Question About Taiwan market DVDs

[Dan Gould]

My wife is still waiting for an answer from the dealer, so I thought I'd throw it out here:

Are DVDs created for the Taiwan market playable in US DVD players? I can't find anything on the back that indicates region or whether its PAL or the other kind.

Its all in English and says there are Chinese subtitles - is it safe to assume that the subtitles can be turned off?

(My wife's Aunt asked for a copy of the original Gone With The Wind, no Director's Cut or commentary or anything like that, just the original film, which unfortunately looks like a 2000 release that is OOP. My wife found it sealed and dirt cheap on some American website and presumed she was dealing with an American seller, but much to our surprise it came Air Mail from Taiwan.)

Thanks in advance!

[ejp626]

My wife is still waiting for an answer from the dealer, so I thought I'd throw it out here:

Are DVDs created for the Taiwan market playable in US DVD players? I can't find anything on the back that indicates region or whether its PAL or the other kind.

Its all in English and says there are Chinese subtitles - is it safe to assume that the subtitles can be turned off?

(My wife's Aunt asked for a copy of the original Gone With The Wind, no Director's Cut or commentary or anything like that, just the original film, which unfortunately looks like a 2000 release that is OOP. My wife found it sealed and dirt cheap on some American website and presumed she was dealing with an American seller, but much to our surprise it came Air Mail from Taiwan.)

Thanks in advance!

It's really hard to tell. Many of these DVDs are made for the grey market in the US (as well as China), so they are Region 0. The subtitles should be removable. The PAL/NTSC is probably the biggest issue. I think you might as well try to play it and see how it looks. I've had pretty good luck with these things (not that I have more than a handful) but I own a region-free DVD player that is PAL/NTSC interchangeable.

Edited November 25, 2008 by ejp626

[Quincy]

Are DVDs created for the Taiwan market playable in US DVD players? I can't find anything on the back that indicates region or whether its PAL or the other kind.

It's usually very easy to turn any DVD player into a multi-region player. Despite the somewhat scary word "hack" it usually just involves using a strange order of button presses on the remote to enter a menu that's for the service person. Once there it involves changing "no" to "yes" on the menu that says "Multi-region player." Or at least this is how it's gone the 3 times I've done it (twice involved "hand holding" a friend through it.) Just Google DVD hack and have your brand and model name handy.

Edited November 25, 2008 by Quincy

[Claude]

It's usually very easy to turn any DVD player into a multi-region player. Despite the somewhat scary word "hack" it usually just involves using a strange order of button presses on the remote to enter a menu that's for the service person. Once there it involves changing "no" to "yes" on the menu that says "Multi-region player." Or at least this is how it's gone the 3 times I've done it (twice involved "hand holding" a friend through it.) Just Google DVD hack and have your brand and model name handy.

With most players this can indeed be done with certain remote control signals, but some brands require a programmable remote that can send a "magic key" that allows to enter the service mode. In this case it cannot be done with the player's remote control alone.

Here's a good database with region hacks:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks

Edited November 25, 2008 by Claude

[zen archer]

I ordered a dvd from importcds and to my surprise it was a Korean issue , it worked fine on my player and i could turn

off the subtitles with my remote.. My only complaint was that they should have listed this as a Korean product and not the USA

version they showed on Amazon .

[Dan Gould]

Thanks everybody. Not sure what brand my Aunt has, but it got me wondering about hacking our player. Unfortunately, a search revealed that it looks like Sony models are one of those which require a "service" remote, not the user remote, to accomplish that feat.

Not sure about "Region 0" as one of the links indicates that there is no Region 0 to begin with. I did finally notice "NTSC" in tiny print on the back, so that gives me some reassurance that we're probably OK. But the region is supposed to be displayed as a number superimposed over a globe, and there's no such insignia. Closest is a "1" on top of a circle with )) coming out of the side - is that a "globe"?

My wife wasn't very clear in her note to the dealer, he only responded that the Chinese subtitles should be removable when she was also concerned about playing in a US machine. But at least he responded and said that if the subtitles don't go away, he'll give a refund. The problem is it was $1.99 for the disc, $4 for shipping. We're not going to ship it back to get $2 back!

[ejp626]

Not sure about "Region 0" as one of the links indicates that there is no Region 0 to begin with. I did finally notice "NTSC" in tiny print on the back, so that gives me some reassurance that we're probably OK. But the region is supposed to be displayed as a number superimposed over a globe, and there's no such insignia. Closest is a "1" on top of a circle with )) coming out of the side - is that a "globe"?

If a DVD is manufactured without regional coding, then it is considered region 0. This definitely does happen. (Actually a number of jazz DVDs are region 0.) Sounds like you will probably be ok. Worth a shot anyway.

[kinuta]

I'm not certain but I think Taiwan is NTSC Region 2, the same as Japan. This would mean it is unplayable on an American dvd player which are coded for NTSC Region 1. PAL is the European system and is not used in Asia. Most players these days are auto switch NTSC/PAL but I don't know about the USA.

These days multi region players are quite cheap.

