indeedsir_backup | Jun. 10th, 2006

hi there,

i saw that the issue of DVD regions has reared its ugly head again. since this question seems to come up on every LJ comm and mailing list i'm on, i figured there would be quite a few people here who can use this information. please note this applies to DVD drives (i.e. in computers) only, not DVD players.

there is a program called DVD Region Free and what it does is make your computer bypass the programming the DVD drive uses to check the region of the disk you're playing. the upshot is that you never have to change the region on your DVD drive. since most DVD drives will only allow you to change region 5 times - and then 'locks' the drive on whatever region it's set to - this is one of the most useful programs on the planet. especially if, like me, you're in a region where many DVDs are sold at grossly inflated prices and you have to buy most of your DVDs from amazon.com or face bankruptcy. and that's only a slight exaggeration.

you can download the trial version here. it costs $39.95 US to buy. there is a Lite version which has less functionality for $24.95 and should be enough for most DVDs, tho maybe not the Sony protected ones. anyway, you coud use the trial period to check it out.

ETA: see the comments for info about VLC which not only does the same thing, but is available free.