University of Pittsburgh Library System

To accommodate the needs of the University community, the Stark DVD and Blu-ray collections include films sourced from formats outside of the United States as well as formats that are only able to be viewed on certain players. It is possible a film you would like to use for instruction, research, or personal viewing will not be compatible with every player.

Regions

Many commercially produced DVDs contain regional coding to prevent the playback of the disc in a geographical area other than the one in which it was released. DVD movies released in one region may only play on DVD players manufactured for that same region. This is done because many studios and home video companies want to control how and when DVD titles are exported to other countries. However, some DVD movies are not region coded and will play on any player in any region.

DVDs published in the United States, Canada, and U.S. territories for viewing on conventional DVD and Blu-ray players are known as “Region 1” DVDs. The following are region codes you may encounter:

• Region 1 - Canada, the United States and U.S. territories
• Region 2 - Japan, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East (including Egypt) and Greenland
• Region 3 - Southeast Asia, and East Asia (including Hong Kong)
• Region 4 - Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean
• Region 5 - Eastern Europe, Russia, the Indian Subcontinent, Africa, North Korea, and Mongolia
• Region 6 - China
• Region 7 - reserved for unspecified special use
• Region 8 - Special international venues for air and oceanic travel

The region number of your disc or player can be determined by looking for a small, standardized globe icon with the region number superimposed on it. If a disc plays in more than one region, it will have more than one number on the globe. If a disc does not have any regional coding, it will say 0 or ALL for all regions.

Blu-rays are also published with region codes; the region codes for Blu-ray Disc media use letters instead of numbers to indicate a particular zone or region where the discs can be played.

The Blu-ray Disc region codes are as follows:

• Region A: North America, South America, U.S. Territories, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other areas of Southeast Asia
• Region B: Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia, and New Zealand
• Region C: Asia (except for Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and other areas of Southeast Asia)
• Region FREE: This is not an official setting, but discs that have the region FREE symbol either have no flag set or have all region flags (A, B & C) set.

Media Services loans portable USB DVD players that can play any region DVD when equipped to a computer using a program like VLC Media Player. The Media Services Public Viewing Stations on the second floor of the Hillman Library are equipped with all-region DVD and Blu-ray players.

NTSC and PAL formats

Some of the DVDs in our collection are in PAL format, an international color system that impacts a material’s frame rate and how it is processed by one’s television or media player. Though most contemporary televisions and players can play both NTSC and PAL formats without any issue now, if you attempt to play PAL DVDs with certain older DVD players, or on an older (e.g. analog/CRT) television, you may experience technical issues.

A more detailed explanation of the difference between NTSC and PAL can be found here: https://www.howtogeek.com/428987/whats-the-difference-between-ntsc-and-pal/

Media Services loans portable USB DVD players that can play either format. The Media Services Viewing Room and Public Viewing Stations are equipped with players that can play both NTSC and PAL releases.

4K/UHD formats

Some newer Blu-ray releases are in an enhanced high definition format called “UHD” or “Ultra High Definition.” Please note that these can only be played on Blu-ray players with UHD compatibility.

The Media Services Viewing Room has a television with a UHD-compatible Blu-ray player available by email appointment.

Older or Vintage Formats

The Stark Film Collection also includes videocassettes, 16mm film reels, and Laserdiscs. These require format-specific players that can be difficult to access or acquire. The Media Services Viewing Room has a 16mm player, VCR and Laserdisc player available by email appointment. The Media Services Public Viewing Stations are also equipped with a VCR and Laserdisc player.