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1. What Are The Different Video & DVD
Formats?
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Video Formats
All videos available to rent or buy from Blockbuster UK are PAL VHS format.
There are three world standards for video: PAL, NTSC and SECAM. These standards
are nearly always incompatible, although some newer VCRs will play more than one
format. If in doubt, please check your VCR manual. We have provided a list of
countries for each format. N.B. Brazil is the one exception and requires a format
called PAL M. This is not the same as PAL VHS.
PAL VHS
Abu Dhabi, Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Ascension Island,
Australia, Austria, Azores, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina,
Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, China
(Peoples Republic), Christmas Island, Cook Island, Croatia, Cyprus,
Denmark, Dubai, Easter Island, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe
Islands, Finland, Gambia, Gaza & West Bank, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar,
Greenland, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Holland, Hong Kong, Iceland, India,
Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madeira,
Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norfolk Island, Norway, Oman, Pakistan,
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Sardinia, Seychelles,
Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa,
Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania,
Thailand, Tonga, Tristian Da Cunah, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Vatican, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zanzibar and
Zimbabwe.
NTSC
Alaska, American Samoa, Antigua, Antilles (Dutch), Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados,
Barbuda, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands, Burma, Canada,
Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Diego Garcia, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti,
Hawaii, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, Johnston Islands, Korea South, Leeward Islands,
Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Midway Islands, Montserrat,
Myanmar, Nicaragua, Okinawa, Palau, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Samoa,
St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Surinam, Taiwan, Trinidad and
Tobago, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam and Virgin
Islands.
Secam
Afghanistan, Andorra, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Benin, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso,
Burundi, Cambodia (Kampuchea), Central African Republic, Chad, Congo
(Peoples Republic), Corsica, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial
Guinea, Estonia, France, Gabon, Georgia, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guyana (French),
Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Kampuchea, Kazakhastan, Korea North,
Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali,
Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, New Caledonia,
Niger, Polynesia, Reunion, Romania, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia,
Slovakia Republic, St Pierre, Syria, Tahiti, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Wallis Island and Zaire.
DVD Formats
All DVDs available to rent or buy from Blockbuster UK are either Region 2
or Region 0. There are a number of different world regions for DVD. DVDs
made in one region will usually only play on players that were manufactured
in the same region, e.g. DVDs bought in the USA will not play on U.K. players
and vice versa. However there are some exceptions. Some players will play
more than one regional format. Also Region 0 DVDs will play on all DVD players,
regardless of region. If in doubt, please check your DVD player manual.
We have provided a list of countries for each region.
Region 0
Can be played on all DVD players, regardless of region
Region 1
Canada, U.S., U.S. Territories
Region 2
Albania, Andorra, Austria, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegowina,
Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt,
Estonia, European Union, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, France, Metropolitan,
Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Iran (Islamic
Republic of) Iraq,Ireland,Israel,Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav
Republic, Malta, Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Oman,
Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Saudi
Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia,South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Syrian Arab Republic, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, United Kingdom (Channel Islands) Vatican City State, Yemen,
Yugoslavia
Region 3
Southeast Asia, East Asia (including Hong Kong)
Region 4
Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Central America, Mexico, South America,
Caribbean
Region 5
Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa (also North Korea,
Mongolia)
Region 6
China
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2. What Are The Different Video and DVD
Classifications?
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The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the organisation that
classifies all video recordings (both rental and retail) in the UK. Within the
Blockbuster web site we provide information on the designated BBFC
classification for each video and DVD. The BBFC classifications are as follows:
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This means that the film or programme has a universal category and
is suitable for everyone but especially suitable for very young children.
It has probably been made just for them.
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This means that the film or programme can be seen by people of all
ages. There will be nothing unsuitable for children and the whole family
might well enjoy it.
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This stands for Parental Guidance which means that parents might
wish to check up on the film or programme before showing it to their
younger children. If it's an action film it might have some violence.
If it's romantic it might have some sexy scenes or very brief nudity.
It might also have some of the milder swearwords.
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This means that the film or programme is unsuitable for anyone
younger than 12. 12 films may have stronger moments of violence or
references to teenage experience but nothing gratuitous. There may also
be swearwords that you wouldn't hear in a PG video.
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This means that the film or programme is unsuitable for anyone
younger than 15. 15 films may have a fairly adult theme or contain scenes
of sex, violence or drugs which, while not being particularly graphic, are
unsuitable for younger teenagers. They may also contain some sexual
swearwords.
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This means that the film or programme is only suitable for adults
(persons over the age of 18). An 18 film will certainly have an adult theme
and might well contain strong scenes of sex or violence which could be
quite graphic. It may also contain some very explicit language which will
frequently mean sexual swearwords.
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The 'R18' category is a special and legally restricted
classification primarily for explicit videos of consenting sex between
adults.
N.B. Blockbuster does not rent or sell 'R18' titles.
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Please Note: Some videos and DVDs are "Exempt" from classification. These
titles include documentaries, instructional videos, sport, music and some
classic drama, e.g. Shakespeare.
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3. What Are The Different Game Classifications?
