# CD's and DVD's



## Lotso (Oct 24, 2013)

Hello,

I have it in my head that CD's and DVD's are coded so that they only play in certain regions of the world - is this correct?

If so, will DVD's and CD's purchased in the UK play on devices in Canada?

Can anyone help?


----------



## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

You're good to go with the music CDs, as those are region free and will play on any CD player anywhere in the world.

For your Region 2 DVDs, unfortunately you're out of luck as far as buying a DVD player in Canada, setting it up and popping in your disc and hitting play. The machine that you buy is coded for Region 1 (Canada and the USA), so your discs can't be read.

An easy work around this problem would be for you to get a region free DVD player... my husband and I have the UK version of this Toshiba player, which enables me to play all of my beloved North American discs that I brought with me when I came to get married, on our telly here in London. 

You will need set the player to Region 0 before you can play your Region 2 discs on the machine when you get it set up in Canada -- see the instructions in the comments section. Write the directions down in the user's manual and keep it handy, as you may have to re-set the player once in a while (we've had our machine for about a year and I've had to re-set it once so far).

Once you've got the machine set up, you'll be good to go for ordering the Series 5 disc of Downton Abbey and the Christmas Special off of Amazon UK when it's released after Christmas and watching it before PBS shows it in North America in the New Year... the UK domestic release version is so much better than the North American PBS release... please keep this in mind when you're considering buying North American versions of UK programs. Wherever possible, it's best to try and find and buy the UK version of the disc, as the content can (and often does) vary from that of the North American release (I got D.A. Series 1 disc in Vancouver before I left and I made sure that it said "UK Version" on the box, because I didn't want the watered down US version).

Anyway, hope this helps even a little bit.

Good luck to you and please have a safe journey over to Canada. I certainly hope you have as enjoyable a time in my home country as I have had these two years in yours (I'm based in London but have a great love for/attraction to my husband's haunts in West Yorkshire).


----------



## Brockthebadger (May 11, 2012)

Hi
Yes we bought a DVD in the UK with dual power, region free and TV type PAL and NTSC. Easier to get in uk than Canada.


----------



## JGK (Dec 12, 2009)

Cds are no problem they play anywhere.. 

DVDs & blu-ray you will need a player you can switcth regions on. Many cheap DVD & blu-ray players are region programmed through the remote. there are databased of how to make them region free such as videohelp. I've not paid more than $80 for a unit that can be converted easily, most were much cheaper ($80 was for a blu-ray player that can be converted to the different blu-ray regions aswell as made region free for DVD).


----------



## Lotso (Oct 24, 2013)

WestCosatCanadianGirl 

Thank you very much for the detailed and informative reply.

I will need to remember that about the UK vs USA releases - really helpful.

I appreciate the time you have taken.

Regards,

MDV


----------



## Lotso (Oct 24, 2013)

BrockTheBadger

Thanks for the machine specs - good to know what I am looking for.

Regards,

MDV


----------



## Lotso (Oct 24, 2013)

JGK

Thank you for the website.

Regards,

MDV


----------



## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

If you are playing the disks on your computer optical drive, you can switch the region.

However you are limited to 5 switches and after that your drive is locked into the last region.

There is software that will alow you to make region free copies, not sure of the legality of these under new copyright laws or how the rules of the board would apply to naming some of these applications so I'll just leave it at that.


----------



## Lotso (Oct 24, 2013)

Manitoba

Thanks for the info.

Regards,

MDV


----------

