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hershon
11-18-2004, 07:16 PM
Can someone please give me an answer to the following concerning European System DVD's (PAL) as I don't understand a few things:

1. If your DVD stand alone player can play a PAL DVD, doesn't it still need to be shown on a PAL TV system or multi TV (NTSC & PAL) System in order to be viewed? In other words, this still won't play properly if broadcast to a regular HD TV like my Mitsubishi 48" one for example?

2. Can you convert PAL DVD's to NTSC system DVD or vice versa on say your computer DVD burner (lets say your using DVD Shrink as well)?

Smokey
11-18-2004, 09:21 PM
1. If your DVD stand alone player can play a PAL DVD, doesn't it still need to be shown on a PAL TV system or multi TV (NTSC & PAL) System in order to be viewed?

It will depend on the type of DVD player:

There are DVD players known as Code-Free DVD Players which can play DVD disc from all 6 regions. Most of them will output PAL signal on PAL TV and NTSC signal on NTSC TV. This means that a code free dvd player will play NTSC disc on NTSC TV and PAL disc on PAL TV irrespective of region code on a disc.

But if you want to watch a PAL coded DVD disc on NTSC system, then you will not only need a Code-Free DVD player, but also one with built-in PAL-NTSC converter.



2. Can you convert PAL DVD's to NTSC system DVD or vice versa on say your computer DVD burner (lets say your using DVD Shrink as well)?

Not unless your DVD burner is Code-Free and have a PAL-NTSC converter :)

eisforelectronic
11-19-2004, 01:54 AM
My old Apex played Pal and NTSC discs, output was NTSC.

hershon
11-19-2004, 02:00 AM
My old Apex played Pal and NTSC discs, output was NTSC.

Lets say for further clarification The DVD is PAL Europe Systems not 0 all regions
Lets say your player will play both PAL & NTSC If your TV System is a regular non multi system TV, it still won't display properly on your picture screen, correct?

bignerd100
11-19-2004, 09:47 AM
Though not the best brand to consider Emerson makes two different products that you may be forced to use.

EVC-1595 ($499)
EVC-1600 ($599)

Good luck.

eisforelectronic
11-19-2004, 01:37 PM
Lets say for further clarification The DVD is PAL Europe Systems not 0 all regions
Lets say your player will play both PAL & NTSC If your TV System is a regular non multi system TV, it still won't display properly on your picture screen, correct?

Correct. The player must output a signal your TV is capable of displaying.

hershon
11-19-2004, 02:27 PM
Thanks that was the answer I needed

Lensman
11-19-2004, 10:02 PM
1. If your DVD stand alone player can play a PAL DVD, doesn't it still need to be shown on a PAL TV system or multi TV (NTSC & PAL) System in order to be viewed? In other words, this still won't play properly if broadcast to a regular HD TV like my Mitsubishi 48" one for example?

In short, probably. Here's why:

The MPEG video on a DVD is stored in digital format so you'd think it'd play on anything. But it's formatted for either NTSC or PAL, which are essentially incompatible television systems. There are three differences between DVDs made for NTSC playback versus PAL playback. The first is resolution. On NTSC it's 720x480. PAL has a higher resolution at 720x576. Second is the frame rate. On NTSC it's 29.97 frames/sec. On PAL it's a slower 25 frames/sec. Third is the surround audio. NTSC uses Dolby Digital while PAL can use MPEG audio. All PAL DVD players can play Dolby Digital audio tracks, but not all NTSC players can play MPEG audio tracks. But most studios put Dolby Digital audio tracks on their PAL discs instead of MPEG audio.

Most NTSC players can't play PAL discs. But a very small number of NTSC players (such as the Apex I've mentioned owning) can convert PAL to NTSC. Proper on-the-fly conversion requires expensive hardware to handle scaling, temporal conversion, and object motion analysis. Because DVD player hardware is so cheap, the quality of conversion in DVD players is rather poor. Also, some players can't convert anamorphic widescreen video for 4:3 displays, leaving you with images that are disproportionately stretched. This all means if your player can convert it, it's not going to look too good. But you can at least watch it.

