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I just found out how to make my dvd player region free (so I can play from all regions). What I would like to know is does it matter if the dvd is PAL? My tv is a USA television and so is my dvd player. Can I play DVD's from europe? What is PAL? Will the DVD player automatically convert PAL to NTSC?
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I did more searching on the web, and I am finding all sorts of contradicting information. For example, I downloaded my DVD player handbook, and it says it can not play PAL at all. But it also said it could only play region 1 and nothing else (and that is wrong since I found out how to change between regions using a code built into the dvd player). The I found some posts saying PAL dvds will play on NTSC tv's, just that they will be in black and white. And another website said it will not play at all.
The whole reason I want to play region 2 dvd's is because I am learning to speak French, and I find the easiest way to get accustomed to the language is to hear as much of it as possible. I have some French DVD's that are ntsc region one, and they are wonderful. I would like to buy some that are region 2 from France. I really liked the Three Colors trillogy, and look forward to more authentic French movies.
I wish I could know if it will play PAL or not. I do not want to spend money to buy a DVD which will not play. -
Best bet is to try it out and see what happens. Regions are related to copyright control, but NTSC and PAL are two different color formats, and they are not mutually compatible on most stand alone players and TVs. There are, of course, acceptions in the various sorts of multi-system TVs and DVD players, but I think they might be expensive in the US (in some places, they are the norm). You could play the DVDs on your PC with no problem, and if they don't work on your TV, you can copy and convert the DVDs using some of the methods that are discussed on this forum.Comment
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The DVD player on my computer is region locked, so I would not be able to play DVD's from region 2. That is why I was so happy when I discovered how to reset the region on my RCA DVD player that is attached to my TV. Plus, even if I could copy the DVD to my laptop, I do not have a dvd-r drive, just a cd-rw, and the RCA dvd player will not read any cd-r's.
Someone wrote about a NTSC to PAL converter box, maybe that would work??? I do not have that much money, but it would be nice to be able to watch movies that are not from the USA, as hollywood does the same thing over and over. I would like to have more variety in choice. And I really want to get some DVD's from France, since I am learning their language.
I wonder why companies do this kind of stuff to us. I spent alot of money buying a nice 32" tv. It took me a year to save enough to buy it and the DVD player. Little did I know they wanted to lock me out so I can not play movies from Europe. This sucks.Comment
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Hi there Harry. I bought my fiancee a DVD player for Christmas - just a cheapy mind! Under £50 from Novatech but I believe Simply Computers are also selling it. It's badged as Ronin and plays DVD, DVD±R/RW, CD/R/RW and mp3 but the thing that should really grab you is it's PAL/NTSC switchable.
... and it's quite small too! Hope this helps, Steve.
oops, nearly forgot ... region-free!This isn't a learning curve ... this is b****y mountaineering!Comment
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Depends on the dvd's video structure: if it is progressive, it will play on an ntsc tv, if it's pal interlaced, you will only see a rolling b&w image.
Some dvd players have progressive output to use with HDTV's: in this case, with progressive scan enabled, you will be able to play pal dvd's on a HDTV.
Another solution is to use your computer (or it's tv-out) to play region free pal interlaced dvd's.
If you deal with region locked pal dvd's, you can use smartripper or dvddecrypter to remove region lock and play from harddrive.Comment
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Just to toss another thought into the mix, I have been using DVDIdlePro and DVDRegionFree on my Window 2000 laptop for about year and am very happy with them. One uses a cache to cut down wear on your DVD drive, and the other fools your computer into thinking the region is not yet locked. They are bundled together, I think, if you surf around the net for them.Comment
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There are some cheap Korean/Asian DVD players which can play both NTSC and PAL and also have hook up jacks to either NTSC or PAL TVs.
Most Apex DVD players can play either NTSC or PAL DVDs by pressing the button (N/P) on the remote control to choose the correct video format if the player messes up. However, these players sold in NTSC lands have only NTSC hookups.
Hope this helps.
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