Mediadogg is working on a plugin, I think.

Start here http://www.invelos.com/Forums.aspx?task=viewtopic&topicID=592442&PageNum=2&messageID=1719650#M1719650

Charlie

Quoting Taro:

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I currently use BDInfo to check audio, subs etc on my Blu-rays, which is a great and time-saving tool

I was wondering if there is something similar for DVDs out there. Any suggestions?
I want to check:
- regions
- audio tracks
- subtitles

Thanks in advance!

Funny you should ask. Try DVDInfo V1.05.

DVDInfo is my code. The team has been testing it, and it should provide same info as the tools Skip mentioned, plus extra stuff. As CharlieM stated, I am also working on a plugin that will allow you to pull the data into a profile. The source code for BDInfo has been made available by its authors, and it will also be used in the plugin.

Quoting Grendell:

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100% regions are impossible, region checking is per disc and can use full blown Java. It can even play different content for each region separately. Even AnyDVD can't correctly guess the region a lot of the time.

It's worth stating that's true only for Blu-rays, not DVDs.

Quoting dee1959jay:

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When it comes to DVDs, I personally use PowerDVD for audio tracks and subtitles and DVDInfoPro for region and layer info. Instead of DVDInfoPro there are free tools out there such as Nero Info Tool.

Not asking you to do extra work, but if every now and then you get a chance to compare the results of DVDInfo, it would be appreciated. I don't want to re-invent the wheel - just trying to fit the wheel into a plugin to help with the contributions process. And DVDInfo contains the code that I am porting over to the plugin version. Thanks in advance.

Quoting Katatonia:

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Quoting Grendell:

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100% regions are impossible, region checking is per disc and can use full blown Java. It can even play different content for each region separately. Even AnyDVD can't correctly guess the region a lot of the time.

It's worth stating that's true only for Blu-rays, not DVDs.

Nope, even with DVD it's not 100%.  Remember RCE?  That ignored the region flags on the disc and did other things to determine the region.

So it's a guess at best regardless.  Maybe a good guess since I don't think RCE has been used in years.  But it's still a guess.

Quoting mediadogg:

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Quoting Taro:

Quote:
I currently use BDInfo to check audio, subs etc on my Blu-rays, which is a great and time-saving tool

I was wondering if there is something similar for DVDs out there. Any suggestions?
I want to check:
- regions
- audio tracks
- subtitles

Thanks in advance!

Funny you should ask. Try DVDInfo V1.05.

DVDInfo is my code. The team has been testing it, and it should provide same info as the tools Skip mentioned, plus extra stuff. As CharlieM stated, I am also working on a plugin that will allow you to pull the data into a profile. The source code for BDInfo has been made available by its authors, and it will also be used in the plugin.

Thanks! Will definitely give it a try! 

Quoting Mark Harrison:

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Quoting Katatonia:

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You're right, but RCE was never very prevalent. If I remember correctly, it was ever only an issue on some Region 1 DVD releases. So you wouldn't have to worry about a disc having RCE with a Region 2 DVD release for instance.

That's true, there aren't many RCE discs out there.  Regardless, there's enough to make reading regions off of the DVD not truly 100% reliable.

Mark, remember that the regions are encoded in the IFOs - a single byte (1 bit for each DVD region), which are readable even if the disc doesn't play. Does this fact change your comment at all?

Edit: I just rechecked this by turning off AnyDVD and putting a Region 2 DVD into my Region 1 laptop drive. DVDInfo correctly reported the region and pulled the metadata. But PowerDVD refuses to play the disc, as expected.

Quoting Ace_of_Sevens:

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RCE discs encoded different material for each region. They would show as 1-6 in a region checker, but if you put it in a drive with the wrong region, it would just bring you to a screen saying it wouldn't play in your region. DVD Talk has an explanation and list of titles.

I have read that explanation and it is not what you are saying. RCE is an enhancement to region coding, not a replacement for it, to further prevent a region 1 disk from being played on a modified player. It wouldn't make sense for the disc to have region codes 1-6 and then refuse to play (except it should refuse to play in 7 or 8). Otherwise, that would be deceptive, not protective, and for no particular reason.

If in fact different material were being selected for each region 1-6. then it would still have to play in order to present that material, otherwise why even include the region in the valid list in the first place, if only to refuse to play later?

What am I missing here?