Which DVD is better ? NTSC or PAL ?

[harishkumar09]

I have two different DVDs of the same movie, in one of them the movie is in PAL format, in another, it is in NTSC. I want to gift this movie to a friend. Which one affords better viewing pleasure, PAL or NTSC ?

[hech54]

Is this a joke?

[harishkumar09]

Is this a joke?

Why do you ask ?

Ooops ! I am sorry ! I think I didnt explain my problem clearly. I will put it this way. I have two DVDs, one of which has 720x480 and another 720x576, which correspond to NTSC and PAL. FPS is also different, 29 fps and 25 fps. The DVDs obviously came from different relatives in the UK and the USA. Now when I want to back it up, which one should I prefer ? I guess if it is an action movie, I should backup the NTSC and discard the PAL DVD or if I want image clarity, I should back up the PAL and discard the NTSC. Is that the correct judgement to make ?

[Slipster]

The correct judgement would be to use the one that's native to your local standard, IMO.

[FulciLives]

Sometimes a DVD transfer of a movie can vary greatly from one release to another but if the quality of the transfer used is about the same then you probably won't see a big difference between them. Of course you can argue that PAL has slightly more resolution but I'd argue that the frames per second speed up is annoying.

The best thing to do is watch both, try to get an idea of which looks better. Also it makes more sense to go with PAL if that is your TV type than NTSC. Just as it makes more sense to go with NTSC if your TV is NTSC. Of course many people have DVD players that can play both formats but again there's usually a trade off of some sort based on the type of TV being used.

So the answer is ... it depends. You can't categorically say one is better than the other.

[harishkumar09]

Sometimes a DVD transfer of a movie can vary greatly from one release to another but if the quality of the transfer used is about the same then you probably won't see a big difference between them. Of course you can argue that PAL has slightly more resolution but I'd argue that the frames per second speed up is annoying.

The best thing to do is watch both, try to get an idea of which looks better. Also it makes more sense to go with PAL if that is your TV type than NTSC. Just as it makes more sense to go with NTSC if your TV is NTSC. Of course many people have DVD players that can play both formats but again there's usually a trade off of some sort based on the type of TV being used.

So the answer is ... it depends. You can't categorically say one is better than the other.

OK. So I should first ask my relative what is is his TV type ? Right ? I live in India, and so is it more likely to be PAL or NTSC ?

[KBeee]

In India it'll be PAL.
You could check out your DVD on DVDBeaver (if they've reviewed it), because they usually check the differences between the different released versions for quality of transfer etc.

[harishkumar09]

Well I just found out that my relative has watched both PAL and NTSC format DVDs in his DVD Player and TV, so I can gift him any one of them. But I think I will gift him the NTSC one, coz I think fluidity is an essential ingredient in any movie watching experience.

[harishkumar09]

Is this a joke?

Hilarious comment and thanks for it as it put me on the right track !

[Slipster]

...I think I will gift him the NTSC one, coz I think fluidity is an essential ingredient in any movie watching experience.

If his native playback standard is PAL and you give him the NTSC disc, playback will be anything but fluid unless his TV can also scan at NTSC frame rates.