Are Blu-Ray discs region locked?

[twoscoops]

Hi all, 

 

About to order a Blu-Ray film, but I've seen that it says region A. I didn't even know they had regions?

 

Does this means that it'll be locked off my Blu-Ray player or is it just for marketing?

 

[ImBleu]

When I last bought a bluray film it was region locked. The regions (1-5) are America, Europe, Asia, Oceania & Africa in no particular order. 

 

Have you considered <snip>?

Edited December 12, 2014 by colonel_mortis
Removed reference to pirate site

[twoscoops]

When I last bought a bluray film it was region locked. The regions (1-5) are America, Europe, Asia, Oceania & Africa in no particular order. 

 

Have you considered <snip>?

It was region A? That's what confused me. It's only a tenner, I'll just grab it.

[dalekphalm]

It was region A? That's what confused me. It's only a tenner, I'll just grab it.

See here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Region_codes

 

Region A contains North America, plus Japan and a few other areas in Southeast Asia (Note: For some stupid reason, does not include Australia - They, along with the UK, get dropped into Region B).

 

 

When I last bought a bluray film it was region locked. The regions (1-5) are America, Europe, Asia, Oceania & Africa in no particular order. 

 

Have you considered <snip>?

This is... not correct. Are you thinking of DVD Regions perhaps? There are only three Regions for Blu-Ray (Fourth if you count the unofficial "FREE" worldwide region). See the link I posted above.

 

@twoscoops if you live in the UK, and own a UK Blu-Ray player, a Region A disc will not work. There are ways to get it to play, but the easiest thing to do is to buy an American Blu-Ray player for cheap, and get a AC Wall-Plug adapter for it.

 

A guide that kind of goes through things:

http://www.arthousecowboy.com/journal/2013/1/25/how-to-watch-import-blu-rays.html

This is the player he links in the article:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009AP9D54/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B009AP9D54&linkCode=as2&tag=arthocowbo-21

 

It seems old and discontinued, so the price is rather high. You may want to do your own research.

 

On a PC, you can generally switch regions within a playback software. Some of them have a limit to the number of times you can switch, so again, you should do your research.

 

Honestly, you should just find a place that sells your Blu-Ray in Region B, as it'll be less complicated. Is the movie hard to find or something?