obtaining boxed sets of Ozu

[Mark D. Roberts]

On May 18, 2007, at 6:45 AM, Lewis Cook wrote:

> Apparently it is an open secret that any DVD player can play any  
> DVD, regardless of region, if the relevant code is input via the  
> player's remote. (Amazon is evidently not aware of this, given the  
> warnings they add to DVDs regarding region incompatibilities...)  
> Urban myth? I received this information from a professor at M.I.T.  
> and others have confirmed it.

Yes, it's an urban myth. This only works for some models.

As Ron mentioned, your best bet is to purchase a player that is  
specifically region free.

Note that some players are sold in Europe as "dezoneable", which  
means there is a region coding system in place, but it can be  
disabled. There may or may not be a remote code for this. If not, you  
must take the player to an authorized service provider and pay them  
to disable it. At the shop, they will connect a device to a service  
port on the player, reset the firmware by pressing one button, and  
then charge you. This is perfectly legal, as it is apparently legal  
for large chain stores to sell region 1 DVDs in continental Europe.

I leave it for you to decide if this is a racket ;-).

M
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