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Video and computer games are subject to the Video Recordings Act 1984 but are
generally exempt from legal classification. A voluntary system of age-rating
for games exempt from legal classification exists. The system belongs to the
European Leisure Software Publisher's Association (ELSPA) but is administered
by the Video Standards Council (VSC). Games are rated at four levels (3+, 11+,
15+ and 18+) and the rating appears on the games packaging.
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Suitable for ages 3 and upwards
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Suitable for ages 11 and upwards
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Suitable for ages 15 and upwards
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Suitable for ages 18 and upwards
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It should be noted that the ratings relate to the content of the game and not
to how difficult the game is to play. A chess game would probably get a 3+ but
would hardly be recommended for toddlers.
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4. What is Anamorphic Widescreen DVD?
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Widescreen televisions can "blow up" standard, letterboxed (non-anamorphic) films so
they fill the entire screen. This means that with widescreen TVs, you don't see the
the black bars on the top and bottom or you see smaller black bars. The
problem with this is that when you blow up the image, the picture quality
goes down.
This is because when you blow up a picture to a larger
size, the elements that make up that picture become bigger and more
visible. In the case of televisions, the most important elements make up
the horizontal resolution. This has nothing to do with the television;
it's about the horizontal resolution of the image itself.
To make
widescreen films look better on widescreen televisions, you need to add
more lines of horizontal resolution and avoid blowing up the picture.
Anamorphic widescreen DVD does both of these things.
When studios make
an anamorphic widescreen DVD, they take the widescreen image and "squeeze"
it horizontally, so the entire width of the image fits into a 4:3
aspect ratio.
Squeezing the image this way
increases its horizontal resolution, because the black bars used in
letterboxing can be much smaller, if they're needed at all. The black bars
at the top and bottom that would be visible with standard letterboxing are
"squeezed out" and everything in the picture is taller and skinnier.
Widescreen televisions take the squeezed image from the anamorphic
widescreen DVD and stretch it horizontally. This restores the proper
aspect ratio of the image.
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5. What are Aspect Ratios?
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The term aspect ratio refers to the basic SHAPE of the screen. It refers
to the ratio of the width of the picture to the height of the picture.
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For example, conventional television sets use screens
with a 4:3 aspect ratio (also referred to as 1.33:1). The first number
in the ratio, before the colon (:), refers to the screen's width, the
second to its height. In other words, on a 4:3 set, there are four units
of width for every three units of height. No matter how large the screen
may get, the ratio stays the same.
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All current TV programmes are formatted in the 4:3
(1.33:1) aspect ratio. Even films were originally shown in cinemas that way.
But when TV came along, filmmakers knew they needed something special to lure
people back to the cinemas and the enhancement they came up with was wider
screen images. Since the original widescreen films, studios have offered
numerous variations. Screens in cinemas have a wider shape than a television
does. The aspect ratios of cinema screens are typically 1.85:1 to 2.35:1.
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All new digital televisions and HDTV (High Definition
Television) sets will conform to the new 16:9 aspect ratio (1.78:1).
This was adopted as a compromise between the 1.85 ratio that American
cinematographers tend to prefer and the 1.66 that European
cinematographers use.
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6. What is Dolby Digital 5.1?
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Dolby Digital, also known as AC-3, is an audio technique developed to
compress as many as 6 channels of crystal clear digital surround sound
into a single digital bitstream which reduces storage requirements.
With a maximum of 6 separate channels, the left, center and right channels
located in front of you provide precise, clear positioning of dialogue. Two
separate channels located behind you deliver immersive ambient sounds whilst
the subwoofer/effects channel sends an explosive punch during action sequences.
The combination of 5 discrete channels and 1 subwoofer is commonly known as
the 5.1 configuration. The 5.1 sound aspect is the most important, since
it allows you to reproduce the film's soundtrack exactly as it was heard
in the cinema.
Please note: DVDs marked with the Dolby Digital logo
does not automatically mean that it has surround sound or that there are 6
channels of audio encoded in it. It means that the audio information has
been compressed using the Dolby Digital technique.
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7. What is DTS?
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In 1993, Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Jurassic Park introduced the crisp, clear
sound of DTS (Digital Theater Systems).
DTS Digital Surround is a 5.1-channel surround sound format, similar to Dolby
Digital. As such it is a competing format to Dolby Digital. DTS features up to
five discrete (independent) channels (front center, front left, front right,
surround left, surround right; giving it the "5" designation) of full
frequency sound (with respect to the range of human hearing, which ideally
ranges from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz), plus a sixth channel for low frequency
effects (LFE). The LFE signal is usually reserved for the subwoofer
speaker(s), or those speakers capable of reproducing low frequency ranges.
The low frequency effects channel gives DTS the ".1" designation. The ".1"
signifies that the sixth channel is not full frequency, as it contains
only deep bass frequencies (3 Hz to 120 Hz).
Please note that "DTS" does not always equate to "DTS 5.1". Only when it says
"DTS 5.1" explicitly can you be sure that the soundtrack consists of 5.1 discrete
channels. Fortunately, the vast majority of DTS encoded DVDs are in fact DTS 5.1.
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