I always thought this couldn't be set on burned discs at all. Have I been lied to?

Not that I intend to set regions on any discs I create. I don't really see the use unless one expects to have different distribution deals in different parts of the world. If one's business is on that large a scale, surely they'd be doing pressed discs rather than burning them at home? ;)

IMO.

Rob

It's not that I need to know this for some big time international distribution but some film festivals require that submitted dvd's are zoned to their countries.
If DVDA uses zone 0 (all countries, no exclusions) by default then everything is fine. I just couldn't see if I was making a burn in zone 0 or 1, so the earlier poster indicated that DVDA uses the zone 0 default and I'll just have to take his word for it unitl I find a way to see for myself.

bongobob,

DVD-A only makes region "0" discs--so it should play on all players. The only potential issue being a mis-match of NTSC vs PAL and vice versa that can come into play. The region code, along with CSS encryption, information is contained within sectors that are not physically possible to create on a recordable disc. In an attempt to prevent rampant copying of copyrighted discs, the recordable media has sector sizes of 2048 bytes, whereas replicated (ie Hollywood type discs) use a sector size of 2054 bytes. It's in those few bytes of difference where this type of data is contained. The only way you can enable CSS encryption and Region codes for disc is to have an authoring app that allows for you to enable it, AND, you need to be able to output to DLT (which can record sector sizes of 2054).

Jim

Okay, RCourtney says (I believe) that regions can be set on burned discs. Jim says they can't. Who's right?

Rob

Well, it's a good question. I have, like you, been under the notion that it wasn't possible. My manual for DVDSP says you can't, the training guide for it says you can't, Trai F. from TFDVDEdit says you can't, but Ralph LaBarge (in a correspondence on a thread from a couple of years ago) says you can. So there you have it. I suppose I could enable a different region code with my next author and test it myself, but I guess it's just not that much of a burning issue (at least for me). I personally don't output recordables for overseas. It's kind of a moot point anyway, DVD-A certainly doesn't allow you, and if your authoring app (regardless of brand/flavor) doesn't allow you to, then you can't.

Jim

Perhaps, as far as I am aware of, region flag switching is possible with authored and ready DVD folders but not with folders already on burned discs (DVD-R and DVD+R are write-once media, and I reckon a DVD-R or DVD+R have to be closed, or else the players probably might have problems with playback). It is possible to, once DVDA2 output successfully the required DVD folders, modify the region flag with such apps as IFOedit, to change the region.

I don't think any of us are arguing that you can't find and "change" the region setting with ifoedit (with ifo files within a video_ts folder on a hard drive). I can make such a setting directly within DVDSP or DVDWS before output. However, both of the manuals state that although you can set the region code, it will only carry over if output to a DLT that can use sector sizes larger than recordable dvd type media (see my note above). The extra 6 bytes contains information that can't be copied over to a recordable disc--no matter what you make the setting for. I haven't read anything except a single response to a thread 2 years ago that suggest it's actually possible. Everything else I've read says you can't do it.

Jim

An update on this topic (I know it's a burning issue for many ). ;)

If you want to set region codes, then you must also CSS encode your project. The region restrictions are only followed by players if they are in conjunction with CSS content protection. They (the region code setting) are typically included with CSS when outputted to DLT (the extra bytes stuff posted above). The region flags can be set (ie with an authoring app or post build with ifoedit), but the player is not required to honor it (if there is no CSS) and won't.

Jim

Guess you're both right. You can set the proper bits for a homeburned disc, but it won't do much good.

Rob

One last tid bit. These are excerpts from TFDVDEdit:

"As far as region coding goes, the DVD Spec is very clear - on Page VIX-117, Annex U to Part 3 ( Video Specifications ), it says:

1) ONLY DVD-Video discs ( ie. those replicated from DLT ) can contain region info. The spec states this categorically. It goes on to specify that the Regional Code Mask must be zero for anything other than a DVD-Video.

2) Region info must reside on two places of the replicated disc:

A) In the Control Data area of the disc right after the lead-in; and

B) In the Video Manager ( VMG ).

And, crucially, those settings must be identical - no "if's", "ands" or "buts".

The Problem

This is where the player incompatibility problem arises - Trai has discovered during the perfecting of his TFDVD9Maker process that if these values don't match, some players out there won't read the discs properly. One very notable example is the X-Box. And some of the biggest names in DVD authoring software are guilty of not getting this setting right ! When writing DDP v2.0 formated DLT tapes, their VMG setting doesn't match what is in the lead-in, so the disc doesn't conform to spec, and players like the X-Box have problems. See the "Solution" section below for more information on this. "

Since writables aren't able have Control Data in the lead in (those extra bytes), you can't do region encoding. As I posted above, if it's not included with CSS, the players aren't obligated to abide by the region encoding set in the VMG. Worse yet, there are some players that just won't work if the two (Control Data and VMG) settings don't match.

"Conclusion

Always set the Regional Code Mask of your projects to zero when writing DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW outside your authoring software. Even when using your software, if you have problems, check it's writing the correct value in the VMG. Writeable discs should not be region coded."

Jim

Very interesting, Jim. Thanks for posting that.

Here's a question to which I don't know the answer or how to find the answer: Does DVDA set the region code to 0, and does it set it in both of the places listed in the text you quote? If not, could this be the cause of at least some of the compatability problems people have with discs burned in DVDA?

After all, since a DVD player doesn't have to abide by region codes on recordable media, DVDA could very well have been setting discs to region 1 all this time, couldn't it have? Or maybe it sets it to 0 one place and 1 the other. Or 0 one place and doesn't even touch the other? Or....?

Could be obvious holes in my theory, I'm just thinking out loud here... Anyone know how to check?

Rob

DVD-A sets the region code to 0. Since you can't output to a sector size where the Control Data would also contain information, it in essence will be set to the same. DVD recordables don't have the extra 6 bytes by design, so if one were to set the region code to something other than 0, then it might cause playback problems.

Jim

AFAIK DVD burners won't touch the area right after the lead-in, so there's physically no way for DVDA to screw that part up. As far as the region code in the VMG goes, a quick investigation with IfoEdit says that DVDA sets the code to 0 (it's actually a bit mask so you could potentially enable multiple regions).

Compatability issues that you are "thinking" about - that is where the DVD simply won't play, are much more likely to be with the booktype than anything else. When +R media first came out for example, many players were looking explicitly for a booktype of DVD-ROM or DVD-R and wouldn't play anything else. Some +R burners would let you set the booktype to DVD-ROM to get around this. The same issue came up again with DL+R, it was assigned a new booktype and again many players wouldn't touch it because they didn't recognise the booktype - burner manfacturers wised up at this point and many of the DL burners set a booktype of DVD-ROM by default (at least for DL media).

--Scott

--Scott