Most NTSC TVs don't work with straight PAL video. But some sets are multi-standard and can play a PAL signal. Others may have the ability to provide at least a solid picture through the component (not composite) connections as they may work at both PAL's 50 hz. and NTSC's 60 hz.

Almost all DVD players sold in PAL countries play both kinds of discs. These multi-standard players work by partially converting NTSC to a 60 hz. PAL signal. Most modern PAL TVs can handle this pseudo-PAL signal. A few multi-standard PAL players output true NTSC from NTSC discs, which naturally requires an NTSC TV or a multi-standard TV.

The end result is NTSC discs with Dolby Digital audio play on over 95% of DVD systems worldwide. On the other hand, PAL discs play on very few systems outside of PAL countries.



2. Can you convert PAL DVD's to NTSC system DVD or vice versa on say your computer DVD burner (lets say your using DVD Shrink as well)?

To my knowledge DVD Shrink will not do PAL/NTSC conversion. There are other programs that will, but because of the differences in scaling and timing, they typically have problems not just with video imaging but also sound synchronization. Video from film is usually encoded at 24 frames/sec but is preformatted for one of the two required display rates. Movies formatted for PAL display are usually sped up by 4% at playback, so the audio must be adjusted accordingly before being encoded. Two programs that do a good job of converting PAL to NTSC are Adobe After Effects and Canopus ProCoder, but they're pretty expensive.

However, most PC DVD players can play both NTSC and PAL. Some PCs can only display the converted video on the computer monitor, but others can output it as a video signal for a TV.

hershon
11-19-2004, 10:32 PM
Thanks for the info especially about DVD shrink not converting this stuff


In short, probably. Here's why:

The MPEG video on a DVD is stored in digital format so you'd think it'd play on anything. But it's formatted for either NTSC or PAL, which are essentially incompatible television systems. There are three differences between DVDs made for NTSC playback versus PAL playback. The first is resolution. On NTSC it's 720x480. PAL has a higher resolution at 720x576. Second is the frame rate. On NTSC it's 29.97 frames/sec. On PAL it's a slower 25 frames/sec. Third is the surround audio. NTSC uses Dolby Digital while PAL can use MPEG audio. All PAL DVD players can play Dolby Digital audio tracks, but not all NTSC players can play MPEG audio tracks. But most studios put Dolby Digital audio tracks on their PAL discs instead of MPEG audio.

Most NTSC players can't play PAL discs. But a very small number of NTSC players (such as the Apex I've mentioned owning) can convert PAL to NTSC. Proper on-the-fly conversion requires expensive hardware to handle scaling, temporal conversion, and object motion analysis. Because DVD player hardware is so cheap, the quality of conversion in DVD players is rather poor. Also, some players can't convert anamorphic widescreen video for 4:3 displays, leaving you with images that are disproportionately stretched. This all means if your player can convert it, it's not going to look too good. But you can at least watch it.

Most NTSC TVs don't work with straight PAL video. But some sets are multi-standard and can play a PAL signal. Others may have the ability to provide at least a solid picture through the component (not composite) connections as they may work at both PAL's 50 hz. and NTSC's 60 hz.

Almost all DVD players sold in PAL countries play both kinds of discs. These multi-standard players work by partially converting NTSC to a 60 hz. PAL signal. Most modern PAL TVs can handle this pseudo-PAL signal. A few multi-standard PAL players output true NTSC from NTSC discs, which naturally requires an NTSC TV or a multi-standard TV.

The end result is NTSC discs with Dolby Digital audio play on over 95% of DVD systems worldwide. On the other hand, PAL discs play on very few systems outside of PAL countries.




To my knowledge DVD Shrink will not do PAL/NTSC conversion. There are other programs that will, but because of the differences in scaling and timing, they typically have problems not just with video imaging but also sound synchronization. Video from film is usually encoded at 24 frames/sec but is preformatted for one of the two required display rates. Movies formatted for PAL display are usually sped up by 4% at playback, so the audio must be adjusted accordingly before being encoded. Two programs that do a good job of converting PAL to NTSC are Adobe After Effects and Canopus ProCoder, but they're pretty expensive.

However, most PC DVD players can play both NTSC and PAL. Some PCs can only display the converted video on the computer monitor, but others can output it as a video signal for a TV.