pythonomad

Don't mean to anger the regulars here, but I'm sure those with NTSC TVs and Multiregion players have experienced the annoyance of the stretched PAL image on their imported DVDs.

I'd like to stress I understand WHY the image is vertically stretched. Question is, is there some sort of converter box or something that will allow me to watch my PAL discs on my NTSC TV?

Be gentle folks, it's my first time here and I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence.

codefree

A Malata DVD player will display PAL movies in their correct aspect ratio on an NTSC television.

bhomatude

I have a 4x3 set that is anamorphic/progressive compatible and the jvc 70 player. I've had no problems with PAL discs properly displayed anamorphically. I believe this is an issue with 16x9 sets, which as codefree states is not an issue if you use the xy zoom capability on the malata.

shill66

The way I understand it (partially through my own experience):
MOST* players that can convert PAL to NTSC can not at the same time compress the image IF it's anamorphic. [Basically you get the same result as if you played an anamorphic NTSC disc in 16x9 mode on a normal 4x3 television set - vertical stretching.] If you have a television that can do the squeezing (either a 16x9 screen or a 4x3 screen with 16x9 mode) you're fine. If you have a 4x3 screen that doesn't have a 16x9 mode, you'll have to watch it stretched.

*Some recent players like the Malata and the JVC SA70 display anamorphic PAL images properly no matter what your screen is like.

Another way to look at it is this:
If you understand the "Letterbox" and "Widescreen" settings on your DVD player setup, you'll understand that the player squeezes anamorphic images under the "letterbox" setting but leaves the image alone under the "widescreen" setting (letting the television do the squeezing instead.) Most PAL to NTSC capable DVD players do not do conversion AND squeeze together, even though they do the letterbox squeeze just fine for NTSC titles.

I hope I'm being understood here. It's easy to comprehend, but difficult to explain!

Ted Kontos

Sorry, but that's not true. I have a Wega with 16X9 mode. What happens is that the picture gets "squeezed" too much. So a 1.85 AR turns out like a 2.10, etc. Everyone ends up looking shorter and wider. Only the Malatas and modded JVCs (I have the JVC XV-S500) do the proper conversion.

ScreachingWeasel

..and X-Boxes do it corectly as well.

AdamGott

One other option would be to enter the service mode on your tv and adjust it manually. Write down the old (and new) settings and you should be on your way. I do this with regular 16:9 dvd's to get a bit of an increase in resolution and it works quite well.

Josh Z

I'm pasting this from an old message of mine, with minor edits:


Most region-free DVD players, except for Malata (and now that JVC model), have compromised PAL-to-NTSC conversion. the problems are two-fold:

1) The players drop too many scan-lines in the conversion from PAL-to-NTSC.
A 1.33:1 image will be squished to about 1.6:1 or so.
A 1.85:1 non-anamorphic disc will look like 2.0:1.
A 2.35:1 non-anamorphic disc will look like 3.0:1.

2) The player is incapable of performing PAL-to-NTSC conversion and anamorphic downconversion at the same time. If you are watching an anamorphic PAL disc on a 4:3 TV, the picture will remain in unconverted 16:9 stretch mode. Ironically, this is somewhat tamed by problem #1, but not enough to fully compensate.
A 1.85:1 anamorphic disc will look like 1.6:1.
A 2.35:1 anamorphic disc will look like 1.85:1.

The Malata DVD-N996 and its successor the 520 (and that JVC) use a better chip and can correct both of these problems. These are the only region-free players that can perform flawless PAL-to-NTSC conversion.


So, Ted, that explains why the picture is still squished on your Wega. Although the you don't have the problem with anamorphic downconversion, you still have the problem of the DVD player dropping too many scan lines from the PAL image.