I live in the US, and was wondering if you can watch Region 2 DVDs in PAL format on a computer. I have Nero Showtime that says that it supports both the NTSC and the PAL formats. Is that all I need in order to watch a region 2 dvd on my computer?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Region Coded DVDs
- Thread starter Z6128
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm
hi
honestly i don't know if your current hardware/software combination does the job you want. but here's what I overheard some guy at the pub saying he does with his DVDs:
1) grab DVD, put it on computer drive, use DVDFab Decrypter to rip the contents to a ISO file. this removes region encoding and optionally allows to choose whether to copy trailers, copyright infringement warnings, etc..
2a) he burns the new, unprotected, ISO to a DVD-R and watches it in the living room or wherever he wants with no concerns about DVD player compatibility, region coding, children breaking the original DVD, etc.
2b) he keeps the ISO file in the computer so he can use a sort of a media centre to manage all the stuff he has, like MP3, films, short clips from youtube, etc.
In theory, this doesn't hurt anyone while it certainly adds convenience to managing a collection of films on DVD. however, DVDs are protected by an encryption scheme that is meant to prevent illegal copying. in many countries, removing such copy protections (which DVD Fab Decrypter does) is illegal. so, this operation is illegal, although nobody would never be able to detect or be damaged by it. strange, huh?
hi
honestly i don't know if your current hardware/software combination does the job you want. but here's what I overheard some guy at the pub saying he does with his DVDs:
1) grab DVD, put it on computer drive, use DVDFab Decrypter to rip the contents to a ISO file. this removes region encoding and optionally allows to choose whether to copy trailers, copyright infringement warnings, etc..
2a) he burns the new, unprotected, ISO to a DVD-R and watches it in the living room or wherever he wants with no concerns about DVD player compatibility, region coding, children breaking the original DVD, etc.
2b) he keeps the ISO file in the computer so he can use a sort of a media centre to manage all the stuff he has, like MP3, films, short clips from youtube, etc.
In theory, this doesn't hurt anyone while it certainly adds convenience to managing a collection of films on DVD. however, DVDs are protected by an encryption scheme that is meant to prevent illegal copying. in many countries, removing such copy protections (which DVD Fab Decrypter does) is illegal. so, this operation is illegal, although nobody would never be able to detect or be damaged by it. strange, huh?
Depending on your DVD drive, you may have a limited number of times where you can watch foreign DVDs, if you're going to be watching a lot of foreign DVDs, consider getting a really cheap external drive (or a caddy for an old internal) and sacrificing it.
there shouldn't be any issue of watching a dvd on your mac as far as pal vs. NTSC is involved, but you can only switch the region code allowed a few times (i think 5), after which it stays stuck in the last region you used. You can have Apple reset the count (at a cost), but only a few times (i think 4). after that that's it. so the total number of times you can switch is very limited. i don't know if you get a warning the last time you do it.
You typically can 'update' your drive to "all region", but it is unsupported firmware update that might work or screw up your drive, depending on the source. you have to google around for instruction, using your system's specifics.
ironically, computers, which would more likely be used across continents, are much less flexible then DVD players, which more times than not come without codes, or for which it's usually very easy to find a simple code number to be input with the remote to acess a 'secret menu' from where to eliminate the region nonsense.
i HAVE to add, that the DVD region codes system is THE most stupid, useless, unfriendly, meaningless piece of crap in the history of the technology, bar none, as the only thinkable use that it might possibly have is to reduce sales of DVDs, promote piracy and annoy paying costumers.
i challenge anyone to suggest a single reasonable use for DVD regional codes or to defend the logic behind it.
You typically can 'update' your drive to "all region", but it is unsupported firmware update that might work or screw up your drive, depending on the source. you have to google around for instruction, using your system's specifics.
ironically, computers, which would more likely be used across continents, are much less flexible then DVD players, which more times than not come without codes, or for which it's usually very easy to find a simple code number to be input with the remote to acess a 'secret menu' from where to eliminate the region nonsense.
i HAVE to add, that the DVD region codes system is THE most stupid, useless, unfriendly, meaningless piece of crap in the history of the technology, bar none, as the only thinkable use that it might possibly have is to reduce sales of DVDs, promote piracy and annoy paying costumers.
i challenge anyone to suggest a single reasonable use for DVD regional codes or to defend the logic behind it.
spend $100 and buy a fegion free dvd player if you are only looking for home use...
as far as i can tell the encoding is on the drive tiself, in which case maybe you could buy a 2nd drive and keep it external and set it to be pal and the internal to be ntsc and use as need be?
as far as i can tell the encoding is on the drive tiself, in which case maybe you could buy a 2nd drive and keep it external and set it to be pal and the internal to be ntsc and use as need be?