As well as DVD regions, there were/are TV encoding 'regions': NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. In practise, average-price DVD players sold in Europe were compatible with

As well as DVD regions, there were/are TV encoding 'regions': NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. In practise, average-price DVD players sold in Europe were compatible with NTSC in addition to PAL, but DVD players in North America and Japan only did NTSC. We could buy DVDs on holiday in the USA and play them at home, but it was difficult to find a DVD player in the USA that would play a PAL DVD brought from Europe. Similarly, it was reasonably practical to import obscure American or Japanese movies to Europe, but less so the other way round.