Major Problems For Popular DVDs

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Just thought I'd pass on an FYI for some DVDphiles out there. Warner Brothers and Columbia/Tristar are beginning to release DVDs that are encoded with RCE or Region Coding Enhancement. These DVDs scan the DVD player to see if the region is compatible with the disc. The only problem is that most players on the market are showing wrong region errors for this disc when it would normally play fine without problems if RCE wasn't encoded on the disc. So far there are 2 DVDs on the market with this problem...The Patriot and The Perfect Storm, but there will be hundreds more since this will be a new standard for all Region 1 DVDs. If your player says "This disc will only play on non-modified Region 1 players" then your player will be incompatible with these RCE films. Depending on your player there will be RCE decoder chips on the market in a few months that can be installed to correct the problem. Other players will need a firmware upgrade available from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, RCE encoded DVDs are not labeled in any way to let the consumer know in advance if they can purchase the disc or not. Because of my job, I'll be keeping on ongoing list of these DVDs that I can post here every once in awhile for those interested. If anyone has any problems and questions for me, fire away.
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In Soviet America, you sue MPAA!
What about a DVD-ROM? It shouldn't have those problems should it? It would be easy enough just to make new software for it.
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Looks like DVDROM is ok for now. As more studios begin releasing RCE titles, the incompatibility percentage will increase though.



Update: Our people are working on a chip that can be installed into a player that will allow the disc to 'read' the manufacturer 'signature' of a player. By reading this 'sig', the disc will know if the player is compatible or if it's a true region violation. The firmware upgrade will most likely be free to all manufacturers, but it may not be available for several months...if at all. Legal complications may force a permanent delay on any possible fix. Just an FYI on the current status of the nationwide RCE problem



Another update:

I've been getting reports nationwide that Hollow Man is the latest DVD release that has RCE. As in the case of The Patriot, Hollow Man is showing to be incompatible with multiple players on the market.



Registered User
I have a early 1998 vintage Toshiba DVD player. I have not to date had any problem with any DVD I have played in it. Including the titles you mention in this thread. I will count myself lucky. Just out of curiosity I any of you reading this have a dvd player that goes nuts or wont play the above titles will you post what brand of player and the model number? Is this permissible in this thread. If not, ignore me and I wont ask such a question again. Flames are not needed.

Allen
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I know the Sony 7700 has a lot of problems as does Samsung 700 and 900 series. The problem is there are dozens of hardware and software companies producing DVDs and DVD players right now. It's almost impossible to keep a running list of every incompatibility problem with over 10,000 DVDs and 100 different players in Region 1 alone. Luckily, player manufacturers realize that not everything will be compatible with their systems. Several companies offer free firmware upgrades for specific DVD title problems...like The Matrix.

My company is still working on a RCE chip to fix a lot of problems, but we're getting a lot of resistance from the other members of the DVD Group. So I guess we'll see what happens.