RCE gives me a headache
Perhaps the RCE (Region Code Enhancement) protection blocks AnyDVD/CloneDVD from seeing the region of the DVD and that's why we need to select the "correct" region to defeat it and make a region free backup.
I've always kept my computer drive set to Region 1. I can play any Region 2 original DVD or Region-free backup that's in my computer drive while AnyDVD is running in the background (without obviously having to change my drive region) as James mentioned previously. AnyDVD basically converts my drive to a region free DVD player. Hooray!
To make a region-free backup of a Region 2 DVD, I still keep my drive set to Region 1 and I use Nero and DVD Shrink with AnyDVD of course; I can then play the backup in my Region-Free DVD player (still using the NTSC setting of my Region-Free DVD player to match my NTSC TV) without any problems. Hooray! However, since AnyDVD doesn't convert PAL (Region 2, etc.) to NTSC (Region 1), my cheapo (brand name changed to protect the guilty) Region 1 DVD player won't play either the region-free backups or the original Region 2 DVDs. My older Panny Region 1 DVD player also understandably won't play Region 2 DVDs, but it WILL play the backups (made using AnyDVD, Nero and DVD Shrink) that are region-free, EXCEPT since they are still in the PAL format, my NTSC TV displays them in B+W with a zoomed-in view, so that I can't directly access the menu screen.
As for the RCE (Region Code Enhancement) protection, since DVD Shrink can apparently remove it as long as you know what Region the original DVD is (obviously it's going to be Region 1 in most cases since I believe that RCE is mostly/exclusively used for only Region 1 discs now), I also ASSUME that AnyDVD/CloneDVD removes the RCE protection and makes the DVDs Region Free as soon as you specify the ACTUAL (or "CORRECT") Region of the DVD. If you select the incorrect region of the actual DVD with the RCE protection, I'm also going to ASSUME that your backup won't be region free, but will instead become a Region X DVD (X= the region you selected when prompted to choose).
Clarification would be nice because since AnyDVD allows us to make region free backups, it is odd that RCE protected DVDs might require us to choose the "CORRECT" region that the original DVD is from, in order to remove the RCE protection and make the DVD backup region-free. If AnyDVD/CloneDVD internally selected Region 1 as the "CORRECT" region for EVERY RCE protected DVD, what would happen if you tried to backup a RCE protected DVD that wasn't a Region 1 DVD (although not very likely, I assume that other regions might incorporate RCE protection in the future)? I assume that all those non Region 1 RCE protected DVDs would then become Region 1 DVD backups and wouldn't play in the other region's players.
To summarize: If you try to make a backup for a Region 1 RCE protected DVD and choose anything other than Region 1 when you see the RCE prompt (from DVD Shrink, etc.), your backup will NOT be a region-free DVD, but rather one that will only play in DVD players for the region that you selected. Is that correct? Probably not, but at least I gave it a try.
I noticed that the help text for AnyDVD says that the RCE protection is removed if you use CloneDVD and have checked the "Region Code Scripts" box. Since I've never used CloneDVD (shame on me), I don't know if it also shows a prompt to select the "Correct" region to remove the RCE protection, or if it does it internally and no prompt is ever seen (even from AnyDVD).
My head hurts.:doh:
Wikipedia says:
Region Code Enhanced
Also known as just "RCE" or "REA", this was a retroactive attempt to prevent the playing of one region's discs in another region, even if the disc was played in a region free player. The scheme was deployed on only a handful of discs. The disc contained the main program material region coded as region 1. But it also contained a short video loop of a map of the world showing the regions, which was coded as region 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The intention was that when the disc was played in a non-region 1 player, the player would default to playing the material for its native region. This played the aforementioned video loop of a map, which was impossible to escape from, as the user controls were disabled.
However, it is easy to work around the scheme. A region-free player tries to play a disc using the last region that worked with the previously inserted disc. If it cannot play the disc, then it tries another region until one is found that works. RCE could thus be defeated by briefly playing a "normal" region 1 disc, and then inserting the RCE protected region 1 disc, which would now play. RCE caused a few problems with genuine region 1 players.
As of 2007, many "multi-region" DVD players defeat regional lockout and RCE by automatically identifying and matching a disc's region code and/or allowing the user to manually select a particular region. Some manufacturers of DVD players now freely supply information on how to disable regional lockout, and on some recent models, it appears to be disabled by default. Programs such as DVD Shrink are also capable of removing RCE protection, provided the operator knows what the region of the disc actually is. If the region is specified correctly, the copy will play in any region.
