Foreign DVD

[GretchenKohl]

We would like to buy and view DVDs from France. We don't want sub-titles, just the original movie. We know that European TVs and Videos have a different format than those in the US. What kind of DVD player would play them on our US television? Or, would it be best to add a card to the PC and play them back on it's 17" screen. [Cheap is key here.] We know next to nothing about DVD and have no plans to make or alter anything - just view commercial products.

[Sefy]

On the PC you shouldn't have any problems, you could get a Hollywood Plus to output from the PC to the TV at the highest quality and no CPU resources (the card is RealTime MPEG Decoder).

As for a DVD Standalone, you would require a Multiregion which knows how to convert PAL to NTSC, or in your case NTSC to PAL.

[pinoy2201]

actual Sefy most of to Days DVD Players can switch to both

[kitty]

Actually you have to be carefull here:

Europe is in DVD region 2 and the US region 1. Many modern PC DVD players only allow you to switch regions maybe 25 times before it locks into the 25th setting. There is software out there to "region free" many players but that takes a bit of hunting and may not apply to your PC DVD player.

If you do get your PC to play the DVD then yes the Hollywood Plus MPEG card will help output to your TV - I am not sure though it will play PAL or SECAM when an NTSC disc is in. Also be sure the computer & TV are on the same power line and grounded as I blew up such a card in Finland when the computer & DVD were not grounded (often in Europe the plug is not grounded or can be reversed hot/neutral).

To play US DVDs in France you must choose your DVD player carefully. The list on this site helps but also read the manufacturers specs. I have had my Philips 711 play PAL VCDs in NTSC so it should do the reverse but again it is region locked and would require a hack to play true DVDs (there are hacks for this player - again you'll have to search for the player you choose). There are Multiregion DVD players but they cost alot more and check compatability & NTSC/PAL/SECAM features carefully.

Rereading your post you indicate you have a US TV so the conversion problem is not an issue. So if you are in France, bought US DVDs, had a region 1 player (The APEX 1500 is a cheap & good choice) and played them on your US NTSC TV you'd be fine. If you wanted also to play French DVDs then you'd have to get a player to do both (either multiregion or hack a unit like the APEX 600 or others).

The Kitty

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: kitty on 2001-12-08 06:27:36 ]</font>

[mike416]

Amazingly,in my country (Indonesia) and also in S'pore,it's very hard to find a dvd standalone player which is not multiregion or regionfree (then again ,who wants it ?) A multiregion Pioneer 535 cost about $200. I've no problem playing R1/NTSC or R4/PAL dvd on my player

[Sefy]

pinoy2201, as you can see from other posters as well, they can switch, but they are limited and will lock on the last switch.
even a PC DVD is "basicly" going to lock on the 5th switch if you don't use a Software Region Hack, or use a Region Free Firmware for your DVD drive, and even then, Windows has it's own Regioning.

As for the Hollywood Plus card, it can convert PAL <=> NTSC, I know, cause I have one

[pinoy2201]

Sefy i meant a standalone DVD player not a PC..i know it only has 4-5 changes and you need to make a multi region...i was telling him tthat most DVD Standalone Players are compatible with both formats.....sorry if i didnt put Standalone

[aguillon]

Just to add to the discussion:

1- DVDs that you buy in France are region 2 indeed, but PAL format (no Secam thank god).
2- Indeed to play them in the US on a stand alone DVD player you need a region-free DVD player that plays PAL discs (bearing in mind US uses NTSC), but most players are multi-standard.
3- If you plan to play the DVDs through your PC, you can but have to flash the firmware of your drive if it is not region-free.

Like Mike mentioned, we in Singapore are very spoilt.

[shagrath]

if you want to buy dvds from france u can get apex player and u should be able to play your dvd on american tv ntsc system. the only problem is that those dvd should be pal only not region 2 pal, only pal dvds would play on the apex players, apex-600 was the only one that was able to play all the regions cause it had the secret function, u can hack other players but that would be alot of problems for ya, pioneer 525 would play all dvds but u need a converter to play it on your ntsc tv or u can get a multi system tv.
converter should cost u about $300 and the player (pioneer) about $250 and that would solve your problem.
I used to use the apex 660 to play pal dvds cause i got it for free with the tv when i bought it, now i use the pionner with the decoder and it plays all region dvds. I hope i helped.

[Sefy]

Or you can have an exciting adventure by coming to Israel, enjoying the real life movie in production with bombs and cars going in the air, and while your at it, get any DVD Player, cause they are all Multi Everything, oh yeah, and pay through the nose to get it