How to Play Common and Region-locked DVDs on PS4 and PS5

What if your DVD is a region 1 DVD that you bought in JFK airport during your business trip and your PS4 is a region-2 game console imported from Japan?

Can PS4 play DVDs? Yes, it can play both DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Ocassionally, gamers fail to play their favorite DVDs on the home video game console, and the most likely cause is that their DVDs are locked by the region code.

Don't worry, we will sit you through detailed guides on how to make PS4 region-free. Let's hit the road.

FAQs Related to PS4 and DVD Playback

1. Is PS4 region locked?

PS4 game console itself is region-free (meaning it is not region locked). Even if your game come from a different country, you might play it without any problem. The tricky part is, the extra downloadable content for a game, DLC, is region-locked. It is tied to your PSN (PlayStation Network) account. In this sense, you need to make sure the game, DLC, PSN and game console belongs to the same region, you can scroll to the bottom to check the PlayStation regions list (SCEA, SCEE, SCEAsia, SCEJ, SCEK) on this page.

Besides game disc concerns, the DVDs and Blu-rays are region-locked or copy-protected. If you are trying to play DVDs on PS4/5 from another region, your PlayStation console will reject the disc. The easiest solution is to remove DVD restrictions using dedicated software.

2. Can PS4 play region 2 DVDs?

Region 2 DVDs are from Japan, Europe or South Africa. For example, if you want to play a Japanese game on your PS4 in the United States, you should sign up for a Japanese SEN account, change to log in with a Japanese account and activate it. You can jump to the bottom of this article to check how to change DVD region on PS4.

If you don't want to bother switching back and forth to the main account, it is suggested to bypass the region code of the DVD using the method recommended in the article.

3. Can I change the region on PS4?

Yes with conditions. You are not allowed to change your existing PSN country once you have created your account. Instead, you can create a new PSN account. If you only need to play DVDs from different countries or regions, it is unnecessary to change the region on your PS4. You can rip DVDs to get region-free digital copies that can be played back freely.

How to Play Region Locked DVD on PS4

You'll inevitably come into some error messages, when you try to play your region-locked or other DVDs on game consoles, especially on your PS4. For example: the region-locked DVDs simply cannot be played on PS4 at all; there is no sound or the audio is out of sync with video; the screen goes black when playing DVD on PS4; or a window pops up telling you "The DVD cannot be read"; choppy video playback, etc.

To Bypass the region restriction of DVD, you can take full advantage of VideoProc Converter AI with its transcoding and DVD copy ability, and convert the DVDs into a region-free video file in any format such as DVD to MP4 that will fit your game consoles without a problem.

Free Download VideoProc Converter AI to unlock DVD region codes for playing on PS4/5 now:

Steps to Make DVDs Region-Free for PS4

Below is a tutorial for transcoding a region-locked DVD to a PS4-friendly video using VideoProc Converter AI.

Step 1. Insert your DVD into the DVD drive and launch VideoProc Converter AI until you see its main interface. Click the DVD icon.

Step 2. Hit the DVD disc button. Then, a new window will pop up to let you select the source DVD.

It doesn't matter whether your source DVD is locked or unlocked by any region code, VideoProc Converter AI can support all formats and make them region-free. Select it and click the Done button.

Step 3. Make PS4 DVDs into region-free digital formats.

Click the Target Format at the bottom left corner, and go to Sony Device > PlayStation 4 Video to select pre-configured profiles.

• For general usage, PlayStation 4 (H264) is the no-brainer choice (with the best compatibility and quality).
• Other available format profiles are: AVI, MP4 (MPEG4), MPG (MPEG2) and WMV2.

Your DVD might come from region 1 (e.g. USA), region 2 (e.g. Japan), region 3 (e.g. Thailand), region 4 (e.g. Australia), region 5 (e.g. Russia, India), or region 6 (e.g. China). But after minutes of conversion, it can be digitized and played on your PS4 or any other device.

Step 4. Click RUN to start making DVD region-free for PS4. When it's done, you can copy the digitized DVD movies to a USB drive, and play movies on PS4 from USB.

