X-Box DVD Player converts PAL to NTSC!
 

I was goofing around with my DVDs, and I was trying region 2 discs in my X-Box. Well, of course they didn't work. Then I tried my region free UK 'Rave Unto the Year 2000' PAL DVD, and it WORKED. The conversion was pretty damn smooth too, comparible to PC playback!

I assume this will work with the HKL discs that are region free as well.

It makes sense that PAL DVD's will play since they also play in a computer DVD player and the XBox is pretty much a scaled-down computer.

Scaled down computer?? Not really..
X-Box has: Pentium-III 733Mhz CPU (128k cache), modified GeForce3 video card, 64MB DDR RAM and DVD-ROM drive. Not exactly scaled down, except for the RAM.

It's is a PC in a compact case.
www.anadtech.com opened one up!


J.T.

What I meant was it can't do all the things a traditional desktop computer can do because it's not designed to be as multi-faceted as a traditional computer. So in that sense, yes, it is a scaled down computer. I wasn't trying to say the hardware is inferior in some way.

I wonder if MS just FORGOT to disable the ability for the XBox to do this.

If I put this same disc in another UNMODIFIED US player (tried about 4), it will not even try to play. The player detects the disc as PAL, and won't play it.

Why would MS disable this? There is nothing illegal about playing PAL discs as long as they are region 0 or 1. Most players don't allow it because they can't support it.

SWEET. X-Box just went on my holiday shopping list. ;)

Wait a sec, I just realized something. The disc I tested this on is 4x3.

I'll borrow one of my friends HKL discs this weekend to make sure that the aspect ratio remains correct on anamorphic discs.

Unlike the stand-alone players, I'd be shocked if the aspect ratio was wrong--given the essentially computer-like origin of the display.

OK, I just borrowed my friend's region 0 copy of Drunken Master, and the aspect ratio IS kept correct on the XBox.

NOW THIS is very interesting.

Do you think eventually someone will hack it to eliminate region coding? If so, there might just be an Xbox in my future. :)

Same here! :)

Agreed. If this thing gets hacked for region free use, it would be amazing!

Can someone with more knowledge point us in the direction to possibly begin investigating what can be done about this potentiality--and 'in a quiet manner'? :D

Only Region 1 or 0, of course. Good luck hacking it.

I am aware that people have been able to store stuff from a cdr they've burned into the 8gig hard drive of the X-Box. There are a few people out there that are making emulators for the X-Box too. I'm really hoping a software region hack could disable the region X-BOX

fingers crossed
JP

Please keep us posted and maybe could you see your way to nudging us in a direction--say, a certain forum, perhaps? :)

So what do you guys think of message 4 below?

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e....supernews.com

One guy says that he can play R2s with NTSC output, only, while another guys says that he only knows of PAL R2s...

From what I can tell, there is no contradiction. It's just the second guy who is confused.

First guy is saying he can play the R2 DVDs (PAL format presumably), but the system will only output a video signal which is NTSC. ie, The PAL signal is converted to NTSC, which is what N.American users want to hear anyway. All the second guy is saying is that R2 DVDs are in PAL format. He apparently thought the first poster stated he had a R2 NTSC disc.

Aren't discs from Japan R2 and NTSC?

The guy is on crack. I tried a few region 2 and 4 discs, and none of them worked.

I believe so, but the point is the 2nd guy did not.

Thanks for your input E2k.
Now I don't have an excuse for buying Xbox... :-(

So let me get this straight: Region 0 PAL DVDs look as good on an American X-Box as they would on a PAL DVD Player? Are there any framing problems or anything like that?

Do PAL anamorphic DVDs look good on X-Boxes?

How do R0 PAL anamorphic DVDs look like on an X-Box?