Playing PAL DVD's Questions

[hershon]

I'm totally confused here (what else is new) about playing PAL DVD's. Scenario 1. A PAL DVD is region free. Does this mean it will play on NTSC systems? 2. What are the cheapest US NTSC DVD players that will allow you to play PAL DVD's on regular US TV's or do you still need a dual system TV to be able to see these PAL DVDs? 3. Assuming that the DVD player can convert the PAL DVD's for watching on a US TV, can you digitally copy these PAL DVD's to NTSC DVD's or do you need an expensive machine to do so?

[eisforelectronic]

My old Apex played PAL just fine, of course it eventually stopped playing anything at all. Basically you've got to have some sort of converter somewhere in your system or have a PAL player and either a dual system tv or PAL tv. Copying again requires a converter of some sort. I don't know costs though. PAL is 760x580 vs NTSC at 640x480, also frame rate is 25 fps in PAL vs NTSC's 29.97 fps

[hershon]

So you definately need a duel system TV to play a PAL DVD? How come in England they don't need duel system TV's to play NTSC DVD's. What exactly is a region free Pal DVD?

My old Apex played PAL just fine, of course it eventually stopped playing anything at all. Basically you've got to have some sort of converter somewhere in your system or have a PAL player and either a dual system tv or PAL tv. Copying again requires a converter of some sort. I don't know costs though. PAL is 760x580 vs NTSC at 640x480, also frame rate is 25 fps in PAL vs NTSC's 29.97 fps

[sy_lu]

You don't need dual system TV but you do need a DVD player that can play PAL DVD. DVD has two issues. First, there is the regional code (IMHO a total nonesense by the studios). Second is the different TV system. A region free player may or may not be able to play PAL DVD but a NTSC/PAL dual player most likely also be region free. If you want to play PAL DVD, look for those cheap China made none name brand players. Forget about the Japanese name brands. They are hit and miss and most require some sort of hacking. The worst is Sony players. They are very picky even when it comes to all region DVDs. Another way is setup a HTPC to paly DVD on PC and output to TV. You can even up convert to 720P or 1080i with HTPC.