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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions DVD
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What is a DVD?
DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc (formerly Digital Video Disc). DVDs provide video
content with excellent digital picture and sound quality, and will sooner or later replace
the VHS cassette system. DVDs also allow you to enjoy additional features like multiple
camera angles, language selection or interactive content (if available). In order to watch
DVDs you need a DVD Player or a DVD-Rom drive for computer application.
What are region codes?
Some DVDs have regional coding which means that discs from different regions (i.e. countries) will
not play on foreign DVD players (e.g. "Code 1" DVDs from the USA will only play on American playback
equipment, "Code 2" only on European). Luckily, most Adult DVDs have NO region code at all (Code 0).
Such discs are commonly called "codefree" or "all region playback". "Code 0" DVDs can be played on
any player in any country.
It's also possible to modify most of the players to ignore region codes. For standalone devices this normally has to be done by a specialist, on computer DVD-ROMs it's mostly possible to do it at home by installing a new patched firmware.
Is PAL/NTSC still an issue with DVD?
A lot of people are curious about the PAL/NTSC compatibility of the DVD format. This is in fact a well-grounded concern, because most of our discs are in the NTSC format. European DVD players DO play NTSC discs. They can play back both formats, NTSC and PAL, without any problems on all common TV sets (see also next question below). This is probably due to Japan's inclusion in the European region code (Japan, like the USA, uses the NTSC format).
Keep in mind that most DVD players in the USA can only play NTSC discs, but no PAL.
The only two devices we currently know that CANNOT properly handle NTSC titles are the Sony Playstation 2 and Sony DAV S300.
For more information on your system's compatibility, please study the instruction manuals. Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions regarding this issue.
How come the picture's only black'n'white when I play back my DVDs?
This is a problem that mostly arises with DVD players that do not send an RGB (RedGreenBlue) signal
to the TV set. All you need to do is to switch your player to RGB transmission (read the player's
instruction manual on how to do this). Also, your TV set should be linked to the DVD player via
the RGB scart jack, generally called "EURO AV 1 (RGB)".
A DVD wants to install a software, why?
There are some publishers that spice up a DVD with various software which only plays on a computer though. Specially
on Windows systems that software starts automatically after inserting a DVD. This can be quite
confusing and that additional software is seldomly useful. Either the publishers pack a DVD-Player-Software on the disc -
normally you don't need this because such a software is already installed. Or they pack bonus stuff on it that
however is mostly only commercials for their website or other services. To avoid having a DVD autostart such software
upon inserting, just press and hold the SHIFT key until the DVD is initialised. After that launch
your DVD player program and watch the movie.
Will the DVDs play on my Playstation 2?
Yes and no. European DVDs in the PAL format will play on your (european) console without any difficulties.
On the other hand, US-discs in the NTSC format will only be displayed in black and white! This is due to
the fact that the European Playstation 2 models don't have RGB-capability (i.e. the PS2 will send an NTSC
signal to your TV set instead of an RGB signal). If your TV set can process a pure NTSC signal then you'll
get to see the movie in color. In Europe these televisions are called "Multinorm".
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