DVD region code

Hello,

I just replicated a few thousand DVDS for a new release and I wanted to double-check the region code on the DVDS.
Does anyone know a way to check a specific discs' region code?

Thanks so much

Stephen A

you could try popping it into a mac computer.
they give warnings if the disc is the wrong region code,
and none if it is the right one. (or if the disk has NO region code)

i'm not sure how you check which region your system is set up for.


nick

DVD Player gives the region at File > Get Disk Info > Regions.

If DVD Player refuses your DVD, this means your optical drive is set to a region that your DVD isn't. Then you're in trouble with your DVD, aren't you?

While DVD Player is bitching about your wrong region DVD, refusing even to give information, the DVD still appears on the desktop. Open it there and get the small file Video_TS.IFO. The region codes reside in the 33rd byte of that file. It's simplest to use (PC only) freeware IfoEdit to interpret this. There you can look into VMGM_MAT and the sixth item in the list is the region.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

Dennis--

Coming to this topic months later-- interesting.

Let's say I want to send a festival release of a client's docu DVD to Scotland, burned here, normally Region 1, NTSC.

Not only do I have to encode for PAL, but also for Region 2, UK and Europe, right?

Are you saying that, after I create the PAL encodes (Video TS and AUDIO TS) I can dip into the VTS and with careful ediitng of a VMGM_MAT file change the pesky region code to 0 to enable playback on any DVD player?

I then resave that as plaint txt within the VTS file and burn the kit to DVD and mail it out?
Because i won't have any way of testing that here.

Best, as always,
Loren S. Miller
www.neotrondesign.com
Home of KeyGuide Central

try this on your PC....
[www.ifoedit.com]




Loren Miller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dennis--
>
> Coming to this topic months later-- interesting.
>
> Let's say I want to send a festival release of a
> client's docu DVD to Scotland, burned here,
> normally Region 1, NTSC.
>
> Not only do I have to encode for PAL, but also for
> Region 2, UK and Europe, right?
>
> Are you saying that, after I create the PAL
> encodes (Video TS and AUDIO TS) I can dip into the
> VTS and with careful ediitng of a VMGM_MAT file
> change the pesky region code to 0 to enable
> playback on any DVD player?
>
> I then resave that as plaint txt within the VTS
> file and burn the kit to DVD and mail it out?
> Because i won't have any way of testing that
> here.
>
> Best, as always,
> Loren S. Miller
> www.neotrondesign.com
> Home of KeyGuide Central

Thanks, Mark. What if I forgot to own a PC? ;-)

Best, as always,
Loren S. Miller
www.neotrondesign.com
Home of KeyGuide Central

Try this one I typed IFOEDIT equivalent mac in google.
But I personally have only ever used IFOEDIT
(This message written entirely on a Windows 7 machine :-) )

[www.videohelp.com]

Loren Miller Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks, Mark. What if I forgot to own a PC? ;-)
>
> Best, as always,
> Loren S. Miller
> www.neotrondesign.com
> Home of KeyGuide Central

[note added 18 May 2013: this hack is wrong.]

Quote
Loren Miller
Not only do I have to encode for PAL, but also for Region 2, UK and Europe, right?

A DVD's Region and its encoding are two separate matters. DVD players in Europe generally can play both PAL or NTSC, but they tend to be set to Region 2. So it's not nice to send Europeans Region 1 DVDs. You can send either PAL or NTSC provided it is Region 2 or else Regionless.

Quote
Loren Miller
Are you saying that, after I create the PAL encodes (Video TS and AUDIO TS) I can dip into the VTS and with careful ediitng of a VMGM_MAT file change the pesky region code to 0 to enable playback on any DVD player?

If you created a DVD that was Region 1 you could change it to Region 2, or to Regionless, etc., by editing the 36th byte (sorry I wrote 33rd earlier) of the file called "Video_TS.IFO". To make it Region 2 change the byte to FD (hex). To make it Regionless change the byte to either 00 (hex) or 40 (hex).

Very likely your DVD is already Regionless. For example, when using DVD Studio Pro its default is Regionless regardless of the encoding. (Look under the Region/Copyright tab.) Most homemade DVDs are Regionless.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

So I could load my my Video/Audio TS files into DVDSP and after twekaing the IFO file burn it from there? And the disc should play in Edinburgh?

- Loren

Today's FCP 7 keytip:
To reposition a Marker press Command and drag it!

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide™ Power Pack
with FCP7 KeyGuide --
now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

[note added 18 May 2013: this hack is wrong.]

Loren, do you have reason to believe that the Video_TS.IFO file now in your Video_TS folder is Region 1? Just because the DVD plays in your Region 1 DVD drive doesn't mean it is Region 1. It could be Regionless, or multi-Region including 1.

If Apple DVD Player is willing to play the DVD then it will also report its region at File > Get Disk Info > Regions.

If the DVD really is Region 1, then when you examine Video_TS.IFO in a hex editor you will see FE as the 36th byte. Change it to either 00 or 40 to make it Regionless. Leave the other files in the Video_TS folder unchanged. (A simple free hex editor for Mac is 0xED.)

How now to burn a DVD? There might be a method using DVDSP, and it might additionally be able to include folders, if any, besides Video_TS. Unfortunately, I don't know DVDSP. I always use Toast to burn DVDs from a Video_TS folder. Toast doesn't modify the Video_TS folder. The DVD will have exactly the value in the 36th byte of Video_TS.IFO that you put there.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

Something's wrong with my Region modification method. Changing the 36th byte in Video_TS.IFO seems not to be enough.

I've examined Video_TS.IFO in several commercial DVDs and always find that byte to indicate the Region. Also I've sent DVDs through MacTheRipper, which removes Region restrictions, and it only changes the 36th byte of Video_TS.IFO to 00 (as well as sticking its name into the file). Nevertheless when I change the 36th byte and burn a new DVD, Apple DVD Player ignores my change.

