVD disc has already been removed from the DVD player.
Step 2. Press the following keys in succession on the remote control. Different DVD players will have different operations. This is the steps for LG DVD players.
click 'Pause'.
enter '3141590'.
enter a new region code.
click 'ok'.
click 'Pause' key to exit.
Step 3. Return DVD disc to try playing again. Normally, the incorrect region code DVD can be played now.
Multi Region Dvd Player
I hope this article will be useful to you, and you are free to choose one solution out of the three. If you want to unlock DVD region code, the most convenient way is to use a region-free DVD player for playing on the computer or purchasing an all-region DVD player for watching on television. If you don't want to purchase another DVD player, then removing the DVD region code by ripping them to digital will be a great way to watching DVD on TV.
What does a DVD Region Code mean?
DVD region code is a digital rights management technique mainly for controlling DVD content, release date and price by the distributors. Almost all commercial DVDs that are sold have what is called a 'region code' (also called 'regional code'), which only allows the DVD to be played on DVD players that have this region code, and the only DVD players that typically do have this region code are those sold in that same region.
- For example: standard DVD players purchased in the U.S. or Canada will only play DVDs that specify they are REGION 1 dvds; standard DVD players purchased in New Zealand will only play DVDs that specify they are REGION 4 DVDs.
- For example: Region 4 DVDs WON'T PLAY in a standard Region 1 DVD player; Region 1 DVDs WON'T PLAY in a standard Region 4 DVD player.
- U.S.A. and CANADA share the SAME REGION CODE: Region 1. An R1 dvd purchased in Canada is exactly the same as an R1 dvd purchased in the U.S., and vice versa.
DVD Region Codes and Where They Are Used
Mac Dvd Player App
DVD Region Code | Geographic Region(s) Used |
Region 0 | Discs that bear the region 0 symbol either have no flag set or have regions 1–6 flags set. Region 0 is commonly referred to as 'Region Free', especially when talking about DVD and Blu-ray Disc players. |
Region 1 | United States, Canada, Bermuda, U.S. territories |
Region 2 | Europe, Middle East, Egypt, Japan, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Greenland, French Overseas departments and territories |
Region 3 | Southeast Asia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau |
Region 4 | South America, Central America, Caribbean, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and much of Oceania |
Region 5 | Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Africa (except Egypt, South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho), Central and South Asia, Mongolia, North Korea |
Region 6 | China |
There are also region codes '7' and '8', which have special purposes. For a more detailed breakdown of where these region codes are used, see the Wikipedia article DVD region code.
There are some foreign DVDs sold in North America which have a region code of '1', including films produced in the UK that are intended for sale in North America. The reason why is that the North American market is large enough to justify a separate North American release of very popular films. For example, in the USA I can purchase a DVD of Das Boot (Bavaria Film, 1981) with region code '1'. However, there may never be a North American release of less popular films, for example Das letzte U-Boot (DEFA, 1993), and if such DVDs are purchased from countries in other regions they will not play on North American video equipment.
There is some discussion on the Internet about codes for 'unlocking' DVD players so that they can play DVDs having other region codes. I tried this with my DVD player (a Samsung DVD-V1000 purchased in 2002), but was unable to get it to work. However, you might be able to unlock your DVD player, so before going any farther you might want to look into this.
What Is the Reason for DVD Region Codes?
The official reason why the system of region codes was established was to make it possible to release a film in one region, for example North America, before it was released in another region, for example Europe, and prevent people in the region where the film has not yet been released (in this case Europe) from buying DVDs from the region where the film was first released (in this case North America); that is, to prevent Europeans from buying the North American version. The rationale was that if too many Europeans bought the North American version, this would cut into sales of the European versions. However, since DVDs of even very old films such as Casablanca (Warner Bros., 1942) have region codes, many people suspect that the real reason for them is to enforce price differentials in different markets (see SPEECH/01/275 of Mario Monti, European Commissioner for Competition Policy, entitled Content, Competition and Consumers: Innovation and Choice), similar to how pharmaceutical companies enforce price differentials between the USA and Canada for the same drugs. For example, as of this writing the film Syriana (Warner Bros., 2005) costs from US$5.99 (Amazon.com) to US$14.99 (Barnes & Noble) in North America, whereas in Germany I paid 15.99 Euros for it (purchased at the Saturn store in the PEP shopping center at Hanns-Seidel-Platz in Neuperlach Zentrum in the summer of 2007).
Whatever the real reason for the introduction of region codes, there is no technical reason why they are necessary: From the perspective of people who want to watch DVDs from other parts of the world, region codes are merely an artificial obstacle that needs to be overcome.
