Video Asylum

My Sony S7700 would not play an "ALL-REGION" DVD

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FrankC

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I have just purchased a music video DVD from an online retailer. To my surprise, the one I received was actually an imported copy from England (instead of the US version). The DVD says that the DVD is region-code free (It acutally says "plays in ALL REGION. The US version has REGION 1 encoded). The disk plays fine in my computer, and in my cheap $39 CyberHome DVD player. But my Sony DVP-S7700 would not read it. I have tons of region-free DVDs from Asia and they all played fine on the Sony. I am just curious what might be the cause of this problem. Is my Sony too old that it does not recongize some codes? Is the European region free DVDs encoded differently than the Asian region-free DVDs?
I would naturally like to keep the imported DVD instead of returning it for an exchange for a US version.
FrankC

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Re: My Sony S7700 would not play an "ALL-REGION" DVD - racerguy 13:38:29 12/03/04 (3)
I don't think your problem has anything to do with region codes.
US DVDs are encoded using the NTSC picture standard. Most Asian DVDs are also NTSC. European DVDs, including DVDs from the UK, use the PAL picture standard.
Most computer DVD drives will play both PAL and NTSC discs. The Cyberhome will play both PAL and NTSC discs (Cyberhome is a German company).
Sony hard-wires DVD players sold in the US to be NTSC-only.
So, if your disc is PAL encoded, it will not play in your Sony regardless of region code or lack thereof.
- The disc says NTSC encoded. (NT) - FrankC 14:21:35 12/03/04 (2)
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  - Do you get an error message? - racerguy 05:50:29 12/04/04 (1)
    If I try to play a non-Region 1 disc on my Sony DVD player, it displays a region error message. Are you getting a region error message, or just no picture?
    - Re: Do you get an error message? - FrankC 14:56:00 12/04/04 (0)
      I got an error code in the display. I just whipped out the manual to see what the code means, and it says "the disc needs to be cleaned". I checked the disc surface and it's clean. I will check again today. I might just return it back to the retailer for an exchange.
      Thanks for the input.
      FrankC

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