DVD Region Coding & DVD Wide Screen

DVD Regional Coding Map
DVD discs contain Regional Codes which can be used to prevent the playback of certain discs depending upon the geographical area your are playing it in. Various studios and home video companies made it a requirement in the current DVD standards. This was done to ensure DVD playback could be controlled on a regional basis. For instance if a movie has been released in the US but, not in other parts of the world the DVD would have a Region Code that would prevent it from being played outside the US.

   DVD Regions
   Region 1 - The U.S., U.S. territories and Canada
   Region 2 - Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt,
      South Africa, Greenland
   Region 3 - Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia,
      Hong Kong
   Region 4 - Mexico, South America, Central America,
      Australia,
      New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
   Region 5 - Russia, Eastern Europe, India,
      Africa, North Korea, Mongolia
   Region 6 - China

The Region Code is usually printed on the back of the individual DVD packages.
A Regional Coding logo of a globe with the region number printed over it.

Widescreen and Pan & Scan
Whether you like Pan & Scan or the Widescreen image while watching your DVDs, you might not know what you are missing. They say 20% to 45% of the movie is lost when viewed with Pan & Scan. You be the judge.
These amazing examples are from:

John L. Berger's The Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page.

These are actual UNRETOUCHED Pan & Scan and Widescreen images.
The black bands have been removed from the Widescreen versions to let you more
clearly see how much of the video image is lost in the Pan & Scan version.

  Pan & Scan VersionWidescreenIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade


  Pan & Scan VersionWidescreenRomancing the Stone


  Pan & Scan VersionWidescreenThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

  Pan & Scan VersionWidescreenThe Mask of Zorro