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I will be traveling overseas with my mac and I'm hoping to be able to watch DVDs wherever I go. Is there any way around region codes? Is there a specific software program that allows you to watch dvds regardless of their region code?
I have heard about more risky ways to overcome the region codes but I am no computer pro so I wouldn't risk my mac to do it.
MacBook Air
As a rule, the region coding is embedded into the DVD drive and not the Mac or PC playing them.
So two possibilities, one buy a cheap external DVD drive and leave it on say Region 1 for USA etc with the Apple DVD drive set to Region 2. You can of course change the region code, but it will only allow 4 or 5 changes before the last change becomes permanent.
The other, assuming you own your DVD's and ensure you don't fall foul of copywrite restrictions, is to make an image of the DVD onto your HD, then play it from that. RipIt works well in this instance.
As a rule, the region coding is embedded into the DVD drive and not the Mac or PC playing them.
So two possibilities, one buy a cheap external DVD drive and leave it on say Region 1 for USA etc with the Apple DVD drive set to Region 2. You can of course change the region code, but it will only allow 4 or 5 changes before the last change becomes permanent.
The other, assuming you own your DVD's and ensure you don't fall foul of copywrite restrictions, is to make an image of the DVD onto your HD, then play it from that. RipIt works well in this instance.
"Is there any way around region codes?"
Depending upon the number of times your DVD player has changed regions, you may be able to watch a DVD from a different region. The firmware of the DVD controls the ability to change regions.
"Is there a specific software program that allows you to watch dvds regardless of their region code?"
No. You would need the ability to change the aforementioned firmware, and that is not possible outside of an Apple laboratory.
What about the software program... I think it's called VCL or VLC? I know it has lower quality than the actual mac dvd player but is this program a way around region codes?
Oh & thank-you for your reply!
I have a macbook air laptop, so I only have an external dvd drive unfortunately. That is a good idea though to set one as one region and the other as another.
"Make an image of your DVD onto your HD, then play it from that" with RipIt though, that may solve one of my other questions which was to find out whether or not you could in some legal/legit way copy your dvds onto your mac to be able to watch them and not have to carry around the physical dvd discs while you travel.
Thank-you for your advice! It's much appreciated.
VLC is a great program, and I use it frequently. The purpose of VLC is to allow you to view videos that have been encoded in a certain manner - there are many protocols that used - unrelated to region coding. The easiest, and certainly most illegal, method to circumvent region coding is to purchase counterfeit copies that have the region coding stripped from the DVDs. While living in Shanghai, the temptation was too great, and I purchased several hundred movie DVDs for about $1USD each. The quality of the DVDs was variable and, over time, many of them delaminated making them useless. I feel appropriately remorseful, and it won't happen again.
Thank-you very much.
I downloaded VLC so I'll see how that goes.
Yeah, I'm not savvy enough to go the whole counterfeit dvd route.
I hate even downloading dvds from Itunes, I only do it when I must. I'm still old school, I prefer having a physical copy of the movies I love but unfortunately traveling won't really allow for it which is why I am trying to find a way around the region codes so I can just copy the dvd onto my computer (send the physical discs home) & be able to watch dvds from different regions on my mac without having to compromise on just one region code.
You can't have it all though. I do see the point in having region codes but they're a big inconvenience when you're not actually doing anything illegal and just want to be able to watch the movies you buy from different regions.
By the way... you don't happen to know if the movies you download from Itunes are also region encoded are they?
I can am trying to watch DVD's on VLC but it will only let me play DVD's from the region my mac is locked in!
Region free dvd player software?