How to Play Region Locked DVD
Sometimes, if the DVD disc are borrowed from your friends or purchased from overseas, you have three ways:
Method 1: Purchase a DVD player that can play DVDs having any region code
These are hard to find in retail stores, but can be found on eBay. For example, I purchased the Pioneer DV-393-s DVD player. Notice that it has a North American power plug, so it is not even necessary to get a plug adapter:
I do not know how the features and price of this DVD player compare with those of comparable players, nor am I certain that every DVD player bearing this model number is region-free, so I am not recommending this one over other brands. If you choose to purchase such a piece of equipment, you yourself should check the different models that are available, what features they offer, how much they cost, etc. However, apart from the question of brand, price, etc., this type of equipment is definitely more versatile, since it can play DVDs having ANY region code, not merely those having the region code where it was purchased. It is also more straightforward to use, since it can definitely use North American electrical current and does not even require a plug adapter. Moreover, such players typically can also output signals encoded using different video encoding standards (see below). Some such players are supposed to be able to recognize what video encoding is expected and automatically switch over; however, whether this is switch-over is automatic or needs to be done manually is not very important, because it only needs to be done when the player is first connected to the display equipment (television set), which is usually only done once.
Method 2: Get a special program to assist you to remove DVD region code
Ripping and copying regional DVDs is the best way to avoid resetting pc's DVD drive's counter and free from worrying about the remaining changing times. And EaseFab DVD Ripper (available for Windows and Mac users) makes all DVD Region Codes free. In the respect of DVD region code, it works in the following ways:
Unlock region codes on DVD: EaseFab DVD Ripper gets around country code blocks and makes any built-in region codes unlocked and convertible. It can decrypt regional-playback control (RPC) encryption, Region-code Enhanced (RCE) or any other region locks.
Remove region codes on DVD: When backed up using EaseFab DVD Ripper, all DVDs become region free in the output files. After copying DVD into different regions, users can further edit them, convert them or move them without worrying about the compatibility with the region-locked DVD players.
Convert regional DVDs: not only a region code remover, EaseFab DVD Ripper is also a region coded DVD converter. It can convert region encrypted DVDs to AVI, MP4, H.264, MPEG, WMV, MOV, M2TS and FLV. After conversion, DVD owners are enabled to transfer collection of DVD's some region 1 onto memory stick, hard drive, USB flash drive, MicroSD Memory Card and so on or even play back the DVD videos on Android (Samsung, HTC, Google, Amazon, Xiaomi, Aquos, Fujitsu), iPad, iPhone, Apple TV, WP8, Surface Pro, PSP and more.
Copy regional DVDs: EaseFab DVD Ripper can be also used an exciting all-region DVD copy software. It will help you easily back up any commercial DVD movies without any troubles. Two different copy modes: Title Mode and Full Disc Mode are provided to let you copy the exact movie part you want. With it, you can effortlessly keep your DVD discs from scratched, damaged, or manage your movies in more convenient way!
How to Copy and Convert a Region Code DVD by the All-region DVD Ripper
Multi Region Dvd Player For Mac
Warm up: Get the DVD ripper downloaded and installed on your PC or Mac.
Multi-region Dvd Player
Step 1: Insert a region 1/2/3/4/5/6 DVD into your DVD-ROM, launch the software and click 'DVD Disc' button. Alternatively, you can input an ISO image or DVD folder instead of a disc itself. After that, the main movie title will be checked automatically.
Step 2: Click Profile (located below where your DVD files are displayed) and select the format you want from the drop-down list. Just below Profile is Output, here you can browse your computer for a better destination folder for DVD Ripper to save your converted movies. As you see, all regular video and audio formats like MP4, MOV, MKV, WMV, AVI, FLV, MP3, WMA, WAV, M4A, etc. are provided.
If you want to convert your DVD movies for play on portable devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPod, HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Samsung, Sony, PSP, Xbox 360 and more, you can simply browse to find the icon of your device and select it as the output format to get videos with optimized settings. All Idevices output files can be synced to iTunes automatically.
Step 3: Once you've selected the output file format you want, you're ready to rip. Simply click the Convert button to start removing DVD Region Code and ripping DVD on your Mac computer. after a fraction of seconds, you can play your DVD movie on Mac without taking along DVD player.
Method 3: Change DVD Region Code on Windows/Mac
For window users, 5 times are allowed to change DVD region code as below:
1. Click the Start menu and then Control Panel;
2. Double-click the Device Manger
3. Click on the + near DVD/CD-ROM drives and double-click on the entry below the DVD/CD-ROM drives.
4. Click the DVD Region tab after the window opens.
5. Select the Region in which you'd like to change to and hit OK.
Note: the Region Code cannot be changed, even though the OS is reinstalled or the DVD Drive is moved to another PC.
For Mac users, 4 more chances too to rip DVD from region to region:
1. A dialog box that urges you to choose a region for your DVD drive is opened once you insert the DVD into the optical drive on your Mac.
2. Consult the DVD package to verify the region code.
3. Click Change Drive Region to and click the region code.
4. Click Set Drive Region
5. Click on the Lock icon to save your settings.