Best kept secret about R1

[alex_t]

Movie pack DVDs from Region 1 can be played also in regions 2, 3 and 4! So people in Europe can get normal edition!

I've just found out myself! By mistake I put DVD of "River of Souls" into my DVD drive (set to region 2 only) and it played! I checked on another drive (also region 2 only) and it played again. So I tried it with my standalone DVD player (yet again region 2 only) and it also worked!

Now I'm thinking whether I should get season 5 of B5 from US too - since I'm tired of waiting when WHV UK will release fixed "The Fall of Centauri Prime" DVD... (if they will do it at all, and they will send it to me in Germany...)

 

[darth_librarian]

You got to have an NTSC compatable TV or screen though, but yeah, kind of defeats the object....

 

[alex_t]

Well, I think most DVD players can convert the video during playback. At least I had no problems (and my TV support NTSC).

 

[lurker452]

Now I'm thinking whether I should get season 5 of B5 from US too - since I'm tired of waiting when WHV UK will release fixed "The Fall of Centauri Prime" DVD... (if they will do it at all, and they will send it to me in Germany...)

My region 1 copy of the 5th season is definitely region 1 encoded and will not play on a region 2 player

 

[A_M_Swallow]

My region 1 copy of the 5th season is definitely region 1 encoded and will not play on a region 2 player

I have yet to see a Region 2 player that is unable to play Region 1 DVDs. You may have to type a password to activate the feature but it is there.

Enforcing the Regional Coding field on DVDs got the DVD player makers got into very serious legal problems with the European Union. The EU smelt price rising cartel.
http://www.out-law.com/php/page.php?page_id=eutoinvestigatedv992344826&area=news