PAL to NTSC Conversion needed - any suggestions?
 

I have two VHS tapes from a recent trip the the UK that I would like to have transferred to NTSC. Is there any reliable place where I can have this done quickly and preferably cheaply? Also, can anyone tell of their experiences having major studio titles transferred to NTSC (specifically Song of the South, which is one of the titles I'd like to have transferred) - is there any copyguard difficulties like there is here in the US?

Thanks for advance for your help.

I tried searching for similar topics, but couldn't find any - sorry if this has been covered already.

It all depends. Most places charge by the time per tape, and some are just downright thieves. Call around before you settle on 1 company. I work for a company that does this, but if someone specifically calls in with Song Of The South or any movie, policy is to turn them down due to copyright infringement. Other places I have worked have just let it slide and made the duplication so call around if you get shot down the first 3 or 4 times.

Is there any way to transfer the signals at home?

you might find its actually cheaper to buy the video's in ntsc rather than converting them. i had a coupple of things transphered from ntsc to pal and it cost £22 per hour. they were 1.5 hour films so that a mere £33 thats in the region of $50 per tape.

it might be diffrent from pal to ntsc, but companys usally charge a lot more if macrovision is on the tape as well.

I usually just borrow a multisystem VCR from someone and record the PAL signal into my computer and make it into a NTSC VCD. It's by far the cheapest way to do it.

Palace - If you already haven't got the conversion done yet, visit Asian stores viz. Indian Grocery Stores, they will do one 2 hour cassatte for about 6 - 7 $.

There are converters available in the market by Clearline, I have seen some VHS converters made by Aiwa for about $300 odd - in case if you need the conversion more than often.

Good Luck,

Suharsh

The problem with a lot of these places is that the converted copy you get back may or may not be in stereo HIFI.