PAL/NTSC TV Question

Rabies

if i was to try and find a hack for my DVD player so that it could play region 1 dvds would it be a waste of time due to the fact that region 1 dvds should play on NTSC TVs and region 2 dvds play on PAL TVs.
i was told that the image could come out green or black and white
could some one explain this issue to me. do i need a NTSC compatible TV to play region 1 dvds even if i have a hack for the dvd player or if i had a multiregion dvd player.
when i watch a region 1 dvds i use the pc but now we have sh!t cool 32" wide screen TV so i would prefer to watch movies on that.

thanks

wolf359

Have a look at

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/hackable.asp?Page=1

If you player is listed then there is a strong possibility that it can convert the NTSC signal to PAL. So even on a PAL TV it should play fine.

Inspector Gadget

Basically, many DVD players will spit out NTSC video when they see an "NTSC" (or at least a Region 1) DVD, and PAL/SECAM video for (say) a Region 2 or 5 DVD depending on how the machine was configured for its intended sales market - an Irish-bought player will produce a PAL signal and an identical French-bought one will produce a SECAM signal.

It often requires some sort of (hardware) converter to switch from one to the other.

Gadget

DivX

Hi Rabies dont know if this relevant but:

I got my Philips DVD player unlocked for all regions (simple code entering exercise) from the shop i bought it, bought a few DVD's over in the states, played them on my DVD back home and they came out B+W on my home PAL TV... obviously the DVD was outputting the signal to NTSC..

Went to buy a PAL/NTSC widescreen tv and asked at various stores if the t.v's were PAL/NTSC/SECAM compatable and most of the assistants just looked at me blankly.... "what's NTSC?"

From what I've found the cheap widescreens (BEKO\Black Diamond etc.) are only able to display PAL, while the more expensive Philips/Sony etc. were able to play all three modes...

gandalf

To be honest lads most decent named brands can handle NTSC & PAL. I have a 28" Panasonic Widescreen and it can handle NTSC no problems.

I agree mopst retail drones go white when you ask if the TV can handle NTSC. Its especially fun in Dixons and Power City when they run off to try and find someone who has a clue.

Gandalf

* Apologies to anyone reading who works in Dixons or Power City

Rabies

thanks for the replies.

To be honest lads most decent named brands can handle NTSC & PAL. I have a 28" Panasonic Widescreen and it can handle NTSC no problems.

i have a 28" Grundig (5yrs old) and that can't display NTSC.
also have a 32" JVC widescreen (6-9 months old). cant find the manual that came with it, cant check the specs to see if it has the ability to play NTSC.

i will see if i can find the DVD player model on some web site and try to get an unlocking code for it...

its not a major prob i can still use my PC but i would rather watch movies on a big screen.

Inspector Gadget

JVC (an abbreviation for the "Japanese Victor Company", believe it or not) and Panasonic (aka Matsush(letter "i")ta, if I remember correctly) are both Japanese, where NTSC is the standard; Grundig are German, where, like here, PAL is the norm.

Coincidence? :rolleyes:

Gadget
[edit]P.S.> vBulletin apparently doesn't like words with s-h-i-t in the middle, even if they are the names of huge, well-established Japanese companies... hence the interesting use of "letter..." above[/edit]

sceptre

Aye, that makes sense, Gadget.

Oddly enough I've discovered (just getting the notion to check on the off-chance) that my Philips displays NTSC and odd PAL variants without a problem. The reason it seems odd is that I bought it about 3-4 years ago and it wasn't an expensive model - just a regular 21"

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by sceptre
Aye, that makes sense, Gadget.

Oddly enough I've discovered (just getting the notion to check on the off-chance) that my Philips displays NTSC and odd PAL variants without a problem. The reason it seems odd is that I bought it about 3-4 years ago and it wasn't an expensive model - just a regular 21"

One possibility is that as Philips actually manufacture a lot of the electronic hardware required to build things like TVs in-house, they can get the feature-packed kit "at cost" for the same price as other manufacturers may be paying for OEM quantities from outside manufacturers (such as Philips, in fact)

Don't know if that explains it or not, but...
Gadget