Converting Region 2 DVD to Region 1 or MPEG?

[C. Corelle]

Is there a way you can convert a Region 2 (Europe) DVD to a Region 1 (U.S.) DVD or AVI/MPEG file (for viewing on computer)?

I only have a Region 1 DVD player.

[Tommyknocker]

Sure. DVD Shrink and DVDecrytor have options to deselect regions before burning a DVD.

[kpkilburn]

Even if you deselect the region, you'll still have to consider that most (if not all) Region 2 DVDs are in the PAL format -- the TV system used in most of Europe. Region 1 DVDs are typically NTSC (US, Japan, and Korea -- maybe a few others too).

Converting between PAL and NTSC is possible, but can be tricky. I've done it, but it was a real pain and I probably couldn't replicate the process anytime soon. Patience is a virtue because you'll have to render it at least twice -- once to demux and then again for the conversion. With my tools I had at the time, I had to rip the PAL DVD into PAL SVCD format, demux that, remux it to NTSC SVCD, then convert to NTSC DVD. Probably not the best way to do it, but it was just an experiment at the time.

There are some guides on here regarding format conversion. They may be useful to you.

[C. Corelle]

Thanks. I'm trying to find the most practical way to view Region 2 DVDs. Are there multi-region DVD players out there? What about DVD-ROM drives...can they play Region 2 DVDs? I don't mind watching movies on my computer.

[FulciLives]

Is there a way you can convert a Region 2 (Europe) DVD to a Region 1 (U.S.) DVD or AVI/MPEG file (for viewing on computer)?

I only have a Region 1 DVD player.

There are really 2 issues here.

1.) Region Code
2.) Video format (PAL to NTSC)

Now the region code is not that big of a problem. If you RIP the DVD to your computer with DVD DECRYPTER (either ISO mode or FILE mode) then the region code will be removed. You can then play the RIPPED DVD files from your HDD using ANY software DVD player such as PowerDVD or WinDVD etc.

This will work because a computer monitor can display both NTSC and PAL video.

However most European DVD releases are PAL and your Region 1 stand alone DVD player is NTSC. So IF you want to make a DVD-R copy of the original for playing back on your stand alone DVD player THEN you will have to do a conversion from PAL to NTSC and this requires doing a re-encode with something like CCE or TMPGEnc. As you may already know any software MPEG-2 encoding can take a LONG time but it can be done and look REALLY GOOD.

If you are interested in doing the PAL to NTSC conversion then check out the guides on this website. Look for the guide by XESDEENI which is excellent.

On the other hand ... you can buy a stand alone DVD player that is region free and does PAL to NTSC conversion IN REAL TIME while playing back the PAL DVD. One of the very best models is only about $80 USD

It's worth it if you intend to buy a lot of non-region 1 DVD discs especially PAL format DVD discs. If I tried to convert ALL of the PAL DVD discs I have (very many) to NTSC I would go insane from the amount of time "wasted" on the software MPEG-2 re-encoding step.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[FulciLives]

Thanks. I'm trying to find the most practical way to view Region 2 DVDs. Are there multi-region DVD players out there? What about DVD-ROM drives...can they play Region 2 DVDs? I don't mind watching movies on my computer.

As I said if you RIP the DVD on your computer using DVD DECRYPTER then it will remove the region code and you can play it back on your computer with any software DVD player.

However, what I should have pointed out ... when you do this you CAN view the output on a normal NTSC TV if your computer has a VIDEO card with a TV output. Such video cards will convert the video to NTSC and they do a decent job of it.

However you still can't beat having a stand alone DVD player that is region free and does proper PAL to NTSC conversion (notice I said PROPER as many stand alone DVD players don't do PAL to NTSC correctly).

One such model that is highly regarded would be the CYBERHOME CH-DVD 500

I have this myself and I've seen many other DVD players that can do PAL to NTSC but I find that the CYBERHOME CH-DVD 500 does it best.

You can order it direct from the CYBERHOME WEBSITE for something like $79.95 + shipping.

There is a message forum website called NERD-OUT that has a forum dedicated to the CYBERHOME line of DVD players. There you will find the REMOTE CONTROL codes you need to make the player region free.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
There are a number of different model DVD players made by CYBERHOME. Please make sure you get the CH-DVD 500 model for the best PAL to NTSC conversion.

[Dennis1968]

First look to see if you DVD player can be modified via remote command, firmware, or mod chip. If not then try this trick in this thread

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=166720

try to use a rewritable DVD. if the trick work Great, if not then you can always go through the process and Strip and reauthor the Video contents without original menues.

Not many people are having success in just fooling the header flags.