• 01-22-2009, 05:43 AM
    radioflier
    Cleaning DVD recorder lens
    I tried using a cleaning disk on my Toshiba DVD recorder and all I get when I load the disk is the message "This is a PAL disk. It cannot be played on this unit". What is it trying to tell me?

    My recorder is about 3 years old and has never had the lens cleaned. It's starting to hang up even when using new DVD-RAM disks in cartriges. I suspect dust on the lens.
  • 01-22-2009, 09:48 AM
    noddin0ff
    Read these. Hope this helps.


    http://lib1a.library.vanderbilt.edu/...palvideos.html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PAL
  • 01-22-2009, 04:51 PM
    emesbee
    Here in Australia, PAL is the video coding system that is used. Despite that, every DVD player sold in this country will play both PAL and NTSC discs. All televisions sold today will also accept both PAL and NTSC signals, and will switch to the appropriate mode as required. Also, DVD players sold here have the ability to convert NTSC to PAL for those people who have older TVs that only work with PAL .

    I know that the US uses NTSC, but I would have thought that DVD players sold in the US should also be able to play PAL DVDs as a standard feature. Is that not the case?
  • 01-22-2009, 07:16 PM
    02audionoob
    I don't think I've seen a player here that could do PAL.
  • 01-22-2009, 07:21 PM
    Luvin Da Blues
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 02audionoob
    I don't think I've seen a player here that could do PAL.
    FYI, the Oppos play both formats but you have to get into the menu to change it.
  • 01-22-2009, 07:29 PM
    02audionoob
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Luvin Da Blues
    FYI, the Oppos play both formats but you have to get into the menu to change it.
    I guess I haven't been paying attention. I've always just assumed it wasn't available. Live and learn.
  • 01-22-2009, 07:35 PM
    emesbee
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 02audionoob
    I don't think I've seen a player here that could do PAL.
    Well, I'm flabbergasted! Every player that has ever been sold here since DVDs were introduced can play PAL and NTSC. It just seems unbelievable that they wouldn't include such a basic function on players sold in the US.
  • 01-22-2009, 07:51 PM
    emesbee
    My DVD player (a Pioneer) simply outputs video in whatever format is on the disc, PAL or NTSC. It is then up to the television to recognise the video format.

    The DVD player can be set to convert NTSC to PAL for people who have older televisions that don't recognise NTSC (like my mother).
  • 01-22-2009, 08:03 PM
    radioflier
    The manual that came with my Toshiba says nothing about PAL, only NTSC. Mystery solved (apparently). The packaging says it works with CD, DVD, etc, but I guess not here in the states. Thanks to all!
  • 01-22-2009, 08:48 PM
    emesbee
    Australia is in region 4 and uses the PAL system, so any discs made for region 4 are PAL encoded. However, there are some discs sold here that are not region coded, and they are often in NTSC format, since they are sourced from the US. I guess that's why players sold here will accept both formats.

    I suppose I'm surprised that players for the US market don't accept PAL, as I imagine there might be non region coded discs made in Europe or the UK in PAL format that people in the US might want to play.
  • 01-22-2009, 09:10 PM
    Kevio
    I don't think the OP cares about PAL vs NTSC, he just wants to clean his DVD recorder. To this I say, buy an American cleaner disc, the one you have appears to have originated in Europe.
  • 01-23-2009, 05:52 AM
    radioflier
    Kevio - you're correct there! The computer store I went to had several different brands of CDC lens cleaner disks and they all said the same thing (lens cleaning, sound and color test, etc). I don't know why I picked the one I did (MATIX brand), but apparently I picked the wrong one. Simple as that. Will go back and try again.