You can convert it from R2 to R1on your pc using three sets of software, DVD Region+CSS Free in tandem with DVD Shrink/DVD Decrypter. I've done it several times and can assure you it works. Total conversion time is about 20-25 minutes.

Region 0 definitely exists, all Criterion dvds are Region 0. They can be played on any player but are not common.

Edited November 26, 2008 by kinuta

[Dan Gould]

FWIW, the only numbers on the back of the case are "3" (in a rectangle resembling a TV set), the aforementioned 1 with the circle around it and "4:3".

[Claude]

Region 0 definitely exists, all Criterion dvds are Region 0.

Only half of the Criterion releases are Region 0 (i.e. "region-free"), the other half are limited to Region 1 because of contractual limitations

http://www.criteriondvd.com/search.php?encoding=0

http://www.criteriondvd.com/search.php?encoding=1

FWIW, the only numbers on the back of the case are "3" (in a rectangle resembling a TV set), the aforementioned 1 with the circle around it and "4:3".

The region code logo looks like this (region number with planet in the background):

"4:3" is the picture aspect ratio, the classic TV aspect ratio as opposed to widescreen (16:9)

Edited November 26, 2008 by Claude

[Dan Gould]

Thanks, Claude. It looks like your region code example is over the bar code, but this definitely has no region code marking at all.

I'm going to try to remember to check their DVD player when we get there for Thanksgiving, then I'll do some more research to figure out if theirs is an easy one to "hack" if this one doesn't play.

[rockefeller center]

Why not simply make a copy of that DVD and get rid of the region code, macrovision, subtitles, languages you don't need, etc. and include it with the original?

Windows? dvd decrypter, dvd shrink.

[Dan Gould]

Why not simply make a copy of that DVD and get rid of the region code, macrovision, subtitles, languages you don't need, etc. and include it with the original?

Windows? dvd decrypter, dvd shrink.

Not having a DVD burner would be a real good reason why. Beyond that, is that considered an acceptable Christmas gift? Personally I prefer one that is still sealed, or I'll assume the giver found it used for $5.

[rockefeller center]

Not having a DVD burner would be a real good reason why.

Indeed.

Beyond that, is that considered an acceptable Christmas gift?

and include it with the original? edit: (you know, as a backup just in case...)

Personally I prefer one that is still sealed, or I'll assume the giver found it used for $5.

You think the seal is the best thing about a new $2 video DVD that doesn't play? Perhaps.

Nevermind.

Edited November 26, 2008 by rockefeller center

[Dan Gould]

Yes, because a sealed DVD is demonstrably new. If I considered any alternative that you are suggesting, I'd provide it afterwards, not part of the wrapped present. What you suggest brings the word "gauche" to mind.

[kinuta]

Region 0 definitely exists, all Criterion dvds are Region 0.

Only half of the Criterion releases are Region 0 (i.e. "region-free"), the other half are limited to Region 1 because of contractual limitations

http://www.criteriondvd.com/search.php?encoding=0

http://www.criteriondvd.com/search.php?encoding=1

FWIW, the only numbers on the back of the case are "3" (in a rectangle resembling a TV set), the aforementioned 1 with the circle around it and "4:3".

The region code logo looks like this (region number with planet in the background):

"4:3" is the picture aspect ratio, the classic TV aspect ratio as opposed to widescreen (16:9)

Thanks for the correction. The ones I've got are Reg.0 so I assumed that they all were.

[ejp626]

Yes, because a sealed DVD is demonstrably new. If I considered any alternative that you are suggesting, I'd provide it afterwards, not part of the wrapped present. What you suggest brings the word "gauche" to mind.

I think you have to know your audience. My wife knows I find used books/CDs perfectly acceptable (generally preferable). I have gotten a couple of used DVD sets for my dad that were too good to pass up. For pretty much anyone else in my family, gifts ought to be new. That's probably the case for Dan as well.

[Dave Garrett]

I was somewhat astonished to discover that it's not just the old, single-disc 2000 Warner DVD of GWTW that's out of print, but also the more recent 4-disc and 2-disc special editions as well. Regardless of one's opinion of the film's merits, or lack thereof, it's one of the flagship titles of old Hollywood, and I can't recall another time since home video has become big business that it's been out of print. It's especially unfortunate because the recent SEs utilized Warner's "Ultra-Resolution" process, which sounds like HD-era hype but in reality was a big deal for presentation of classic three-strip Technicolor films on DVD - it essentially used computer horsepower to digitally recombine the original separation masters with far more accurate registration between them than could ever be achieved previously (more details here).

Anyway, Dan, I have a sealed copy of the 2000 Warner DVD - PM me if you're still looking for it.

[Claude]

Dan, it could well be that your $2 Taiwanese DVD is an illegal copy, which are so dominant on the asian market.

A friend once lent me a bootleg DVD he bought during a trip to China. The disc was a perfect copy of the original DVD (in terms of content and quality), but it had no region code. The counterfeiters usually don't copy technical limitations.

Edited November 27, 2008 by Claude