OT: PAL Region 4 DVD playback

Former user wrote on 10/4/2006, 8:02 AM
My wife is a huge fan of the Australia program "McLeod's Daughter's" and it isn't being broadcast on any sources available in the United States this year (last year it was on the "we" network.) I did find out that season 5 is available on DVD in a multiple disc package from Australia, but it's PAL format and zoned for region 4. My question is, should I be able to play these DVD's back on my computer using PowerDVD? I would think so, but before I spend about $100, I would like to be reasonably sure ;-)

BTW - Currently the zone is not set on my DVD player / burner.

Thanks.

Jim

Comments

Coursedesign wrote on 10/4/2006, 8:11 AM
PowerDVD doesn't care, it will play back anything regardless of region codes.

Computer DVD drives do care though, they typically allow the region to be changed 4-5 times, after that the region stays locked.

Sooo, with DVD drives available for about the price of an extra fancy cup of coffee (often including PowerDVD or equivalent), just dedicate one drive to Oz DVDs.
Former user wrote on 10/4/2006, 8:31 AM
Thanks for the reply.

So you're saying that I would HAVE to set my DVD drive to region 4 to play the DVD's in question? I was hoping that since my DVD drive has never had a region code set, it would be seen as a "regionless" drive and allow the playbkack...
Coursedesign wrote on 10/4/2006, 8:47 AM
You don't have to set anything, the drive will set itself everytime you insert a disk with a different region code. After 4-5 changes, it won't change anymore.

Another alternative is to do what I do (I have a DP friend in Europe who sends me his feature films as they are released) and get a region-free regular DVD player hooked up to your regular TV, which by the way will work fine when fed this way, even with PAL.

In Europe, even the top Japanese brands freely advertise region-free players, not so here as you know. This means that you are more likely to need to get a Skankex Mk2 $30-40 DVD player and input some service codes from the ugly remote to make it permanently region-free (or permanently set to another region).

Even Amazon sells some suitable players.

corug7 wrote on 10/4/2006, 10:53 AM
I picked up a cyberhome region 1 player for about $25 US. A quick web scan later I found a remote hack to make it region free. It plays back all sorts of files too, not just mpeg. I think it will transcode pal as well, but I haven't tried it yet.

Probably your cheapest bet.
Stuart Robinson wrote on 10/4/2006, 11:45 AM
There are lots of applications on the web to allow you to unlock DVD drives so that they can play discs from all regions ad infinitum.

Just do a Google search on the particular drive with obvious keywords like "region code" or "unlock" and that should quickly turn something up.
Serena wrote on 10/4/2006, 5:51 PM
>>There are lots of applications on the web to allow you to unlock DVD drives so that they can play discs from all regions ad infinitum.


In fact most DVD players sold here (all?) have been "fixed" to play all regions. Movie DVDs mostly get released simultaneously worldwide, so the whole region thing is pretty silly. I'm surprised that Aussie production company would make a DVD region 4 only, unless intended to enhance foreign broadcast rights. But you're right!
Former user wrote on 10/4/2006, 7:32 PM
Thanks for the suggestions everyone -- plenty to think about ;-)