Playback of NTSC DVDs in Europe?

[kabanero]

Hi everybody.

I have friends in Eastern Europe. I send them NTSC VHS tapes. They have multi-system VCRs that play NTSC VHS tapes and ouptput PAL signal to their not-multi-system TVs. Now I want to send them DVDs that I make, and my question is:

Is there DVD player, that is sold in US, that will play NTSC DVD and will ouptut PAL signal to not-multisystem TV?

Thanks.

[adam]

First off if they live in Europe they probably do have a multisystem TV, actually called multiscan tv. I do not think that vcr's can convert from one format to another, so it seems that they do in fact have a multiscan tv so the ntsc dvds you author will play fine on it regardless of what dvd player they use to play it.

Actually playing back ntsc material on tv's sold in pal regions is seldom a problem. Like I said, most tv's sold in pal regions are in fact multiscan tv's and fully support ntsc material already. Even if the tv in question is not multiscan, almost all dvd players sold in pal regions can output ntsc 50Hz, which is a modified version of ntsc that will play correctly on almost all pal tv's.

As for your question...I suppose you are trying to find a dvd player that you can buy for them that will support this conversion? It would be best to let them buy one in their own country, it would most likely have better support for their needs. I do not think it really matters because it seems they do have a multiscan tv. In any case there are a number of dvd players sold in the US that support both pal and ntsc and many also have a automatic option called multi mode. Maybe you can find some specific models in the dvd player compatibility list on this site. Off the top of my head I can only suggest the player I have, an Apex AD600a. It does have a pal, ntsc, and multi mode but the playback quality of the player is pretty poor.

[W_Eagle]

Hello pal,

Ideed, there are VCRs that output NTSC tapes as PAL output, that is, they actually convert the NTSC signal to PAL. Playing VCDs on the computer, both NTSC and PAL can be played on any computer. I never heared of standalone DVD players that convert NTSC to PAL. The best solution in this case is that you will convert your VCDs to PAL (there are guides here for how to do it) and send your friends PAL VCDs.

Take care

[W_Eagle]

Hello pal,

On a second look, you spoke about DVDs, not VCDs. I don't know how to convert DVDs. It depends on the software you use to author the DVDs, if you can set there the framerate to 25 fps you may have a PAL DVD - may be, there is also a difference in the color burst frequency. Your question is actually "How to convert NTSC DVDs into PAL ones?"

Take care

[adam]

Well I didn't know that about vcr's but like I said almost all dvd players sold in pal regions can convert ntsc to ntsc 50Hz, which plays on just about any pal tv. Also since almost all pal tv's are actually multiscan tv's there is really no reason to convert ntsc to pal manually especially since this will surely decrease quality.

If his current ntsc vcds play on his friend's pal tv then his ntsc dvds most likely will also.

[kabanero]

Thank you all guys.

[W_Eagle]

Hello pal,

almost all dvd players sold in pal regions can convert ntsc to ntsc 50Hz, which plays on just about any pal tv.

Living in PAL region, not all PAL TVs are multisystem, definitely not older models, more so in Eastern Europe. As for DVD players, the one I have (Graetz, German make, 2002 model) is multisystem, that is, it can play both PAL and NTSC DVDs, yet, it says nothing about converting NTSC DVDs into 50 Hz ones.

Take care

[adam]

Yes I know not all pal tv's are multiscan tv's, I said that myself. But the vast majority are and this, coupled with the fact that almost all pal dvd players can convert to ntsc, it is generally no problem playing ntsc material on a pal setup.

Maybe I wasn't clear. There is no reason for a pal dvd player to actually convert to ntsc because all that is necessary is that the signal be modified. This modified signal is referred to as ntsc 50Hz. If your pal dvd player has an ntsc mode than it IS converting to ntsc 50Hz.