AboutStephen Campbell Expertise Pretty much anything and everything really. I'm a film fanatic, and I keep up to speed on all the latest developments in the business. I have a huge DVD collection (over 500), and I'm a big fan of special features. I'm also an active contributor to www.dvdcompare.net.
Experience I own over 500 DVDs and keep up to speed on all the future releases as well as the difference between DVDs from different regions, the differences between the 'Definitive Edition' and the 'Ultimate Edition' etc
Education/Credentials I have a BA in English and History, an MA in English, a Diploma in Film and Video Production and I'm currently in the final year of my PhD in English.
Question I have been sent a DVD by an American friend who is living in Borneo. It does not work on my English DVD player which is made by Loewe. Is there any way this can be remedied?
Your advice would be much appreciated.
Answer Hi Jill,
Your DVD player is Region 2. The DVD you have is Region 1. To cut a long story short, Region 2 machines cannot play Region 1 DVDs. Now there are a couple of ways around it.
Firsty, you could buy a mutliregion DVD player! (which probably isn't the best solution)
Secondly, if you have a PC or laptop that plays DVDs, you can download a programme called VLC, which is a multiregion media player and no matter what region your machine, it'll play any DVDs from any region. You can get it here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Thirdly, you could hack your own DVD player. Now, if you're lucky, you'll be able to use a remote control hack, but if you're unlucky you may have to physically open the machine. To find out, put in the exact name and model of your DVD player into Google as a phrase, and also search for "multiregion hack"; so type it exactly like this: "Loewe XXX-XXX-XXX" "multiregion hack". You should come up with results pretty quick. There are a lot of universal remote hackers available on places like Ebay, and they'll have a list of players they work on. If you're having problems tracking it down though, you could get back to me and I'll see what I can find.
