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SMHarman
09-12-2003, 13:44
Does anyone know if such a product exists?

I want to get my mother in law (in the US) a DVD player for Christmas, but one of the reasons would be so she could play the DVD home movies (of her Grandson) that I make. It will also need to be 110v

These are filmed on a PAL camcorder, edited etc and burned onto PAL formated DVDs, but her TV is NTSC so I can see big problems here. At the moment she can play them back on her iBook, but a bigger screen etc would be beneficial.

Any suggestions?
Scarlett
09-12-2003, 14:01
Does anyone know if such a product exists?

I want to get my mother in law (in the US) a DVD player for Christmas, but one of the reasons would be so she could play the DVD home movies (of her Grandson) that I make. It will also need to be 110v

These are filmed on a PAL camcorder, edited etc and burned onto PAL formated DVDs, but her TV is NTSC so I can see big problems here. At the moment she can play them back on her iBook, but a bigger screen etc would be beneficial.

Any suggestions?

I'm not aware of anything that would do this, my gut feeling is that the answer would be no due to the regionlising but sayin that try
this (http://www.videos2dvd.com/paltodvd.html) link.I've just checked out come of there multi region DVD playewrs and they certianly claim to be able to do it but I'd never heard of them til now.

Scarlett.
RAJ
10-12-2003, 18:41
would it not be possible to encode them as ntsc before you burn it?

try looking at www.dvdrhelp.com and see if someone on there can give you a way round it if you can't find a player.
Defiant
10-12-2003, 18:47
ALL dvd players can play both formats ntsc & pal. Its only the region lock that stops them. I got one of those £37 abla DVD players from Argos a few weeks ago because I found the unlock code only to find it was already unlocked though.

Also you should know that most modern tv's now can play both formats 50/60hz. Thats the most inportant thing to remember too
Lew
10-12-2003, 20:30
ALL dvd players can play both formats ntsc & pal. Its only the region lock that stops them. I got one of those £37 abla DVD players from Argos a few weeks ago because I found the unlock code only to find it was already unlocked though.

All DVD players in the UK/Europe can, as we share region 2 with Japan which uses NTSC as their TV format. Most US players can't convert PAL discs to NTSC or will play them, but with the bottom portion of the picture cropped off.

Also you should know that most modern tv's now can play both formats 50/60hz. Thats the most inportant thing to remember too

Once again, this only applies to PAL TVs. NTSC TVs (not including HDTV sets) do not have adequate resolution to display a PAL image.

. At the moment she can play them back on her iBook, but a bigger screen etc would be beneficial.

The iBook should have come with an adapter to connect to a TV set (if not then one can be purchased from a retailer or direct from Apple). As long as the iBook is set to output an NTSC signal (there are several NTSC modes available in the display preferences) it will convert the PAL picture to NTSC. I know this as I played several PAL discs on a friend's TV in Arizona via a PowerBook a couple of years back. If the iBook is connected to a TV then Apple DVD Player will automatically display the DVD content on the TV screen and switch off the LCD.

PM me if you have any questions regarding this.
SMHarman
11-12-2003, 10:18
would it not be possible to encode them as ntsc before you burn it?

try looking at www.dvdrhelp.com and see if someone on there can give you a way round it if you can't find a player.

Yes I probably can - well I know that DVDRHelp will provide me with a solution to this, but by the time I've edited the footage encoded to MP2 built the menus covers etc it's another step I really dont want to deal with if a hardware solution is availible.

ALL dvd players can play both formats ntsc & pal. Its only the region lock that stops them. I got one of those £37 abla DVD players from Argos a few weeks ago because I found the unlock code only to find it was already unlocked though.

Also you should know that most modern tv's now can play both formats 50/60hz. Thats the most inportant thing to remember too

This is a correct answer in the UK. It the TV supports a mode known as PAL60 which is used to produce an NTSC output on screen. It does not apply in the US. Oh and her TV is a bit of an antique.



The iBook should have come with an adapter to connect to a TV set (if not then one can be purchased from a retailer or direct from Apple). As long as the iBook is set to output an NTSC signal (there are several NTSC modes available in the display preferences) it will convert the PAL picture to NTSC. I know this as I played several PAL discs on a friend's TV in Arizona via a PowerBook a couple of years back. If the iBook is connected to a TV then Apple DVD Player will automatically display the DVD content on the TV screen and switch off the LCD.

PM me if you have any questions regarding this.

Thanks for this. Looks like a good solution to start with.
ic14
11-12-2003, 17:08
erm dont me barging in here?
All DVD players in the UK/Europe can, as we share region 2 with Japan which uses NTSC as their TV format. Most US players can't convert PAL discs to NTSC or will play them, but with the bottom portion of the picture cropped off.
So if i have a DVD player that can output PAL 60 i could import a DVD from japan and play on it on the good tv?
Lew
11-12-2003, 17:12
Yes. I have several Japanese region 2 DVDs and they play just fine.
SMHarman
11-12-2003, 17:15
erm dont me barging in here?
So if i have a DVD player that can output PAL 60 i could import a DVD from japan and play on it on the good [PAL60 Capable] tv ?

