NTSC format question

[Bluemaxx]

Hi Guys

Firstly i live in Australia and we use the PAL network now my problem is that i want to order in some DVD that haven't been release here like macroos zero, frontier and the DYRL movie perfect edition but most of them say they are in NTSC widescreen format or just NTSC format. Will these DVD's work in australia using PAL TV's? All the DVD's are multi region format so there's no problem with the DVD player but i don't want to buy them and find out i can't actually watch them.

Any help here would be great guys

Cheers

[Nied]

Hi Guys

Firstly i live in Australia and we use the PAL network now my problem is that i want to order in some DVD that haven't been release here like macroos zero, frontier and the DYRL movie perfect edition but most of them say they are in NTSC widescreen format or just NTSC format. Will these DVD's work in australia using PAL TV's? All the DVD's are multi region format so there's no problem with the DVD player but i don't want to buy them and find out i can't actually watch them.

Any help here would be great guys

Cheers

Short answer: No. PAL and NTSC are actually at different resolutions and different frame rates (25 fps for PAL 30 for NTSC). Your only bet is if you have a HDTV and a good upconverting player you might be able to get away with it, AFAIK the ATSC standard (what HDTVs use) has been adopted worldwide so an upconverting player would convert an NTSC signal to that the same as a PAL one. Your mileage may vary though.

[taksraven]

Hi Guys

Firstly i live in Australia and we use the PAL network now my problem is that i want to order in some DVD that haven't been release here like macroos zero, frontier and the DYRL movie perfect edition but most of them say they are in NTSC widescreen format or just NTSC format. Will these DVD's work in australia using PAL TV's? All the DVD's are multi region format so there's no problem with the DVD player but i don't want to buy them and find out i can't actually watch them.

Any help here would be great guys

Cheers

Most modern DVD players in Australia should have no problem with NTSC material but I think that some older units and older TV's might have issues with NTSC. (A common problem is losing colour on playback) I dunno how this would effect digital formats.

Taksraven

[Bluemaxx]

well i have a good HDTV and the DVD are meant to be region zero so they should work on all dvd players shouldn't they?

The only DVD player i have is an Xbox360 which i know is only able to play region 4 DVD's but these region zero ones should play on that too shouldn't they?

[HWR MKII]

The player is the key now. Most HD LCD and plasma screen TVsw will play any video signal. Its the translaing player that causes the issues. If your player is Region 2 only then it will not send a proper NTSC signal to be converted. Region 0 DVDs will work but most are also encodd for NTSC. If you have a HD capable LCD or Plasme TV or any LCD really for that matter your halfway there. Now just find yourself a JWIN region free DVD player and your set.

[JB0]

DVDs use MPEG2, at appropriate resolutions and refresh rates for their region's analog TV standards(some areas use PAL60 or NTSC50).

As I understand things, most european TVs will take 60Hz signals, and the NTSC/PAL encoding is solely the DVD player's responsibility.

And the cheap shitty Apex players I've had experience were capable of outputting either 50Hz PAL or 60Hz NTSC on any source disk. So if your player can read a region 1 disk, it SHOULD be able to output a usable signal.

I make no guarantees, but... it's how I understand things to work.

And if it doesn't... you can rip the MPEG streams to your PC and reformat them?

[Repiv_Onex]

Short answer: No. PAL and NTSC are actually at different resolutions and different frame rates (25 fps for PAL 30 for NTSC).

Not true.

All TVs (CRT/LCD/plasma etc.etc) plays any resolution which your player can support. The TV itself will do the up-scaling/down-scaling to fit it screen.

well i have a good HDTV

Get Blu-ray if u can afford it. A 480p(resolution) DVD would need to do so much upscaling to fit a 1080 resolution HDTV.

[Vifam7]

well i have a good HDTV and the DVD are meant to be region zero so they should work on all dvd players shouldn't they?

The only DVD player i have is an Xbox360 which i know is only able to play region 4 DVD's but these region zero ones should play on that too shouldn't they?

If you have a HDTV, the key issue will be your DVD player. It has to be a player that can play NTSC discs. Check the manual.

Most official DVDs are not Region 0. Anime DVDs from Japan are Region 2. Anime DVDs from the US are Region 1. If the discs you're buying are Region 0, they are are mostly likely bootlegs. Don't waste your money on bootlegs.

[VFTF1]

When people still used VCRs, my family had a multi-regional VCR, where you just had to press "PAL" or "NTSC" in order to play video tapes from where ever in the world/whatever region.

Since this technology was available for video cassettes in the 1980s, I would presume that a variation thereof would be available for DVD players.

Just make sure your player has this option and you should be good to go.

If not - time to buy a new one

Pete

[edwin3060]

Aren't there region free- DVD players? For example, I have so far played Region 1, 2 and 4 dvds on my laptop with no issues whatsoever.

[miriya]

Aren't there region free- DVD players? For example, I have so far played Region 1, 2 and 4 dvds on my laptop with no issues whatsoever.

There are lots of reigon free DVD players software and hardware....

[azrael]

Aren't there region free- DVD players? For example, I have so far played Region 1, 2 and 4 dvds on my laptop with no issues whatsoever.

Yes and no. Some DVD players are hard-coded to be region-locked. Others can be hacked with servicing codes or with firmware. Then there are region-free DVD players which are fixed at the distributor or manufacturer level.

Many DVD drives for computers can be switched to RPC-1 (Which basically sets the Region code to 0) via firmware and/or use software to trick the system into thinking it is a R1-R6 DVD drive.

[edwin3060]

So the issue then isn't the region coding on the DVDs, but that people should buy a region-free DVD player right? Thanks for your explanations Azrael and Miriya!

[F-ZeroOne]

Good grief, I thought this kind of question died with VHS and Daisy-Chained fansub recordings...!

One other thing to watch out for, though I doubt it will affect you - Blu-Ray DVD regions are different to "normal" DVD regions. You know, they actually considered dropping region-encoding during the format wars...

[PetarB]

I order DVDs from Amazon in the USA all the time as I can't get them here in Australia. Playback is never an issue for US DVDs here in Australia. Most DVD players also have a 'hack' - if not already applied - that will allow them to play all zones, if zone protection is a concern. Go crazy, watch whatever you want.

[JB0]

Good grief, I thought this kind of question died with VHS and Daisy-Chained fansub recordings...!

One other thing to watch out for, though I doubt it will affect you - Blu-Ray DVD regions are different to "normal" DVD regions. You know, they actually considered dropping region-encoding during the format wars...

At least it's simpler.

There's only three BluRay Disk regions, as opposed to the ... 14? Digital V??? Disk regions.

[taksraven]

Aren't there region free- DVD players? For example, I have so far played Region 1, 2 and 4 dvds on my laptop with no issues whatsoever.

They are certainly available in Australia as standalone units and many DVD player and burner drives in computers can be modded using software available on the net. (but you do run the risk of stuffing up your drive.)

Taksraven