pal format

[xxxjojoxxx]

hi!! i want to purchase a dvd, but it's only available in australia .. (pal format) & they say it will not play in USA dvd players. Can i rip the video from it.. or will my dvd drive not recognize it at all??

[tweedledee]

You can rip it ok

I don't know why a country like America has problems with PAL dvd's. 99% of players in OZ will play NTSC.

[edDV]

hi!! i want to purchase a dvd, but it's only available in australia .. (pal format) & they say it will not play in USA dvd players. Can i rip the video from it.. or will my dvd drive not recognize it at all??

A PAL DVD has a different frame size (720x576 vs 720x480) and a different frame rate (25 fps vs 29.97 fps).

Your computer can probably play it but conversion to NTSC size and frame rate can be difficult. Don't forget that audio will be playing at the wrong speed and also needs conversion. There are many hair shirt threads here on PAL DVD conversion.

NTSC DVD players generally don't play a PAL DVD.

If they do they might play it only as analog PAL (25 fps, 4.43 MHz chroma subcarrier). That would require a PAL capable TV which is rare in the US. I am noticing that some "HD Ready" TV sets will play PAL in monochrome if that helps. Some might actually play it in color using the analog component connection. Mileage will vary.

Some multi-standard DVD players will convert the PAL frame size and frame rate to NTSC spec. and then encode (29.97 fps with 3.58 MHz chroma subcarrier) so that the output is viewable on a normal NTSC TV. Be sure you know what you are buying and ask questions. You would want it to play out as a NTSC spec signal, not just play in PAL.

[FulciLives]

hi!! i want to purchase a dvd, but it's only available in australia .. (pal format) & they say it will not play in USA dvd players. Can i rip the video from it.. or will my dvd drive not recognize it at all??

When buying PAL format DVD you have 2 things to consider.

1.) Region Coding
2.) PAL format playback

If you rip it and back a back-up that will remove the region coding if it has region coding.

However many USA DVD players cannot play a PAL DVD even if it is REGION FREE.

The best thing would be to buy a region free DVD player that can do PAL to NTSC conversion. About the cheapest models that work well are those by JVC but you have to buy it pre-modified to be region free. Prices generally start at around $110 to $120 ... I suggest you take a look at this website ---> CLICK HERE

There are some cheaper DVD players out there that are region free with PAL to NTSC but the quality will suffer.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[xxxjojoxxx]

thanks for the replies.. the dvd is pal -region free . http://cgi.ebay.com/FRANK-SINATRA-I-GET-A-KICK-OUT-OF-YOU-NEW-SEALED-DVD_W0QQitemZ6468...QQcmdZViewItem I just wanted to make sure i can do the conversion before i purchased it!! I found some how-to articles that will come in handy. and i checked out the 220 site.. never knew about that!
many thanks

-jojo

[LloydAZ]

hi!! i want to purchase a dvd, but it's only available in australia .. (pal format) & they say it will not play in USA dvd players. Can i rip the video from it.. or will my dvd drive not recognize it at all??

I've done a little bit of conversion from PAL to NTSC with some DVD's that a friend needed converted.

1. Rip the DVD to the hard drive.
2. Use VOB2MPG to create an mpg file.
3. Import the mpg file into Nerovision Express.
4. In your video settings in Nerovision, choose NTSC.
5. After authoring the disc, choose burn to hard disc folder. When Nero says that "The project is more PAL than NTSC, would you like to keep it in the PAL format?" choose NO.
6. Burn your DVD from the files saved in the burned folder.

Voila! PAL->NTSC conversion!

This is probably not the best method, but seems to work well for me.

Hope this helps.

Lloyd