question about PAL to NTSC patch method

[marsdreamjunky]

i copied a french movie(haute tension) to my hard drive using dvdshrink with regioin free selected. the movie has english subtitles but when i apply the patch methond to set it as NTSC, it plays perfect in my dvd player only the subtitles are missing. even when i select subtitles they dont appear. anyone know the problem??

[jbenj01]

They may be there, but maybe offscreen.. Did you try selecting subs from menu as well as the subtitle button on your remote?

Do your menu buttons line up correctly or are they offset a bit from where they're supposed to be? Also, when you changed the headers, did you check the 'Automatic Letterboxed' selection under "Static" section? I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be selected.

Not sure other than that..

[marsdreamjunky]

there is no menu its just a movie only disc. the subtitles come up when i play it on the computer but not when its played on the dvd player.

[jimmalenko]

This is totally outta my ass, but PAL has 576 lines whereas NTSC only has 480. I wonder if it would be possible for the player to think it has NTSC and so it only displays 480 lines, thus cutting off the area where the subtitles appear ?

Certainly if your computer plays them, then you have no issues as far as being "on the disc" goes. Would it be possible to back it up the exact way you did the first one, but don't do the patch method, then try it on a TV capable of displaying PAL ?

[Gurm]

It's almost assuredly because it's a PAL->NTSC patch job.

The location for the subtitles is off your visible screen.

[FulciLives]

There is a Thai Region free PAL DVD release that is uncut and 16x9 WS and uses the most excellent English dubbed track.

There is also a new Hong Kong Region 3 NTSC DVD release that is uncut and 16x9 WS and uses the original French audio track with optional English subtitles.

I have the Thai DVD and the quality is most excellent. I did a "real" non-patch method conversion from PAL to NTSC and I am very happy with the image quality and the English dubbing is very good.

I haven't seen the Hong Kong DVD so I cannot comment on the quality of it. It is very new unlike the Thai DVD which has been around for a few months now.

You can order these at Xploited Cinema

Do a search on the website for HAUTE TENSION and all the various versions they have will show up. There are many versions but the Thai and Hong Kong versions are probably the two best bets.

BTW this movie kicks total ass

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
Alexandre Aja, the director of HAUTE TENSION, is working on a remake/update of Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES.

[jimmalenko]

It's almost assuredly because it's a PAL->NTSC patch job.

The location for the subtitles is off your visible screen.

Thanks for quantifying that

I know shit-all about NTSC (not my problem ) and just thought of that on a whim ...

[Gurm]

Yep. Remember that the subtitles COULD be just about anywhere (within reason) on the screen. They're specified, IIRC, using simple coordinates. You can do fun things with subtitles - for example, Spider Man 2 has "pop-up video" style subs where it provides fun facts in a cute blue and white blurb at various points throughout the movie.

So the subs COULD be just about anywhere on the screen. But usually they're placed in the black bars top & bottom, so that they don't interfere with the video. Since there are an extra 96 pixels on a PAL screen, odds are that they're placed with a basepoint off the NTSC screen - and they won't show at all as a result.