In a message dated 5/18/00 10:48:30 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

>I know that videotapes that are made in Europe are incompatible with
>our VCRs, but I was wondering whether European DVDs were OK. European
>CDs are just like ours, so does that mean that European DVDs will
>play on our machines?

Short answer: Depends on the machine.

DVDs are encoded by region, and only players set up for a particular region
can play that region's discs.  North America is region 1, so most DVD players
sold in North America are region 1 players.

There are workarounds.  You can buy a player that will play all regions (the
rapidly disappearing Apex player is one example) and use discs from anywhere.
 Also, some discs are listed as region 0, which means they'll play in any
player, but these discs are generally few and far between (in a collection of
almost 400 DVDs, I have 1 region 0 disc).

This is by no means exhaustive, but I hope it helps.

Ed

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