Region Issues

enjibenji89

Standard Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2009
Messages
147
Reaction score
0
Points
46
Age
34
So I just started a blu ray collection, bought a few DVD's. Two of which were Knocked Up and Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, I assume they are both imports from USA because of the thinner case (I heard somewhere American blu rays have the thinner cases)

Knocked Up works fine, I can watch the movie with no problems. However, when I try to watch Harold & Kumar it says Region Code Error. Why does 1 import work but not the other?! Any help please?

And does anybody know whether Go to White Castle was released in the UK on blu ray?

Thanks! :thumbsup:
 
You bought some Blu-Rays from the US or some DVDs??

All DVDs are region coded (with very minor exceptions)
Blu-rays are also region (or Zone) coded A/B/C, but it depends on the studio releasing them. Eg. Warners don't have region coding on them, most 20th Century Fox ones do.

Blu-ray Disc - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorry! Made it sound confusing by putting DVD's (I meant Blu Rays)

So the studio releasing the Knocked Up Blu Ray in US could of made it region free whereas the Harold & Kumar Studio could of made the disc region locked? If you get me...
 
Yes. Google and Wikipedia should tell you everything you need to know about region coding.

We've been battling region coding on DVD since the 90's. Its a lot better on Blu, but you still need to do your homework on the internet first before buying USA discs.
 
Usually I wouldn't risk it at all with US imports but the discs were advertised wrongly

Thanks for all your help though, find it bizarre how a disc that has been released in US on Blu-Ray hasn't been released in the UK :/
 
Usually I wouldn't risk it at all with US imports but the discs were advertised wrongly

Thanks for all your help though, find it bizarre how a disc that has been released in US on Blu-Ray hasn't been released in the UK :/

There are plenty of them and it does happen the other way around with the UK getting a BD before the US.

Of course then there is the whole 'which is superior' discussion when a US release might have better picture/audio/extras to the UK release, if you want the best release of a particular film it can be a bit confusing lol
 
There are plenty of them and it does happen the other way around with the UK getting a BD before the US.

Of course then there is the whole 'which is superior' discussion when a US release might have better picture/audio/extras to the UK release, if you want the best release of a particular film it can be a bit confusing lol

and I thought the step up to blu-ray would be simple! So if a DVD (for example Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) is released in the US, chances are it should get a release in the UK?
 
It can be such a minefield out their,just take one film.

Out of Africa in the US & UK market their are 5 copies out
US a digi book with the new remaster copy, an blu ray with the remaster copy, also a copy with the non remaster disc.

UK digi book an non digi book both without the new remasters copy of the film.

Can drive you :mad:
 
Last edited:
and I thought the step up to blu-ray would be simple! So if a DVD (for example Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) is released in the US, chances are it should get a release in the UK?

All depends on which studio holds the distribution rights and whether they think its worth releasing in a small market like the UK, we still don't have a UK release of the first X-Files film but its been out in the US since 2009 and is available in other European countries, just not here.
 
I haven't made the step into Blu-ray yet, so basically lack experience. Because of that, I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is of any help or relevance.

I have a DVD player (Arcam DV137), and was never particularly interested in buying DVD videos of other regions. That was, until I found a film that I was interested in, but seemed not to be available in region 2. When I bought my player, it was set to region 2 only.

With the assistance of the Arcam part of this forum, I was simply able to make my Arcam DV137 "region-free", just by selecting a sequence of numbers on my remote control. I then went ahead and bought the US-coded DVD that I was after - and I'm able to play any region-encoded DVD videos on my player.

Previously, I had no idea such things were possible. Could it be worth looking into? Good luck!:thumbsup:
 
I haven't made the step into Blu-ray yet, so basically lack experience. Because of that, I'm not sure if what I'm about to say is of any help or relevance.

I have a DVD player (Arcam DV137), and was never particularly interested in buying DVD videos of other regions. That was, until I found a film that I was interested in, but seemed not to be available in region 2. When I bought my player, it was set to region 2 only.

With the assistance of the Arcam part of this forum, I was simply able to make my Arcam DV137 "region-free", just by selecting a sequence of numbers on my remote control. I then went ahead and bought the US-coded DVD that I was after - and I'm able to play any region-encoded DVD videos on my player.

Previously, I had no idea such things were possible. Could it be worth looking into? Good luck!:thumbsup:
There were a few cheapo Tesco/Asda Blu-ray players released ages ago that could be made multi-regional by using the remote to switch regions but they've never had firmware updates since release (being cheapo players) so won't play more recent films.
There were also a few players (Philips & Pioneer I think), where if you flashed them with firmware from a different country, you could switch regions- again, not ideal as could end up bricking your player.

For a TRULY multi-region Blu-ray player you need to buy a chipped player for £££. Worth it if you import a lot from US or Japan, but not really if you only buy UK/Euro/Aus discs.

So what you said was some help & had some relevance ;)
 
A number of Toshiba players can be made region free in firmware (using FW from Australia) without any problems.
 
But isn't Aus the same region as us ? :)

Yes but Australian laws on media and region locking are much more consumer friendly than most other places.

They have this enlightened idea that if you (as an Australian) buy it from anywhere you should be able to actually watch it :eek:

The Toshiba models that are referred to above are the Toshiba BDX1200 & BDX3200 which are both region switchable after flashing with the Australian firmwares
 
Yes but Australian laws on media and region locking are much more consumer friendly than most other places.

They have this enlightened idea that if you (as an Australian) buy it from anywhere you should be able to actually watch it :eek:

The Toshiba models that are referred to above are the Toshiba BDX1200 & BDX3200 which are both region switchable after flashing with the Australian firmwares

Nice one :)
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom