Make your own Multi-Region dvd player!

A trick my dad taught me..that maybe some of you already know of already.

Might be handy when combining your region 1 & 2 dvd collections!

All dvd players are made in the same factory weather or not they are region 1 or 2..they are just programmed before they leave the factory.

If you go onto the internet and type a search for your dvd player and model number followed by the words "secret code" or "multi-region code" it will pop up suggestions for a weird combination to press on your remote control..do this whilst pointing at the dvd player and a pop up box appears on your screen...select region to "0" and hey presto! you can watch ALL your dvds!

Don't be tricked into feeling the need to buy a expensive multi region dvd player because you think thats you need!

Yay!

Good ol dad! x Grin

This really works...it is really cool. I thought i was going to have to sell all my DVDs..(400) but now we just expanded our collections....being we are both movie buffs..this is really awesome!

Most DVD players these days (even those advertised as single-region) come with instructions on how to do this.

I never knew that? mind you it was a cheapy one from Tesco...

We got one from Curry's for about 15 quid and I kid you not, there it was plain as day in the instructions - "if you want to make this player multi-region, check out this website for details."  We looked up the website and sure enough, cheat codes!  Another one (in the US) had the cheat codes right in the box.  Bizarre!

We just bought a multi region player for £20 quid from Amazon ...

I never knew that? mind you it was a cheapy one from Tesco...

If anything the cheap no-brand one are more likely to be multi-region.

The region code was cooked up by the studios to stop 'grey importing' and most manufacturers agreed to implement it.  The bigger names are more likely to keep their word, Sony for instance is a big studio so their DVD player are region locked.

Most middle tier brands do it with a nod-and-a-wink, they region lock the device but accidentally leave a 'test code' in that will unlock it.

The Chinese co's that make the £12 Woolies own brand ones don't care at all and a lot of these are region free out of the box.

I think that at the time the DVD first appeared in consumer form, region coding as the studios wanted it enforced was already doomed from the beginning with ease of buying from overseas (explosion of internet buying etc.).

Locking players to a region for sale now is really nothing more than basic lip-service.

I think that at the time the DVD first appeared in consumer form, region coding as the studios wanted it enforced was already doomed from the beginning with ease of buying from overseas (explosion of internet buying etc.).

Locking players to a region for sale now is really nothing more than basic lip-service.

There's an amount of ass-covering as well.  Although the official line was always that it was an anti-piracy measure nobody ever though it was anything other than a way to stop people importing from other areas.

This kind of trade restriction buts up against all sorts of free-trade agreements.  There has been rumblings about its legality from the EU, WTO etc.  I'm pretty sure there was some kind of test case in Australia recently.

Interestingly, and purely anecdotally I should add, it appears that region-free DVD players are pretty uncommon in the US.

Wow I never knew that you could do that    My phillips player I'm sure didn't have any instructions to make it multi-region, but I searched and found some codes and it worked!    I love that...I was nearly ready to get rid of my dvds from stateside.  Awesome!  Thanks!

Thought it was common knowledge amongst the internet crowd.

This site is useful for codes
http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/

Don't keep swapping from region to region, some machines will lock to a region once you've changed codes a number of times....but there should be a setting for region 0 and that should play anything without further adjustment.

Thanks to everyone for that information. 

Ours says in the manual it can be made into any region, and it's a Philips, but it doesn't have instructions. We easily found it online and just switched it to "0" so we don't have to fuss with it.

There's an amount of ass-covering as well.  Although the official line was always that it was an anti-piracy measure nobody ever though it was anything other than a way to stop people importing from other areas.

This kind of trade restriction buts up against all sorts of free-trade agreements.  There has been rumblings about its legality from the EU, WTO etc.  I'm pretty sure there was some kind of test case in Australia recently.

Interestingly, and purely anecdotally I should add, it appears that region-free DVD players are pretty uncommon in the US.

Maybe they are seeing the light. As far as I'm aware, Blu-Rays are region-free.

Yeah, I knew about this for a long time. DH is an Audio Visual Technician so it's pretty well known in his field.  The only thing I have found is that some of the other functions don't work as well or not at all. It's either play, pause, or stop.  Some of the DVD players wont' fast forward or go in reverse. But anything is possible on Tottenham Court Road!