OldBoy

Wondering if this plays PAL DVD's on a NTSC TV using the region free hack and the built in converter thing and all that? Thanks for help as I think this is the one I will end up with for all my region free viewing. Dawn of the Dead and Kill Bill R2 bring it on!!

fnordboy

Yes it does, but do a search this has been discussed in sooo many threads already.

marty888

I've had my Philips 727 for six months now, and it has never been confused by anything I toss in the tray. No problems with regions 2, 3 and 4 (the only ones I have besides 1) and the PAL conversion looks just fine.

Moorqueen

It plays the PAL discs fine visually but apparently , from what I hear, you'll never get proper audio from a PAL disc. All mine sound like the actors took some whiffs of helium.

OldBoy

Is that right? Why would you keep it then? Does it really impair the whole DVD experience? THat seems like a great big negative!! Thanks for your help.

Moorqueen

It's actually the second region free dvd player I bought because I thought it was just a problem with the 1st model I bought. Apperently people just seem to accept it. It's not so noticable on female voices but on male voices it is. They sound like 11 year old boys. I think it's kind of a big deterrent to buying PAL discs.

Josh Z

What he's talking about is PAL speedup. PAL discs run 4% faster than NTSC or film. It isn't noticeable visually, but there can be a slight pitch increase in the audio. Some people are more sensitive to it than others, but most don't find it bothersome.

Tuan Jim

Never had a problem like that before -- never even heard of that. Still I've only used a few PAL discs with it so far. May have a chance to check again this week.

DVDude!

See this thread (HELP! Philips 727 vs. Toshiba 3900) that I started when I was debating buying the Philips 727. A lot of discussion about the 727 that helped me make my decision to buy it. I'm very happy with it. It's played every DVD I've thrown at it (R0, R1, R2, R3, PAL) so far with a very good picture, IMO.

As for PAL speedup, PAL DVDs will be 4% faster, resulting in the audio being sped up and having a higher pitch. Prior to buying any PAL DVDs, I tested my tolerance for the speedup by setting WinDVD to speed up a couple of my favorite NTSC DVDs by 5%. When paying attention, it's noticeable. Voices have a higher pitch, music has a faster tempo and scenes are slightly sped up. I decided it might not bother me a lot, if at all.

I haven't fully tested it though. The PAL DVDs that I've watched I don't own in NTSC. I've been planning on sitting down to watch my R2 PAL DVD of A Fish Called Wanda to see whether or not it bugs me. If so, I'll pass on most PAL DVDs in the future.

Anyway, here's a whole thread on it: PAL Speedup ? [merged]

OldBoy

Wow! thanks for all the info. I actually did see that thread. Sometimes it is easier to whiddle away and get down to brass tax..sorry if I retreaded. I am going with it basically to play my Kill Bill R2 (Japan) coming in April. Juat thinking about some PAL's like Dawn of Dead, but I won't go crazy. Just really wanted the extra Kill Bill footage now, so figured it was worth it. Maybe seems crazy, but sometimes that happens.