The DVD world is divided into six major geographical regions, with two additional regions reserved for specialized use.

To keep it simple, this means that DVD players and DVDs are labeled for operation on within a specific geographical region in the world. For example, the U.S. is in region 1. This means that all DVD players sold in the U.S. are made to region 1 specifications. As a result, region 1 players can only play region 1 discs. The DVDs themselves are encoded for a specific region. On the back of each DVD package, you will a find a region number (1 thru 6).

The geographical regions are as follows:

REGION 1 -- USA, Canada
REGION 2 -- Japan, Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Greenland
REGION 3 -- S.Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Parts of South East Asia
REGION 4 -- Australia, New Zealand, Latin America (including Mexico)
REGION 5 -- Eastern Europe, Russia, India, Africa
REGION 6 -- China
REGION 7 -- Reserved for Unspecified Special Use
REGION 8 -- Reserved for Cruise Ships, Airlines, etc...
REGION 0 or REGION ALL -- Discs are uncoded and can be played Worldwide

The end result is that DVDs encoded for regions other than Region 1 cannot be played on a region 1 DVD player, also, players marketed for other regions cannot play region 1-stamped DVDs.

The main reason for DVD region coding according to what the public is being told is that such coding is a tool to protect copyright and film distribution rights. In other words, movie studio profits.

Movies are released in theaters in different parts of the world at different times throughout the year. That summer blockbuster in the United States may be the winter blockbuster overseas. If that occurs, the DVD version of the movie may be out in the U.S. while it is still showing in theaters overseas.

However, another suspected reason for region coding is beginning to emerge, possible price-fixing of DVDs depending on region. Although this is yet to be legally proven in court, if proven to be true, Australian and European courts may put the heat on Hollywood and DVD manufacturers to discontinue region coding as a marketing practice. New Zealand has been trying to eliminate DVD region code restrictions in that country.