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Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 3:22 am Post subject: Are you PAL compatible?

This poll is only for Americans, Canadians, Japs and anyone else that lives in an NTSC region of the world. If you live in 'PAL land' please do not vote.

I am interested to know what kind of percentage of NTSC region traders have the capability to view PAL DVDs. I am not talking about playback on your PC, that does not count, cos all PCs can playback PAL discs. I am interested to know who has DVD players and TVs/Monitors that can handle this format.

Your comments on the subject are also very welcome.

Thanx,
Chris.

vhjay · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:09 am Post subject:

I have a Cyberhome DVD player that plays both PAL and NTSC formats. However, it only plays region 1 and region 0 discs. So yes, I can play region-free PAL format dvds.

Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 10:49 am Post subject:

Yeah, to clarify...... I am not talking about regionality as every DVD boot I have ever owned was region free (region 0). I am purely interested in whether you have a DVD player and TV or montior that allows you to view PAL DVD boots..

Chris.

Lance · Joined: 2004-06-30 Posts: 2422 Location: 808

i only can watch them on my computer :(

Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:41 am Post subject:

Lance wrote: i only can watch them on my computer :(

Apparently you can get units in the US that will play PAL Discs for under $50 so I'm told, might be a worthy investment.

Chris

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Lance · Joined: 2004-06-30 Posts: 2422 Location: 808

i bought one of those cyberhome dvd plaers that said to play PAL dvds as well. When I played them the picture on the screeen would roll vertically. Maybe its my TV ???? Either way the only way I can watch them right now is on my computer. :(

Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 11:53 am Post subject:

For those of you interested..... my thoughts on the subject......

I very rarely convert PAL footage to NTSC these days when making DVDs. The degredation in quality, even with my high end converter, stops me from doing so. I draw a parallel in audio terms with converting WAV to MP3, it pollutes the trading pool. Converting NTSC to PAL isnt as bad because PAL is a higher resolution format, but I still avoid it wherever possible. I used to make 2 versions of many of my productions, 1 PAL and 1 NTSC, but the problem with doing this is the majority of traders worldwide are in 'NTSC Land' so the PAL version tends not to get distributed. For example, I made 2 versions of the PAL Rarities back in 2003, but nearly everyone, even people in 'PAL Land' seem to end up with the NTSC version. The PAL version is out there but very rare, even though it is better quality. So making NTSC versions is unfair on us people in PAL Land cos we often have to put up with NTSC versions of DVDs that were sourced from PAL footage. I spend hours hunting down PAL footage, cos I dont want to look at some badly converted NTSC version. Trouble is, so many traders never put the formats in their list, so you dont know what you are getting.

Maybe I'm too anal about this stuff, but someone has to be I guess. It seems weird to me that it is now commonly accepted that converting audio boots to MP3 is a no no, yet ii is seen as OK in many circles to convert PAL>NTSC. It really pisses me off sometimes!

Thanks for listening.... I feel better now!

Chris.

tone1963 · Joined: 2003-10-29 Posts: 1287 Location: Canada

I have a Stand Alone Pioneer dvd player, model DV-363. It will play PAL discs.
I picked it up for $150 (CDN) three years ago.

Tony

Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject:

Lance wrote: i bought one of those cyberhome dvd plaers that said to play PAL dvds as well. When I played them the picture on the screeen would roll vertically. Maybe its my TV ???? Either way the only way I can watch them right now is on my computer. :(

Yes its your TV, thats what happens if you feed a true PAL picture into an NTSC only TV. Is your TV very old? This side of the Atlantic, most TV's manufactured since the mid 90s have circuitry that can handle both formats, I'm sure you must be able to find a TV in your locality that can do the same.

Some DVD players have a built in converter so you dont need a PAL compatible TV but that kinda defeats the object cause you are getting the degredation in quality of the conversion again. The best approach is to have a DVD player that plays out true PAL and a TV that will display it.

Best bet is to take your DVD player round a few TV shops and play a PAL disc into them and see for yourself before buying. It really is worth it.... PAL pisses on NTSC for picture quality.

Chris.

macdon22shipp · Joined: 2003-01-07 Posts: 2478 Location: Winnipeg Canada

I have 2 DVD players that will do it LG and Philips and i watch them on my 46" Sony TV. My Sony DVD recorder will not play PAL. :thumb: :thumb:

tone1963 · Joined: 2003-10-29 Posts: 1287 Location: Canada

Chris UK wrote:
Some DVD players have a built in converter so you dont need a PAL compatible TV but that kinda defeats the object cause you are getting the degredation in quality of the conversion again.

My dvd player has a built in converter... :(

frankm · Joined: 2003-04-01 Posts: 3388 Location: Wisconsin

I only said no because when I play the PAL DVD in my player it converts it and it is still NTSC on my screen. The question really should be something like is your TV PAL compatible.

macdon22shipp · Joined: 2003-01-07 Posts: 2478 Location: Winnipeg Canada

frankm wrote: I only said no because when I play the PAL DVD in my player it converts it and it is still NTSC on my screen. The question really should be something like is your TV PAL compatible.

How would i know that?????

Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:10 pm Post subject:

frankm wrote: I only said no because when I play the PAL DVD in my player it converts it and it is still NTSC on my screen. The question really should be something like is your TV PAL compatible.

Good point, but I was really trying to find out who can watch PAL DVDs in their living/viewing room. I threw the extra comments in for info to help people get the best quality.

Chris.

Chris UK · Posted: Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject:

macdon22shipp wrote: frankm wrote: I only said no because when I play the PAL DVD in my player it converts it and it is still NTSC on my screen. The question really should be something like is your TV PAL compatible.

How would i know that?????

Play a PAL disc and tweak the Hue contol on your TV, if the hue varies (the colour goes all weird and incorrect) then your TV is displaying an NTSC signal. If nothing alters with the colour, then the signal is PAL. The PAL TV system has far greater colour stability than NTSC, hue never drifts with PAL, so PAL only TVs dont even have a Hue control.

Chris.

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