PCs, DVDs, Regions, Need Help!

July 29, 2009 9:52 AM

I'm in the US, and I would like to buy a DVD that I'm pretty sure is only available in UK (Region 2) format. I don't really care about playing it in my home DVD player – what I'm more interested in is getting it on my iPod. I have a Dell Inspiron e1505, circa March 2006, with Handbrake installed. Here's what I'd like to know:

* Can my computer read/play a Region 2 DVD without additional software/firmware modifications? I read something online that said some PCs come with a preset number of “region switches” that they allow, after which you're locked into the last one you selected. (That's kind of scary.)

* If not, what can I download to make it work?

* Also, will Handbrake work properly (with a Region 2 DVD in a "Region 1 computer")?

(Note: I did an AskMe search and found some things that were close to this specific question, but not close enough where I felt it gave me the answer I was looking for.)

Thanks..

posted by brandman to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Some DVD drives supplied with laptops have a firmware lock built in. There are ways of getting around it, but they're fiddly.

The best thing to do is check the make and model of your DVD drive by going through Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager.

Once you have the name of it (which might be a manufacturers name and a load of letters), google it along with the phrase "region-free". That search should tell you if this is a firmware locked device which only lets you change the Region a few times or not at all.

Grab a copy of VLC to play DVDs back. If your drive isn't firmware locked, you should also be able to rip the DVD with Handbrake.
posted by Happy Dave at 10:01 AM on July 29

You can use VLC to view the DVD. Handbrake will work region independently, however may not work if certain copy protection is applied to the disc, Handbrake is an encoder not a ripper.
posted by clarkie666 at 10:03 AM on July 29

In modern drives, the region lock is built in to the DVD drive itself, as part of the DVD specification. You can swtich region five times, after which you're stuck in whatever region you last picked. Any decent DVD burning software should be able to interrogate the drive and tell you haw many switches it has left.

Years ago you could replace the firmware on some drives to make them permanently region-free; I don't know whether this is still possible. Earlier still, it was common to find drives with no region control at all; I have a seven year old DVD-ROM drive that's loud, slow and gloriously region-free. I don't know what's commonly available now.

Do you know the model of your DVD drive? Searching for "[model] region free firmware" might get you something.

I have used a Windows XP computer to back up both Region 1 and Region 2 DVDs so you shold be fine there. I've heard that Vista is more picky, but can't confirm this.

Finally, you might also ask this question at the Doom9 forums. From what I remember they're mostly interested in the fine art of video encoding, but it's a safe bet that they'll have some in-depth knowledge on exactly this topic.
posted by metaBugs at 10:08 AM on July 29

It looks like DVDDecrypter will rip a R2 disc in a R1 drive and then remove the region protections. More info.

By default, DVD Decrypter will try to access the drive as every software DVD player does (I/O Key Exchange). If this fails (usually if the region code of the drive doesn't match the one of the DVD), Brute Force key cracking is used.
posted by Solomon at 10:33 AM on July 29

What's the DVD - someone might have and do a region free rip
posted by A189Nut at 12:49 PM on July 29

Try DVD43 - just go looking for it - it's (so far) allowed me to watch my R2 DVD's on multiple PC's here in the States...
posted by pupdog at 3:54 AM on July 30