I need PAL format help...

[jenn00_v]

My husband and I recently bought Power Rangers for my kids' birthday from someone overseas and I didn't even think about whether or not it would play on what we have before I bought them. It's not playing and I guess its due to the PAL format. I thought I was somewhat tech savvy but I guess not. I have no idea what I need to do to get this to work. I'm assuming that I will need to buy a new dvd player. Is there a way to just convert them to the NTSC (is that right?) format on my pc? Help! I need the easiest and cheapest way to be able to watch them.

Oh and the dvd player they are using right now is an RCA RC5215P model and I have already done the region code change. Is the tv that they are using going to be an issue also?

[T-Fish]

if your dvd player is set to region 0 (region free) and it still doesnt play
the disc, then your tv cant display the pal signal. :/

you could convert them to pal on a pc, yes.
since i live in pal-land and my set can play pal & ntsc, i leave the software
recommendations to someone better suited.

good luck

[Baldrick]

I guess it would be easiest to use convertxtodvd, it can import directly from dvds and convert to ntsc.

Or find a cheap dvd player that can output pal as ntsc.

[jenn00_v]

Thanks for the responses! I'll check the conversion methods out but do you have any suggestions on dvd players if I go that route?

[tomlee59]

You're probably better off getting a dvd player that can handle both standards; converting is a pain, and the results are frequently unsatisfactory. All of the major brands have such versions (in Europe, it's hard to find a dvd player that does *not* handle both; it's only in the US where we frequently run into this problem). Philips has several models (available for sale in the US, and certainly by mail if not in stores that are near you).

Years ago, I simply used an older computer as a multistandard player for my nephews. Worked great (still does), and it kept one semi-obsolete computer out of the landfill.

[MOVIEGEEK]

Philips and OPPO DVD players can play PAL.

[jenn00_v]

Would you happen to know if the Phillips DVP5990/37 will work? I actually was going to buy this one yesterday for this purpose, but I wanted to check here first.

[jenn00_v]

Philips and OPPO DVD players can play PAL.

Awesome! I'll get one today then. Thanks!

[SingSing]

$40 well spent.

[jman98]

Two things about Philips DVD players...

1) While I think that this is unlikely to happen, if you buy Philips and the region free codes don't work, you'll have to rip your foreign DVDs and re-burn them to play them. I say this only because it is getting harder every day to buy DVD players in the USA and Canada that can be made region free and while this player should still be able to be made region free, I would not bet my life on it. Sometimes manufacturers make changes in production that break codes that worked in the past.
2) Note that by default Philips DVD players set the video output to something called either MULTI or ANY. You'll need to change the video output in the setup menu to NTSC for successful playback of your DVDs, assuming the region code hacks you found still work.

[lordsmurf]

Conversion is not needed. It takes forever, and will never look as good.

Simply copy the DVDs. The German-made English-language PAL R2 Power Rangers releases cannot be shrunk without sinking quality to less than VCD -- use Verbatim DVD+R DL discs! This will remove the region protection BS. Use DVD Decrypter, it works fine on these. Guide if you need it: http://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/video/copy-dvd-decrypter.htm

Then play the PAL region-free copy in any decent DVD player found cheap at Walmart. Philips is one great choice, easy to find.

[dLee]

Conversion is not needed. It takes forever, and will never look as good.

Then play the PAL region-free copy in any decent DVD player found cheap at Walmart. Philips is one great choice, easy to find.

This has been my experience as well.

I work for a film festival in NTSC land and we show a lot of PAL material - everything from commercial disks, self-authored /burned disks to dvd recorder disks. Once the region code is dealt with (if necessary), they play in every dvd player I've tried - even ones that are not listed as multi-format.

My guess is that the chips are made for the world market so they can handle both. They play PAL and output NTSC. I've concluded that the only impediment to playing PAL is the region code.

I wondered if this was an open secret or if not many people had noticed.

[minidv2dvd]

i'd guess you've never had a sony dvd player they are notorious for not playing pal in ntsc land and not being hackable to do so.

just a heads up.

[jman98]

Toshiba has also been known to make some DVD players for sale in region 1 that are incapable of playing PAL discs at all. Yes, many DVD players secretly will play PAL discs once you remove the region coding, but some will not.

[dLee]

Thanks for the additional info, minidv2dvd and jman98.

I only have access to about 20 different dvd players, so my testing is not very thorough. We do have a Toshiba that does play PAL. I tried to find the model number, but the players are not available to me right now.

In an interesting coincidence, after I posted and before I read your replies, I got an email telling me that one of the hosts couldn't play a preview copy of a film (PAL from Afghanistan, self authored) in her somewhat elderly Sony DVD player.

[tomlee59]

Thanks for the additional info, minidv2dvd and jman98.

I only have access to about 20 different dvd players, so my testing is not very thorough. We do have a Toshiba that does play PAL. I tried to find the model number, but the players are not available to me right now.

In an interesting coincidence, after I posted and before I read your replies, I got an email telling me that one of the hosts couldn't play a preview copy of a film (PAL from Afghanistan, self authored) in her somewhat elderly Sony DVD player.

It'd still cause problems with a newer Sony player, most likely. Sony's are among the fussiest, most aggravating players I've come across, and that characteristic has not improved over time.