Why are there dvd regions?

Question

I understand that dvds will only work in certain regions, but why are there regions? What is the point of having dvd regions? Does it actually serve a purpose?

Answer 1

It's all abut control, and usually revolves around different launch dates, and marketing money surrounding that.

It's rare for a DVD to launch worldwide on the exact same day.

So if say  a DVD were to launch on say Aug 1 2008 here, and the launch date in Japan wasn't until Nov 1 2008, people would just import the DVD over there. Everyone wants something early if they can get it.

But a movie company might have a big marketing push on that date, with money involved. There could be press or celebs involved, it just depends. Region codes help stop this. Of course there are ways around it, but it stops the average joe from buying up stock at wholesale here and sellin' 'em somewhere else.

Dvd's don't cost the same around the world as well. And content can change depending on the culture. It probably slowed down p****y in the early period of DVD, but probably not so much any more. Those are some of the reasons.

For hi def blu ray, it seems the thinking has changed. Nearly two thirds of blu ray movies are region free.