pal and ntsc

[supertrooper105]

I have just bought a datavideo dac-100. it is simple and easy to use. i have copied several od my home movie tapes onto svcd using studio 7 and nero to burn as i live in europe i want to take some dics to america to show friends can you play svcd in america. also if i buy a dvd-rw and burn the discs to dvd will they be region free to enable me to play then on dvd out in the states. i have tried to understand pal and ntsc but as i have go dvd's from the states and made my dvd player region free, how would it effect me making home movies on dvd

thanks

[FulciLives]

First of all forget SVCD as that format is not supported on many DVD players. You are better off making a DVD-R or DVD+R (but not -RW or +RW as they are less compatable).

Any DVD you create yourself will be region free however you still need to address the differences between NTSC and PAL. Very few USA model DVD players are capable of playing back a PAL DVD video. Even when they can play back PAL DVD videos they often will output a PAL video signal. In the USA we don't often have multi-system televisions. For the most part this is unheard of in the USA. Therefore most people CANNOT view PAL format DVD videos.

There are options. One is to have your USA friend buy a special DVD player that can play a PAL DVD and output it as NTSC so it can be watched on any standard model USA TV.

The other option is for you to convert the video to NTSC so that when you burn your DVD it is region free and NTSC format. However this can be tricky and takes a REALLY long time as you have to do a software re-encode from your PAL source to your NTSC source.

Here is a website that talks about such conversions:
http://www.geocities.com/xesdeeni2001/StandardsConversion/

Here is a LINK to another THREAD on the DVDRHELP forums regarding the above website:
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=160433&highlight=

Please note that MOST of the USA model JVC players are capable of playing back PAL DVD videos (region free DVD discs only) and converting it to NTSC. This is the only real option if you friend wants to buy a "name brand" in a normal retail store. There are many OTHER options when it comes to DVD players that can do PAL to NTSC but most require that you mail-order and I know some people don't like to do that so that is why I bring up the JVC players.

Anyways ... GOOD LUCK

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[supertrooper105]

i am sorry if i appear vague about this, but if i capture my home movie with my dac-100. it ends up in my computer as a avi file or stidio file as i use studio 7, once i have messed around with it i burn it to disc with nero. this is where i am slighly confused as nero gives me the option to burn in pal or ntsc. .so if i burn to ntsc will it play in the states

sorry for my intrusion

[FulciLives]

i am sorry if i appear vague about this, but if i capture my home movie with my dac-100. it ends up in my computer as a avi file or stidio file as i use studio 7, once i have messed around with it i burn it to disc with nero. this is where i am slighly confused as nero gives me the option to burn in pal or ntsc. .so if i burn to ntsc will it play in the states

sorry for my intrusion

Never use NERO for BURNING a DVD ... it sucks at it.

There are two main differences between PAL and NTSC

FRAMERATE
PAL = 25fps
NTSC = 29.97fps (can also be 23.976fps)

RESOLUTION
PAL = 720x576
NTSC = 720x480

So if your video is PAL then you need to change both the framerate and the resolution to make it NTSC. This is a pain-in-ass proceedure in that it requires you to re-encode everything. The links I provided in my other post will give you can idea of what you need to do.

BTW a computer can handle both NTSC and PAL so you could always just watch it on your friend's computer in the USA when you visit. But you won't be able to use the PAL DVD in a normal stand alone DVD player. However ... if the computer has a video card with a TV out function then you can play the PAL DVD on the computer and output it to the TV that way (it will be converted to NTSC by the video card OUT fuction).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
The option in NERO is probably ASKING you what FORMAT your DVD files are in. NERO cannot convert PAL to NTSC or vice versa.

[Richard_G]

It really depends what your original source is. If your tapes are shot on a European spec camcorder, they will be PAL so you will suffer the incompatibility problems mentioned by Fulci. If, however, you are using a US spec camcorder you will be working in NTSC anyway.