PAL -> NTSC Hardware

[CaZeek]

Hey,
Does anyone have any input/advice on a good PAL/NTSC hardware video converter? I've contacted several companies that offer conversion service (as well as some members of the forum), and I'm told that software conversion just can't do the job without a fairly significant quality loss. Some say that good software conversion is possible, but it requires a lot of time-consuming effort, high-end programs, and probably professional experience, and that it really doesn't make sense unless there is a need to preserve special features like menus and subtitles. Either way, I'm just looking for information on hardware. I'm not necessarily going to make a purchase, but I have several video tapes already in PAL that it would be nice to convert, as well as quite a few DVDs coming soon in PAL format. I'm interested in developing video collecting, restoration, etc., and I'd just like to know what I'm dealing with here. The cost for having a company convert all of these tapes / DVDs individually would cost at least $300-$400, so anything in that price range or less would be ideal. Thanks for the info!

[pijetro]

As far as your specific situation goes.....

I have several video tapes already in PAL that it would be nice to convert

Almost any corner store who's owner has a "HYPHEN" within his name will do this nowadays for cheap..They have multisystem VCR's..

as well as quite a few DVDs coming soon in PAL format

Again, cheap and fast would be to buy a multisystem DVD player..They're becoming a lot more noticeable in NTSC land..
Sometimes for $40..

Good luck!!!

[dinkob]

I have one of these mulitisystem VCR's - probably the cheapest one arround Smasung sv 5000 w I think.

It's good when I convert someone their home recorded tape to NTSC tape for example (weddings, etc.).

In other words it's more of an convenience thing.

But, the converter quality is not very good (how much money = that much music, lol). There is a slight loss of brightness very visible in dark areas. b.t.w when conversion is selected if you use DVD as a source it will ignore macrovision.

For me just by accident I discovered this; I captured a pal source as 640x480 and used CCE Basic (it will go straight to ntsc as it looks only at vertical lines).

The result was quite good, better than converted pic.

Also I saw this software somewhere that has very nice quality for converting even NTSC to PAL (which I think is harder) but I forgot what's the name of it. The price is about 1000 US bucks. I think the name of it begins with G and it's for some camera software. I posted a thread about it but it would be very difficult to find it. Edit actually I found it through my profile, and looks like price went waaaaay down.

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=208280&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

If not that have you tried Vegas? It gave me NICE results when converting NTSC to PAL.