Yep and as Japan is Region 2 you will not need a multi region player.
ic14
11-12-2003, 17:18
Nice :D
*goes off to find a shop willing to import "My neighbors the Yamadas"
Lew
11-12-2003, 17:26
Have you tried http://www.otaku.com or http:www.otaku.co.uk?
SMHarman
11-12-2003, 17:30
http://www.otaku.com/cgi-bin/itemview.asp?itemid=59293z
ic14
11-12-2003, 17:33
Have you tried http://www.otaku.com or http://www.otaku.co.uk (http://http:www.otaku.co.uk)? Found it: http://www.otaku.co.uk/cgi-bin/itemview.asp?itemid=59293z
£44.99? ouch.......
How to convince my dad....... lol

http://www.otaku.com/cgi-bin/itemview.asp?itemid=59293z doh, just found it at the same time as you :D
Defiant
11-12-2003, 18:18
This is a correct answer in the UK. It the TV supports a mode known as PAL60 which is used to produce an NTSC output on screen. It does not apply in the US. Oh and her TV is a bit of an antique.



No its also true in the US. You dont think there going to mass produce a tv that only works in the states and a few others countrys do you. Nope there going to make one that works nearly everywhere. So again thats why I said most new tv's support both ;)
SMHarman
12-12-2003, 10:38
No its also true in the US. You dont think there going to mass produce a tv that only works in the states and a few others countrys do you. Nope there going to make one that works nearly everywhere. So again thats why I said most new tv's support both ;)

So there is 625line NTSC50?

Anyways it is an old TV and until that is replaced the player needs to output a a 525 line 60Hz NTSC signal.
Lew
12-12-2003, 11:20
Also, it wouldn't just have to be 625 lines @ 50Hz, it would also need to be capable of handling the PAL colour signal which is at a different frequency to NTSC. This is also the reason why some PAL TVs which can handle an 'NTSC' signal output a black&white picture when connected to a real NTSC signal (most UK VCRs which advertise "NTSC playback on a PAL TV" are either outputting PAL60 or NTSC4.43, whereas true NTSC is NTSC3.58).
Defiant
12-12-2003, 14:45
So there is 625line NTSC50?

Anyways it is an old TV and until that is replaced the player needs to output a a 525 line 60Hz NTSC signal.


I have a TV which can play NTSC and PAL games just fine. Now if it was only pal and I put an NTSC game on there it would be either black and white and worse. Ie its duel display. You dont really think those large corp's are going to make a tv just for europe and one just for the us do you
Lew
12-12-2003, 14:53
I have a TV which can play NTSC and PAL games just fine. Now if it was only pal and I put an NTSC game on there it would be either black and white and worse.

*sigh!*

Just because a PAL TV can display an NTSC picture that doesn't mean an NTSC TV can display a PAL picture.

You dont really think those large corp's are going to make a tv just for europe and one just for the us do you

Why not? The US/Canada market is easily large enough for it to be profitable.
Defiant
12-12-2003, 15:03
Okay you know better. I bow to your better knowledge.

Christ if your TV is new look at the back of it. How do I know well as I speak to allot of friends from the US who are into the same things as me we've had the same kinda problems in the past but reversed. Its just a case of finding a TV that displays 50/60hz when getting a new TV
Lord Nikon
20-12-2003, 11:08
Check also Video Standard Convertor

Had to buy one a while back for an old TV, converted NTSC output from the DVD player into PAL for the TV, now, without me looking, I am gonna assume that if they can convert NTSC-PAL then there should be another unit to convert PAL-NTSC

The OTHER option is get them a Kiss Technologies DVD player or a Yamada, then simply send them the avi/mpeg video files as those DVD players WILL play them directly
Lew
20-12-2003, 12:02
You mean something like this? (http://www.scancom.ltd.uk/products/cypress/cdm-630.htm) I have one of these (I use it with an NTSC VCR I picked up in the US for copying home movies to send to friends Stateside) and it's absolutely brilliant. It will convert to and from PAL, PAL-M, PAL-N, NTSC3.58 and NTSC4.43 (it will also accept SECAM as an input but not output).

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lwernham/Converter.jpg
Lord Nikon
20-12-2003, 12:07
Yup, something similar to that... but perhaps less expensive :D
Lew
20-12-2003, 14:16
I'd have gone for something cheaper but I needed to be able to convert PAL to NTSC as well as NTSC to PAL :D
SMHarman
22-12-2003, 11:15
I should be able to do this on the PC as everything I am working with is digital media, either from the camcorder or captured and digitised by it. Changing the frame rate and field size when doing the MPEG encode and slowing the audio stream), will take a little practice and a few test discs no doubt being as all my UK equipment will just play it but her player may not.

A visit to DVDRHelp in the new year should find the appropriate instructions.
Lew
01-01-2004, 02:14
Apparently this player (http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/players/dve611.htm) can be firmware-hacked to play region 2 PAL discs in the US. I have a friend in San Diego who recommends it.
Lew
04-01-2004, 12:19
I asked my friend for more info on multiregion, multistandard players and got this reply:
Hi,

Here are the names and the model numbers of the two multiregion, multistandard (NTSC/PAL) DVD players this local store has:

RJTech RJ3900 for about $95
VocoPro DVG380K for about $175

They're both set up for play out of the box with no additional modifications required.

Bye for now,

Jason

I've asked him for contact details for the store in case your Mother in Law wants to order one.