DVD ; Common Formats ??
 

Silly question, but then again I don't have a DVD yet.

Presumably, unlike video, there is only 1 world wide format ??
Is this true ??

If I buy a machine overseas, will it play UK DVD's ??
And vice versa ??

Well yes and no.......

There are different TV standards around the world, primarily we are PAL and the US are NTSC. Most newer TV's will play back NTSC no problem, but it's worth checking.

For DVD purposes, the globe is split into 6 regions - North America is Region 1, Western Europe is Region 2.

Players and discs sold in one region will not work in another region.

However, a number of players sold in the UK are supplied with either very weak regional coding - like you can change it on a menu, or have been hardware chipped to make them multi region. Once you have a multi-region player you can play discs from anywhere, provided that your TV can handle NTSC discs.

Even reputable retailers often sell multi region players.

However, most US players cannot easily be converted. The reason is that there's no demand so no-one works out how to crack them - if you live in Region 1, you generally get everything first and pay less for it than everyone else so why would you want a multi-region player........

Best bet is a multi-region player from the UK - they're pretty cheap now. Make sure your TV will play NTSC and then you can get your discs from anywhere.

BTW it is illegal to sell anything other than Region 2 discs in the UK. Easy to order them from the US though :)