PS4 Won't Play DVD? PS4 Unsupported Formats Can be Fixed via VideoProc Converter AI

If you are bothered by the "PS4 cannot play disc due to region restrictions" issue, using VideoProc Converter AI, and following the steps above will fix it to ease your mind.

More About VideoProc Converter AI

VideoProc Converter AI is multimedia software, designed not only for DVD backup, but also for video editing, recording, and transcoding. Being an expert in DVD backup, it allows you to turn the DVD to AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, HEVC, WMV, etc for other electronic devices, or even copy the entire DVD to an ISO image or DVD folder for burning to a region-free DVD that can be then played back on your PS4.

Extended Reading

1. What Is DVD Region Code?

A global region code is usually used to identify DVDs that are compatible with the players sold in a specific region. That's to say, DVD from region 1 will not play on DVD players from region 2 to 6, as it only plays on a region 1 DVD player. The table below will show you the distribution of DVD regions:

Movies on DVD/Blu-Ray discs are obliged to be released following the region number. Usually, DVD movies are put out in region 1 at first and then sequentially in Region 2-6. This means region code is designed to prevent people from watching Region 1 movies before they are released in other regions.

2. Can PS4 Play DVDs?

Yes. The PS4 game console can be used as a DVD player. It supports DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R/RW, Hybrid discs, AVCHD and CPRM. Here's how to play DVD on PS4:

1. Make sure you have internet connection.
2. Insert the DVD in PS4.
3. Enable the disc playback feature when prompted. You only need to do this once.
4. On the pop-up window in the screen (display), click on the DVD item and play.

3. How to Make PS4 Region-Free for DVDs?

Don't worry if you meet this problem "PS4 cannot play disc due to region restrictions". When the region code of the DVD is different from the settings on your PS4, you'll fail to play it. Now with knowing the region number in your area from the table above, you can make PS4 region-free to play DVDs easily.

Important! You can only change the DVD region up to 4 times on the PS4/PS5 console. After that, the region will be locked to the last one that you set. It will be troublesome if the last one isn't the region that you are currently in, or if you have invested mostly in terms of DVD collections. For that reason, instead of changing the DVD region back and forth, a better solution is to make DVD region-free for PlayStation Consoles.

How to Change DVD Region on PS4:

Step 1. Open your PlayStation, and click the control panel icon.

Step 2. Navigate to System and Maintenance > Device Manager > DVD/CD-ROM.

Step 3. Open the Device Properties windows and choose the DVD Region option.

Step 4. Select a number according to your DVD region code.

For some PS4 models, after you insert the DVD and try to play it, you shall see the following notice: "To play this DVD, change the DVD region code of the PS4" (see screenshot below).

• Hit Next until you see the region map.
• When you are scrolling between region number 1-6, the corresponding region will be highlighted on the map.
• You can also refer to the chart above on the DVD region list.

Disclaimer: We do not advocate ripping copy-protected DVDs for commercial purpose. Please refer to the DVD copyright laws in your country before doing so.

4. PlayStation Games Region

Below is a list of PlayStation regions for games and its add-on DLC. If your PSN account is tied to SCEA, you won't be able to access games and DLC limited to SCEJ, SCEK, SCEAsia, and SCEE.

Check What Is the Current Region on Your PS4

To check the current region on your PS4 console (for store), follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the PlayStation Store.
2. Press the three-dot icon to show more, and hit Payment Method.
3. Press Pay by Mobile.
4. In the pop-up window, you shall see which region you are in for the PlayStation Store.

You can check the Storefront Country by pressing the three-dot icon. Hit Storefront Country.

How to Change the PSN Region

According to user feedback, this feature seems only available in selected regions such as European countries.

1. Navigate to Settings > Account Management > Account Information.
2. Press the Address option.
3. Prepare information such as city, zip code for the region you want to change to.

If entering information on the PS console is troublesome, you can also manage the PSN online from a computer.

For users who cannot change the PSN account tied to a certain region, you need to create a new account to select the region you want.

1. Press on your profile icon
2. Hover to the Switch User option.
3. Press Add User > Get Started.
4. Select the country or region that you want to download extra add-ons or for other purposes.