DVD play

[Abe' Mark Nornes]

One of the few downsides to the DVD revolution is the "regionalism" built
into the discs and machines. For the uninitiated, that basically means that
the discs you buy in one region of the world can't be played on players from
another region. It was a defence against piracy demanded by Hollywood, which
threatened non-cooperation with the hardware makers if they didn't do
_something_. I suspect that, while Chinese piracy gets all the attention,
they were particularly worried about a market like Japan where prices are
ridiculously inflated. This regionalism is of special concern for those of
us interested in seeing foreign films that are ignored by local
distributors, so I thought quite a few people on the list would find this
post from another list of interest.

Markus

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SH asks:

>Now that I'm this close to getting a scriptwriting job (albeit not a very
>artistic one) that pays $30,000 a year, I'd like to invest in a DVD
>player.  Does anyone know where to get multiformat DVD players?  I know
>they exist.

I don't think they exist officially, but most single region players can
easily be doctored in order to diable the zoning restrictions.  In the case
of my Sony, it was simply a question of soldering across two links on an
IC.  Any amateur video enthusiasts' magazine will give details both of
websites that tell you how to do the work yourself, and of dealers who will
sell you machines that they've doctored for you.

Be warned though: doctoring a machine or buying a doctored one is not
illegal (not under UK law, at least), but the moment you've faffed about
with its innards any manufacturer's warranty ceases to exist.  The reason
the zoning systems are usually very easy to disable is that they were only
implemented by equipment manufacturers with great reluctance, under
pressure from the major Hollywood studios who were (and still are) worried
about piracy.  Basically, the zoning system is a token gesture rather than
a serious attempt at security.

L