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DVD REGIONAL CODE
Region Playback Control Management
All DVD Video Playback systems have “Region Playback Control” (RPC)
which is required by Hollywood movie industry and defined by DVD
Forum. You can only play DVD-Video discs with the same regional code
as your DVD-Video Playback system.
As for DVD-ROM drives, one kind of the DVD-Video Playback system,
there are 2 types:
RPC Phase 1
(as
RPC1
): RPC1 drives do not have built-in hardware
support for region management. DVD-ROM drives of this kind do not
play a part in controlling the playback region. It solely depends on the
decoder.
RPC Phase 2
(as
RPC2
): RPC2 drives maintain the regional code
change count information in hardware, and in general, the regional code
of such drives can be changed up to 5 times by end users under some
software decoder. (e.g. PowerDVD)
Regional Codes
Region 1
: Canada, U.S.
Region 2
: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East, Egypt
Region 3
: Southeast Asia and East Asia
Region 4
: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America,
Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
Region 5
: Eastern Europe, Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea,
and Mongolia
Region 6
: China
