Re: QMark on DVD


to ranma@ML.usagi.org
from Yoru-Hikage <yoru@mindspring.com>
subject Re: QMark on DVD
date Fri, 03 Mar 2000 09:37:27 -0500
>I thought the primary reason was because so many games and films are 
>released by different companies domestically and internationally?  
>Tetris, for example.  And "Titanic," which was released stateside 
>by Paramount, internationally by Fox.

 Bah. Tetris was a mess largely because of Alexei had to work around
all of the USSR's anti-West export controls (ended up smuggling
it out through some middle-European country like Hungary). And
it sold so well that everyone decided to rip it off.

 Officially, they're region encoded so that players inside of
the intended target market for a DVD get the content that the
studio decides to give it (localized subs, etc.).
 Your theory is part of that; different localizers change different
bits, so they region-encode them to make sure that the target market
gets the bits that their localizer wants them to see.
 They did this with PSX CDs as well. Frankly, the only real reason
to region-encode is to make more money from markets where the
retail price on CDs/DVDs is higher, since it practically eliminates
import competition for the Great Unwashed. (Anyone with a little
tech sense can remove region encoding; sometimes it's just a case
of opening the player and flipping some switches)
 Which really bites. I can buy a VHS tape from Turkey, a VHS
tape from Japan and play them on a Chilean VCR with no problems.
Just try that with DVDs or PSX CDs.
 Welcome to a world where corporate caucuses control what you see
and hear.

-- Yoru
** Probably reading too much Jon Katz -- DeCSS! **

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