What region code does the burner in my duplicator burn in?
Region codes do not apply to recordable DVDs or DVD burners. A DVD that you make on a PC or a MAC with a DVD burner or in a home DVD video recorder will play in all regions. Region codes only apply to DVD players. The burner does not put the region code on the disc, the authoring software does it.
How do I make a region free disc?
Just burn your disc like you normally would. If you did not create a region code with your authoring software the burner will not put one there. If you are copying a DVD master that you did not create, just copy it like normal and you will have a region free disc capable of playing in any region. However, if the disc you are copying had a region it will be copied. (Generally, this does not happen because only commercial DVDs have region codes and it is not possible to copy commercial DVDs with our software.) If a DVD does not have a region code to begin with the burner drive will not put one there.
What region does my burner drive play in?
Your drive is set to no region by default. The first time you play a commercial DVD in your burner drive you will be prompted to choose a region code. No matter what code you select, it will only affect commercial DVDs played in your burner. It will not affect DVDs that are burned in your burner or DVDs without a region code that are played in your burner. Think of the burner and the player as two completely separate devices. Changing one does not affect the other.
What are Region Codes?
Motion picture studios want to control the home release of movies in different countries because theater releases aren't simultaneous (a movie may come out on video in the U.S. when it's just hitting screens in Europe). Also, studios sell distribution rights to different foreign distributors and would like to guarantee an exclusive market. Therefore they required that the DVD standard include codes to prevent playback of certain discs in certain geographical regions. Each player is given a code for the region in which it's sold. The player will refuse to play discs that are not coded for its region. This means that a disc bought in one country may not play on a player bought in another country.
Regional codes are entirely optional for the maker of a disc. Discs without region locks will play on any player in any country. It's not an encryption system, it's just one byte of information on the disc that the player checks. Region codes are a permanent part of the disc, they won't "unlock" after a period of time.
Seven regions (also called locales or zones) have been defined, and each one is assigned a number.
1: U.S., Canada, U.S. Territories
2: Japan, Europe, South Africa, and Middle East (including Egypt)
3: Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
4: Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
5: Eastern Europe (Former Soviet Union), Indian subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
6: China
7: Reserved
8: Special international venues (airplanes, cruise ships, etc.)