Blu-ray to Begin Region-Coding this Fall

It looks like the days of region-free Blu-ray disc playback are coming to an end. The Blu-ray Disc Association has decided to begin burning regional codes into the discs sold in the format beginning this fall.

While the Bu-ray group had devised a regional coding system last year, there was some question whether it would be used to prevent playback across regions.

Variety is reporting this morning that the decision to institute the coding system emerged from talks between Advanced Access Content System members who belong to the Blu-ray Disc Association. Warner Bros. reportedly opposed the system, citing the ineffectiveness of the current coding setup for conventional DVDs, but was outvoted.

On the bright side for consumers, the Blu-ray group's regional coding system splits the world into three markets (instead of the more restrictive six markets for standard DVD). Those markets are as follows: Region A, covering Japan, South Korea, the Americas and most of Southeast Asia; Region B, which includes Europe and the Middle East; and Region C, which includes China, Russia, India and other countries.

The HD DVD camp has yet to institute region codes, and has said in the past that they won't.
http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh...is_Fall___/277

Well... Region A doesn't sound so bad.

There are titles out there with Regional coding already. Some don't say it on the label, but still might have it (we won't know until Region 2 players come out).

Does this announcement imply that existing (and soon-to-be-released) BD players already implement region coding, and now it's just up to the content providers to implement on their end?

And if that's the case, what is there to stop Warner from omitting the code on their discs, as they are now doing? If they don't like the system, how can the BDA force them to use it?

Yes.

No one is forcing anyone to implement region coding. It's up to the studio to implement, just as it is on DVD now. However, most big studios are going to consider it in their best interest to implement it. The only reason HD DVDs aren't region coded now is that there's no standarized spec for what region coding will be yet. Warner would undoubtedly implement it on HD DVD now if they could, just as they use it on DVDs.

Then I guess I don't understand the point the author of the article was trying to make by stating that Warner opposed the system, but was outvoted. If it is optional, why go to the trouble of voting on it? The players can handle it, so either use it or don't use it.

It seems to me that they opposed the particular system that was proposed, not region coding itself. They cited "the ineffectiveness of the current coding setup for conventional DVDs," which could actually mean they wanted something stronger.

I'm sure both sides will be slow to roll out all the DRM features of thier platforms. DRM doesn't test well with consumers and they know it. But expect more and more of these kinds of things as the train keeps a rolling.

Well, we have had some warning of a train that is coming at us.

This is great news for Blu-ray!

HD DVD didn't say that they would NEVER introduce region codes - just that they are in no hurry.

They recognize that until either format is into thousand of releases that it is an impediment to early adoption.

I do believe that HD DVD is FAR more consumer-friendly than Bluray.

Score another win for HD DVD here, IMHO...

http://translate.google.com/translat...language_tools

HD DVD is currently studying Regional Coding as content providers are asking for it.

But that still doesn't answer my question. If the coding system is already in the spec and implemented in first generation players (including the PS3), what is the point of voting on it now? It is there. It is what it is. If a content provider wanted to use it, why did they need to wait until after the vote to do so?

Unless the purpose of the vote was to delay the roll-out of any more BD hardware until a new system could be implemented, I really don't see the relevance of it.

Fantastic, another thing that won't matter because it will be worked around.

STOOOOPID!

It matters to Vandelay.

I'm not trying to be a jerk but is there anything in that article that we didn't already know? Thye're studying it, haven't applied it yet, movie studios want it, and they might do it in the future.

If my tone seems a little sarcastic I apoligize in advance but I don't know what the point of that article is.