Yes John, that is true. But it is also true that I am in New Zealand, not Australia. However, it is common to find non region specific DVD players here also. So, if the regionalization mechanism can be circumvented without bother then why maintain it?=20 I am intrigued to know this. When this diabolical concept was devised, was there any say from representatives of any of the "lesser" regions in deciding the hierarchy of those regions? It may be hard for many in the US to appreciate, but I do not wish to import region 1 NTSC DVDs. The only advantage would be that there may be extra time for documentary material after the movie. The disadvantage is inferior quality. The lack of perception of this reality is all too clear in many comments made by certain people on this forum. This accounts for statements made implying that the DVB-T standard as implemented in Europe is backward as it is not geared to HDTV. Can I remind those people that had the USA had 625 line PAL for the last 50 years there would be no motivation to go to HDTV because resolution is quite acceptable on the average screen. I can tell you that watching the Olympics on my 42" AliS plasma screen at a distance of 3 meters is very satisfying, picture quality wise. It is received in my home via satellite and the picture is subjectively at least as good as a well rendered DVD. Furthermore, as far as picture quality is concerned, there is a marked difference in quality of entertainment material received from the US versus that from the UK. A typical example would be the comedy "friends" which is replaying here. The colour is very poor, the definition is poor and it is only watchable because it is such a remarkably good comedy. So, back to my original grumble. I am happy to import region 2 PAL DVDs but even region 2 has a significantly reduced subset of the US DVD selection. Regards Barry Wilkins =20 -----Original Message----- From: John Shutt [mailto:shuttj@xxxxxxxxx]=20 Sent: Friday, 27 August 2004 5:27 a.m. To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [opendtv] Re: Blue Ray has competition Barry, At least in Australia it is legal to own a DVD player that has the region codes disabled. John Shutt ----- Original Message -----=20 From: "Barry Wilkins" <Barry.Wilkins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > While on the topic of new DVD standards, can anybody tell me if there > will be imposed an idiotic, unnecessary and entirely unfair regional > system for these new HD pre-recorded discs. I am saying this because I > come from the forth "world"(region)area, which does not get many of the > DVDs you in the USA get, even after the original movie has been released > in theatres for years. > An example is "The Mission", which even now I had to import from region > 2. You have had this release on DVD for how long? > > Barry Wilkins =20 =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org=20 - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways: - Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org - By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.