DVD Players

[RonH]

This is a bit off line regarding pc's but one of our experts may be able to assist.
The new DVD Players (and this may include those installed in pc's etc) have Regional Locks. Whilst I can sort of understand the logic to protect producers, why do they also 'lock' home produced dvd's of eg family pictures that one sends 'outside the region' of residence. This means that I cannot send a home dvd from Norway to a relative in the UK ... sent one recently and it will not play on their new dvd player.

Is there 'somewhere' one can complain to to get this fixed.

[StuartR]

You could always complain with your purchasing decisions. I only ever buy "region free" DVD players.

[HansV]

Are you sure the problem was caused by region coding? I thought Norway and the UK were both in Region 2 (Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland).

If you recorded the DVD in your PC, it has to be finalized before it can be read in a standard DVD player.

[RonH]

Hei Hans,
I thought that also but seems not to be the case ... unless my UK friends player is faulty, though they can play all other dvd's they have. I did finalise the dvd and also checked it on my dvd player.
Are the blank discs we buy coded do you know?

[HansV]

My box of DVD+R disks does not bear any region indication. As far as I know, the region coding is created when writing the DVD.

[HansV]

By the way, could you test a DVD that you burned on your PC in a stand-alone DVD player?

[RonH]

Hei Hans,
Yes I have tested a burned dvd in my player ... tis OK. I use Creator to compile and burn.
And like you, I could not find any region coding on my dvd pack.
Ah well, I will have another search on the net. Thanks all for inputs.

[Roderunner]

Home made DVD's should not have any regional coding unless it was a copy from an original DVD