The Video_TS folder contains a backup for Video_TS.IFO named Video_TS.BUP. Must you edit the 36th byte of Video_TS.BUP too? When Toast burns a DVD from Video_TS folder it automatically changes Video_TS.BUP to match the newly edited Video_TS.IFO. Weirdly it does this without changing the old filedate of Video_TS.BUP. Stuff's going on we don't know.

I apologize for plunging blindly into this.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

Dennis-

Its the thought that counts! ;-)

[do you have reason to believe that the Video_TS.IFO file now in your Video_TS folder is Region 1? Just because the DVD plays in your Region 1 DVD drive doesn't mean it is Region 1]

Append 1-

Son of a gun! I checked a self-burned DVD from DVDSP and here is what I get:

" Disc Region: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Drive Region: 1 "

Wow! Next I'll check IDVD, where I also burn from. This may be a tempest in a teapot.

Append 2-

Wow! Same with iDVD 7.0.4, exactly.

Yet the PIONEER BD-RW Model BDR-206D is initialized at Region 1.

Who'da Thunk?

Thank you, Dennis and Mark.

- Loren
Today's DVDSP keytip:
Invoke the Simulator anytime with Command-Option-Zero !

The DVD Studio Pro KeyGuide™ - on sale alone or bundled in
the Final Cut Studio 2 KeyGuide™ Power Pack with FCP7.
Available at discount here at the LAFCPUG Store

Loren, as expected you have no Region problem with your DVD. Most homemade DVDs are Regionless.

A DVD is made with a Region mask which limits it to play in a particular one, a particular two, a particular three, etc., up to all eight regions. (I thought this mask was completely determined by the 36th byte of VIDEO_TS.IFO. Express that byte in binary to see which Regions are allowed. It's an 8-bit binary and reading from right to left each '0' means the corresponding Region is allowed, each '1' means disallowed.)

A DVD drive is set to exactly one Region. Apple DVD Player enforces this, so if it finds the drive is set to a Region not allowed by the DVD's Region mask, it won't play the DVD. Other players, like VLC, will still play that DVD. So it isn't the drive per se that refuses.

Your drive is set to Region 1. If you acquire a European DVD limited to Region 2, you can't play it with Apple DVD Player. I have found it necessary to have two DVD drives, one set to Region 1 and the other to Region 2. I bother with this because I kind of like Apple DVD Player.

Most Europeans' DVD drives are set to Region 2, and if they receive a DVD which disallows Region 2 in its Region mask they might be unable to play it (depending on what player they're using).

My puzzlement is that the 36th byte of VIDEO_TS.IFO isn't controlling DVD region as I expected. I have various DVDs with 40 (hex) there. For some of these, Apple DVD Player reports Disk Region 1,2,3,4,5,6,8. For others it reports Disk Region 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. This is no practical difference, since there is no Disk Region 7 on earth. But 40 (hex) is 01000000 (binary) so Region 7 should be reported as disallowed. Furthermore when I do try to restrict Regions by editing that 36th byte, and then burning a new DVD with Toast from the VIDEO_TS folder, I fail. The new DVD contains the restrictively edited VIDEO_TS.IFO, but Apple DVD Player reports the DVD is Regionless. Hacking is sometimes an enjoyable way to learn, and sometimes not.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

[Loren, as expected you have no Region problem with your DVD. Most homemade DVDs are Regionless. ]

It is good to know!

[ I have various DVDs with 40 (hex) there. For some of these, Apple DVD Player reports Disk Region 1,2,3,4,5,6,8. For others it reports Disk Region 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. This is no practical difference, since there is no Disk Region 7 on earth.]

You're right, those are reserved for Moonbase Alpha (but not the Tycho Crater) and Mars Western Hemisphere, everybody knows that.

Now I have a vaguely connected question: if I transcode client's NTSC to PAL using Episode Pro, and then burn it to a regionless DVD with Toast Platinum 11 specifying a PAL disc, will it play okay in Scotland, for instance?

I have heard that our friends in UK and Europe can play NTSC discs on their DVD PAL players with only distortion in the aspect ratio. Is this generally correct? Or am I full of IT.

- Loren

Today's FCP keytip:
Set a motion effect keyframe instantly with Control-K!

Your Final Cut Studio KeyGuide™ Power Pack.
Now available at KeyGuide Central.
www.neotrondesign.com

Some research on the topic...

[forums.creativecow.net]

Some "DVD players" are boxes which connect to TVs. Older boxes had PAL/NTSC limitations, newer boxes not. Some "DVD players" are softwares which play on the computer monitor. Software players are omnivorous.

When using a European box + TV, my guess is that a PAL DVD will play better than an NTSC DVD.

When using a European computer, my guess is that an NTSC DVD will play better than a PAL DVD. This is because almost all computer monitors are 60Hz, everywhere. NTSC DVDs are either 60i, 30p or 24p. The 60i and 30p are handled perfectly. The 24p is played with one frame for 2/60 sec and the next frame for 3/60 sec. PAL DVDs are either 25p or 50i. The player (or the graphics card) must fudge considerably to present these on a 60Hz monitor.

If you were making a DVD from scratch from a high resolution project, then you might decide PAL vs. NTSC based on the above. But if your client provides an NTSC DVD it's crazy to transcode it to PAL. That transcode is especially lossy due to the small number of pixels and further consider what it would do to the frame rates which may then need to be undone by the player.

Dennis Couzin
Berlin, Germany

Thanks Mark and Dennis, and Nick, and auerbach88 for starting the thread half a year ago ;-) This was as rich as any Lynda.com course.

Best, as always,
Loren