Region code errors.

[videodirector]

One of my family members from Italy brought an Italian dvd movie. It obviously won't play in american dvd players, because of regions codes (which I have no idea about). We really want to watch this movie on a large screen, not the computer. Ok so here are a couple questions.

-Is there anyway to change the region code?

-Anway to hack the dvd or something, not ruining quality, so that american dvd player can read it?

[grudlin]

Yes, you need to recode it. You can use Nero recode (https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=Nero_Recode) or DVD shrink (https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DVD_Shrink)

If you use nero recode, you will also have to remove the copyright protection, so you will need to download AnydDvd (https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=AnyDVD)

[videodirector]

Is this safe? This is her favorite movie of all time (you get my drift) and I definitely would not want to risk ruining it in anyway what so ever. Is there any chance at all that something may go wrong?

I'm not going to burn the dvd onto a new dvd either. I just want to edit the original on the dvd. So are these programs good for that? Changing the code on the original dvd?

[guns1inger]

There are two parts to the puzzle. You may have to overcome one or both to get the disc to player.

1. Region Codes. These are codes written on the disc designed to limit where the disc can be played. You can read more about them here -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_codes

Region codes are simple to remove from a DVD, and if your DVD is already multi-region, they aren't a problem at all.

2. TV Format. DVDs are encoded to play back on one of two formats. NTSC, which is the TV format for the US, Japan and other parts of Asia, or PAL, which covers most of Europe, Australia and parts of South America. Most PAL players can play back NTSC material. Unfortunately, most NTSC players cannot play back PAL material.

So what can you do about this ?

The good news is that you cannot break the original disc while trying to remove region codes or change the format.

Region Codes can be changed simply be ripping the contents of the disc to your HDD with DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink or similar tools. They all remove the region codes by default.

If the original disc is a single layer disc, you can simple write the ripped disc to a blank DVD, and it should play.

If the issue is format (and Italian discs are most likely PAL) then you are in for a much harder time. Format conversion is not straight forward, especially for newbies. With a lot of work you can preserve menus etc as well, but in most cases the effort isn't justified by the output.

If the disc is that important, I would suggest you buy a cheap multi-zone, multi-format player instead. The hours you will spend trying to "fix" something that isn't broken are worth more than the cost of a simple player.

[videodirector]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to purchase one. Are these players expensive??? And where can I purchase one?

[guns1inger]

Being on the other side of the world, it's a bit hard to recommend any specific. You probably don't need to spend a lot, as most of the cheap little no-name players support more functions than many of the name brands - especially in the US.

[victoriabears]

philips dvd642, daytek , try a cheapo brand from wal mart, what you want is one that is or can be hacked to region free, just take a note of model number and search the net, and can convert pal to ntsc.

They are easilly available, but do not expect a store assistant to help you.

[videodirector]

Ok. Will do. Thanks.

[RowMan]

Philips Progressive Scan DVD Player with DivX Ultra DVP5140

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4910374

Picked one up at a Walmart store for about $55 a few months ago and it beats the hell out of my cheapie region hacked Apex, Cyberhome, and Mintek players.

Cheap, simple, effective. Can be made region free with just a few remote key presses and does excellent PAL to NTSC conversion (and vice versa). See the DVD Hacks section for instructions.