I bought some DVD's in Burma with Chinese and English on the box and discs. They are box sets of American TV shows. Anyway, on the box it says region 3, but inside all the discs have different regions printed on them and some say PAL, some NTSC. My DVD player plays all regions so I don't have any problem. But I'm wondering if I should bother sending any of these to my sister in the US. Is she going to be able to watch them? Is there any way to tell without sending them? And any idea why DVD's in the same box all have different region codes printed on them?

I bought some DVD's in Burma with Chinese and English on the box and discs. They are box sets of American TV shows. Anyway, on the box it says region 3, but inside all the discs have different regions printed on them and some say PAL, some NTSC. My DVD player plays all regions so I don't have any problem. But I'm wondering if I should bother sending any of these to my sister in the US. Is she going to be able to watch them? Is there any way to tell without sending them? And any idea why DVD's in the same box all have different region codes printed on them?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It looks like your discs are pirate copies, which means they are probably 'all region', regardless of what it says on the box. Even if they are region 3, your sister should still be able to play them, because most dvds players can be switched to mulit-region (the manufacturers just don't tell you this) - check out this website http://www.videohelp.com

What about the fact that some of them say PAL and some say NTSC?

I can play them all here which of course is PAL, so does the fact that they some say NTSC mean anything? Can I expect that they will work everywhere?

What about the fact that some of them say PAL and some say NTSC?

I can play them all here which of course is PAL, so does the fact that they some say NTSC mean anything? Can I expect that they will work everywhere?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Makes no difference. Modern equipment is multi-system and automatically switch to the right format.

Okay, and to re-confirm, you think that all the different region codes on the disks are meaningless? (Let's assume the DVD player plays the US region only). Are you saying that eventhough a disk might say region 5, because its likely pirated it will play in all zones?

Okay, and to re-confirm, you think that all the different region codes on the disks are meaningless? (Let's assume the DVD player plays the US region only). Are you saying that eventhough a disk might say region 5, because its likely pirated it will play in all zones?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When the pirates copy an original disc, they add all the region codes to the disc, so they will play in any region. The reason why a disc might say region 5 on it is because the original was from this region, because they simply copy the top of the original disc and print it onto the pirate copy.

thats not true, if they are pal in USA you might only see a flipping picture, in USA there are not many multiregion TV. But at least on computer it is not a problem and it is worth to try.

I recommend to not send more than 3-4 in one package and send them as dox. And send them NOW, because at christmas there are less checks, because everything is overloaded.

Else custom might destroy it , they might also send you a letter that you have to pay 250 US$ fee, I got it many times, just put it in the junk.

Will they try and stop DVD's that come from Burma/china?? I have brought some in the past and if they are pirate copies, then they hve the best packaging that I have ever seen and look 100% legit.

thats not true, if they are pal in USA you might only see a flipping picture, in USA there are not many multiregion TV. But at least on computer it is not a problem and it is worth to try.

I recommend to not send more than 3-4 in one package and send them as dox. And send them NOW, because at christmas there are less checks, because everything is overloaded.

Else custom might destroy it , they might also send you a letter that you have to pay 250 US$ fee, I got it many times, just put it in the junk.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You get the flipping picture when the dvd player pumps out a pure pal signal and you don't have a multi-region tv. I am surprised that the u.s, being so technologically advanced, that they do not have multi-region tvs, like in europe and asia. also, dvd players usually pump out a signal which matches your country format. Yes, if you have problems, you can always play on pc.