NTSC and PAL?
 

I am currently looking into a modded higher-end code free DVD player. A couple of models I am interested in do not convert PAL to NTSC.

I only watch non R1 DVDs from:
- Hong Kong
- Korea
- Japan
- China

Am I correct that any disc from these countries will be in NTSC?

What countries use PAL?

Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Russia use PAL, most Thai and mainland China releases are PAL.
Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea are NTSC only.

Thanks, that was most helpful. I'm thinking that I might be able to get away without PAL conversion.

This info and other info is also contained in the FAQ at the top of this page. :)

Don't do it. Look into getting a system that does it all - it may cost a little more but will be worth it the first time you try to watch something you can't.

Yes, there is lots of great DVD's available in PAL format, it's nice to be able to play them all. :D

Even if you only want it to watch Asian movies, there's still one good reason to have NTSC->PAL conversion: Hong Kong Legends

You definitely can depending on what you're using your region-free player on. I do.

Hi all,

Russia doesn't use PAL (unless they switched VERY recently), Russia, Eastern Europe, and France use SECAM.

The UK, Australia, and New Zealand use PAL.

Japan uses NTSC (like the US and Canada) BUT it's a different region coding.

For other countries I'd actually have to look-up what they use for a TV system (and my information is a bit old and possibly out of date, I have a guide book to world TV systems that is several YEARS out of date. But then, how often does a country's TV system change?)

I have a multi-region player with PAL/NTSC conversion (automatic) and it works just fine. I use it so I can buy and watch DVDs from the UK, tho' I've been thinking of buying DVDs from Australia (I've been told it's less expensive than the UK and it doesn't take any *longer* to get your order).

Anyway, if you're going to buy a multi-region player; seriously consider a multi-system player or TV as well. It really depends on what you want to watch!

--Midwestern BritTV Fan

PS--

Hong Kong VERY WELL may use PAL-- it was a British colony at some point in time, wasn't it?

M BritTV fan

None of my HK discs are PAL. All NTSC.

Quote:
digitalfreaknyc
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition


Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: NYC None of my HK discs are PAL. All NTSC.

ENDquote

Are those made for export tho? Or are you saying the TV system in Hong Kong is NTSC? I'm just wondering, because I don't actually *know* one way or the other, but most countries that were either British Colony's or protecterates or *something* back in the Colonial period, ended-up with PAL (which is why you find it in parts of Africa).
Unless of course, it was a FRENCH colony, then it might actually have SECAM.

By the bye-- I TRIED to find a list of countries and formats in the FAQ and the search box kept coming back with "no queries match your search". Does anyone know how to get the official list?

--BritTV fan Midwestern

Hong Kong is Region 3 NTSC, although region 3 is held very loosely with them. :)

You'll get the same answer from everyone in this forum.

Russia and France broadcast in SECAM, yes, but there are no SECAM dvds made. Everything is either NTSC or PAL.

You should get a player that will play everything. However, whether people are bothered by it or not, movies that are transferred to PAL play 4% faster than they should. It's especially bothersome when there are songs playing in the movie and American actors are speaking. I can tolerate people speaking in other languages because I can't really tell that it's sped up.

I heard some Pioneer DVD recorders have the capabilities of converting PAL to NTSC and NTSC!I took the easy way of getting an X-box which converts NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC.

Kumar J said:
Quote: I heard some Pioneer DVD recorders have the capabilities of converting PAL to NTSC and NTSC!I took the easy way of getting an X-box which converts NTSC to PAL or PAL to NTSC. :unquote

You have to look *specifically* for a DVD player that will play PAL or NTSC and has automatic (or manual conversion). With manual conversion, you need to flip a switch *prior* to inserting a PAL disc. With automatic, the player reads the disc and outputs the signal in the format you select when you set-up the DVD player initially (eg PAL is converted to NTSC to play on NTSC TV sets; needless to say a NTSC disc plays in NTSC as well).

I have a Daewoo with automatic conversion. I order DVDs from the UK all the time and watch them on my regular, NTSC television set (that's over 10 years old to boot!).

Try searching for "multi-region" DVD players, but then look for a model that will convert PAL to NTSC. (According to the manual, mine will *also* covert the other way, PLUS you can use it in Europe, it has dual-electric wattage/power ratings (all you do is move a switch on the back to change it for European electric current). I haven't *tried* that, but it's a nice feature to have!)

I bought mine from a company in Schaumberg Ill. Look around on the net, and you should find something. (Pioneer *does* make several models that convert PAL to NTSC, and vice-versa).

I don't own an X-box (I'm not a gamer), and I haven't tried to "hack" an X-box for Pal-NTSC capability, tho' I've heard that it *does* work. Still, you can find a multi-region, multi-system DVD player for about the same cost as a typical normal DVD player that won't convert ($120 US to $200 US). BE SURE TO BUY ON-LINE-- by law, brick-and-mortor retailers in the US MUST CRACK multi-region disc players, prior to sale, and can ONLY sell region 1 players!!!! To get a multi-region player you MUST buy on-line!

SECAM is a broadcast standard, not a home video standard. Countries that use SECAM for broadcast use PAL for home video.

Well, Josh, you'll have to tell this in front of the thousands of SECAM video tapes available in France! :-)

Recent example: SHREK 2 on SECAM video tape

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASI...478538-6177057

Compatibility with UK PAL tapes tooks years to achieve here (or you got B&W picture or a pink-ish lined output in pseudo-PAL60), VCR and TV sets with SECAM/PAL/NTSC capabilities were quite hard to come by for years, even in the 90's.

I even saw some PAL LDs labelled "625 lines SECAM" but it's a mistake.

Regards,
Julien

It's important not to mix the (broadcast) TV standard for a country with dvd:
France, Eastern Europe and Russia use one form of SECAM or other for TV (France even had a higher resolution system going until late '80's/early '90's in paralell with normal SECAM, but use PAL for dvd (and in France, Laserdiscs). The videotapes were in SECAM.
Hong Kong uses PAL as a (broadcast) TV standard (or at least they used to). Probably because they are a small area where countries around them broadcasting NTSC could be received by everyone multistandard TV's have been common for years, and local Laserdiscs were made NTSC as far as I know for a simple copy protection measure (doing standard conversions was expensive in the late '80's/early '90's). The NTSC carried over to dvd, though for local films often in form of a PAL>NTSC-conversion. Video tapes bought in HK at least used to be PAL.

Hmm. 2 of my 3 multi-region players came from a B&M.

Spiky said quote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BritTVfanMidwst
BE SURE TO BUY ON-LINE-- by law, brick-and-mortor retailers in the US MUST CRACK multi-region disc players, prior to sale, and can ONLY sell region 1 players!!!! To get a multi-region player you MUST buy on-line!


Hmm. 2 of my 3 multi-region players came from a B&M.
_______________
Ignorance vs Bliss
--Wizdar
UNQUOTE

Ah, yes, but WHEN did you buy them? The law that REQUIRES brick-and-mortor stores to crack a multi-region DVD player so it will ONLY play a region 1 disc was passed in 2000 or 2001 (shortly after the current admin took over). AND it's only rigidly been enforced over the last couple of years. For some unfathomable reason, Hollywood thinks they will sell MORE DVDs if they make multi-region players difficult to obtain or illegal. ALSO, politically the new isolationist politics in the US, make watching non-american TV a crime.

Mind you, it's a crime I don't mind doing! (And it beats most other ones)