by 
The Curious Bag
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If you travel abroad, you may have wondered why your DVD won't play in overseas DVD players. That's because of regional encoding, which limits the use of DVDs to a particular geographical area. Region-free DVDs don't have this shortcoming.
Purpose
DVDs are released at different times in different parts of the world. The studios use encoding to keep consumers from getting an early peak (and to cut down on piracy).
Encoding
Every DVD player has a code that matches the region in which it's sold. That coding must match the coding of the DVD placed in it, or else the DVD won't play.
Regions
The world is divided into seven regions, each with its own number (an eighth "region" is used for cruse ships, airplanes and similar type of transit). You can see which region a given DVD matches by checking the package for the region number (the U.S. is Region 1 and Europe is Region 2).
Region-Free
Regional encoding is an optional program, and not all DVD manufacturers need to use it. All-region discs can be played on any DVD player anywhere.
Labels
Region-free DVDs usually have a listing of "Region 0" on their packaging.
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