Question about region free dvd players...
 

Why doesn't PAL to NTSC conversion include slowing down the fps?

because PAL is already slower than NTSC. :)

PAL is 25 FPS
NTSC is 30 FPS.

I have a Malata and the PAL discs play at the proper speed and look fantastic. Perhaps I don't understand the question.

Maybe I am missing something here, but I was of the understanding that PAL was the faster of the two, which was why PAL releases of films tend to have a shorter running time than NTSC.

regards, Tim...

...ever since the advent of sound-on-film in the late Nineteen-Twenties, with very rare exceptions movie film made to be shown in the cinema runs at 24fps

...the same movies, when shown on American, respectively NTSC, television also run at 24fps

...however... NTSC TV has a 'refresh' rate of 30fps... in order to maintain the actual 'speed' (remember: 24fps) of the film shown, 'they' invented a bit of legerdemain called 3-2 pulldown (go to a FAQ site if you want to know what that is)

...whereas... PAL TV has a 'refresh' rate of 25fps... rather than do some complicated fiddling to make up for this, it was decided to just show movies (i.e. those shown in the cinema) at 25fps and leave it at that

(note: when film is used for 'movies' that are to be shown only on PAL TV, those movies are often - but not necessarily always - filmed at 25fps)

...hundreds of millions of people all over the world who live in PAL regions, have been happily watching (and listening to*) 'their' TV (and 'their' Laserdiscs, and 'their' VHS videos, and 'their' Video-CDs a.k.a. VCDs, and 'their' DVDs) at 25fps

(*this includes the ~~4% 'speed-up' of soundtracks, which, I'm told, works out to about one half semi-tone)

...it's just the way it is, it ain't gonna change anytime soon - if ever...

...for all the world to be watching only PAL, or only NTSC, or -shiver!- only SECAM (another, competing 25fps system, that can be ignored for the purpose of this thread), would require that all the world change to one type of standard (house) current - i.e. either 50cycles (PAL, SECAM) or 60cycles (NTSC)... and that ain't gonna happen!

...or something to that effect...

(signed) Your Friendly Technical Nincompoop

. . . :o . . .

It IS possible to take a PAL transfer and convert it to NTSC, AND remove the speedup. But it's more expensive than a standard conversion, which is why so many Fox Lorber DVD's have the stupid PAL speedup.

Thankfully, when major studios do it, they do it right (MGM and LIFEFORCE).