DVD Region Codes

Every DVD disc has region code ranging from (1 - 6) or has been manufactured region free. The idea behind region codes for DVD movies is to control the exportation of movies to other countries, so eliminating the possibility of purchasing a DVD movie which has yet to be played at the local cinema. This is great if you live in the USA (region 1), whilst in New Zealand (region 4), DVD releases were few-and-far-between, so purchasing a zone 4 player was very much a waste of money.

Over recent years, it has become increasingly popular to modify players to either selectable zones or zone free (zone 0). Nowadays, region-free players are very common both in standalone players and also in computer software.

Also, with the RCE (Region Coding Enhancement) discs now widely available, whilst they will not play in some previously auto switching modified DVD players, they still work when manually switching region codes (via the remote control).

The map below display the invisible region boundaries. This may help you in purchasing a DVD player for the region of your choice.

	Region 1 - U.S.A, U.S. territories and Canada
	Region 2 - Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland
	Region 3 - Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong
	Region 4 - Mexico, South & Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
	Region 5 - Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Africa excluding South Africa, North Korea, Mongolia
	Region 6 - China