whydo dvdplayer manufacturers lock&hide vcd/svcd compati

[cs_exile]

i understand the region lock outs and region hacks as being a way to sell the same dvd player in different regions without having to build separate players. but why do alot of dvd players say they cant play vcd/svcd/cd-r and cd-rw when all u need is a simple unlock code thats not metioned in the manual? why would they include this feature if they lock it out and deny its existance? and also were do dvd player manufactururers get off selling the same dvd player in a different casing marked as "multi region" for an extra 100 or so quid? when almost all dvd players are multi region if u use the hack code.

[tgpo]

Moved: Newbie -> DVD Players

[Rond66]

I once ask this question to a DVD player tech support guy.
He said it has to do with import & export NAFTA cost.
To import regionfree and other extras adds tax to the import
cost of each unit.

[clayts]

Th actual reason is because Philips bumped up the licencing cost on their proprietory VideoCD format by $10 per player. Thus players say they can't playback VCDs to get around this, although we know that there's usually a hack.

[ZippyP.]

Yes, I read that disabling VCD was done to avoid the licencing fee in some cases, and then leaking the "Hack" was to encourage sales.

[Vejita-sama]

Sometimes it's a leak, but I suspect that Apex is well aware that most people are buying their players fall into two groups:

1) The cheap/poor

2) Hackers

With this in mind they choose to include ways to unlock the player and disable macrovision, because that's what their custormer base wants

[lordsmurf]

Because of greed and money. VCD costs more than its worth, so its not official these days, though many players support it still, unofficially of course.