Blu-ray discs and DVDs are encoded with a region code intended to restrict the area of the world in which they can be played. The purpose of this system is to allow motion picture studios to control various details of the release. This includes content, date and price. Discs may also be produced without region coding and therefore can be played on all devices. A DVD player with a region free feature will be able to play DVDs from any region in the world.

A lot of major brands in DVD players have even come out with their versions of the Region free DVD player. Of course, difference in product features puts the variation in their prices as well.