pal format playback(u.s.)

[rick in ma.]

Playing pal format dvds in my pioneer dv-c505 player the colors are not in register,looks like there ok in the center of the tv but skew outward.My tv is not a widscreen tv,I tried setting the video screen setting to all 3 setting with no luck,Is there anything that i can do to play pal since that's what i bought it for.

thanx

[FulciLives]

Playing pal format dvds in my pioneer dv-c505 player the colors are not in register,looks like there ok in the center of the tv but skew outward.My tv is not a widscreen tv,I tried setting the video screen setting to all 3 setting with no luck,Is there anything that i can do to play pal since that's what i bought it for.

I have a lot of knowledge with multi-system video equipment and to the best of my knowledge you can purchase PIONEER DVD players that have been modified to be "region free" and can play back both NTSC and PAL however such models (at least from PIONEER) will not do any conversion. So playing back a NTSC DVD will result in NTSC output whereas playing back a PAL DVD will result in PAL output.

I am surprised you are even getting any WATCHABLE image at all. I have a PIONEER (model DV-606D) DVD player that was modified to be region free but when I play a PAL DVD on it all I get is a B/W image that "rolls" across (up and down) on the screen. In the early days of DVD players there were no players with built-in PAL<-->NTSC converters so I used that PIONEER with a stand alone DIGITAL VIDEO STANDARDS CONVERTER but such "black boxes" do not give quality anywhere near as good as the DVD players that do have built-in PAL<-->NTSC converters. Since such converters are rather expensive you are better off buying a new DVD player with a built-in converter. There are a few places that sell such models. My favorite is the CYBERHOME CH-DVD 500 and you can buy it DIRECT from the CYBERHOME WEBSITE for $79.95 and make it region free yourself with a simple "remote control hack" which you can read about on the NERD-OUT website.

Of course some TV displays are capable of showing either NTSC or PAL but such displays are rather rare in the USA. Most front projecters are multi-system and I think at least some plasma screens are as well. Otherwise no dice with PAL.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[rick in ma.]

so there is no hack for the pioneer.I was reading some review's of this player on this site and a couple of people posted that it played pal.well thanx alot for the reply.

[FulciLives]

so there is no hack for the pioneer.I was reading some review's of this player on this site and a couple of people posted that it played pal.well thanx alot for the reply.

Well it can play both NTSC and PAL discs but the PIONEER DVD models need hardware modification. There is no simple software hack or remote control hack (like some DVD players including the aforementioned Cyberhome CH-DVD 500).

But even if your PIONEER has been modified to be "region free" it still will NOT do any conversion. So as I said NTSC will output as NTSC and PAL will output as PAL.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[rick in ma.]

so there is no hack for the pioneer.I was reading some review's of this player on this site and a couple of people posted that it played pal.well thanx alot for the reply.

Well it can play both NTSC and PAL discs but the PIONEER DVD models need hardware modification. There is no simple software hack or remote control hack (like some DVD players including the aforementioned Cyberhome CH-DVD 500).

But even if your PIONEER has been modified to be "region free" it still will NOT do any conversion. So as I said NTSC will output as NTSC and PAL will output as PAL.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

So the CYBERHOME CH-DVD 500 will play both at the best quality with the remote hack?Do you have to switch something on the remote or will it just play both formats?

[FulciLives]

So the CYBERHOME CH-DVD 500 will play both at the best quality with the remote hack?Do you have to switch something on the remote or will it just play both formats?

Go to the NERD-OUT WEBSITE and CLICK on the MESSAGE FORUMS link. Then look for the CYBERHOME forum. There you will find a STICKY POST as to how you can make the machine region free. You just need to enter a few commands on the remote control and set the region to "0". This will make it region free. If you should ever have a problem with a DVD disc that uses some sort of region protection (such as RCE) then you can change the region to whatever you want (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 0). I find that almost all DVD discs work with the region code set to "0". Then in the SET UP menu there is a spot where you select your TV type. Set this to NTSC. Now the players will play any region DVD including both NTSC (as NTSC) and PAL (as NTSC since it will do the conversion).

The quality of the conversion is very good but some discs look better than others. It all depends on how well the original PAL disc was encoded. I have many PAL DVD discs and I am rather pleased with the conversion of PAL to NTSC that the Cyberhome is capable of. It is considered one of the best players in terms of it's PAL to NTSC conversion.

Please note that Cyberhome makes many different models. You want the CH-DVD 500 which is the best one they make in-so-far as conversion goes.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[rick in ma.]

Thanx very much for your help.I'll start looking onto it.

[FulciLives]

Thanx very much for your help.I'll start looking onto it.

No problem!
Good Luck

- John "FulciLives" Coleman