Encoding for the US

[heresjohnny]

Hi Everyone

I have a pal video that I want to put on a DVD for the USA.
Do I have to convert the video to NTSC before authoring or does it not matter?

Cheers

Johnny

[ormonde]

"Do I have to convert the video to NTSC before authoring"

Yes

[heresjohnny]

Ormonde

Thanks for your response.

Not that I am questioning your knowledge but your answer was somewhat curt!

I have since done some other research...see link below...

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/PALvsNTSC/PALvsNTSC.asp

The article does seem convincing...How do you answer this statement?

[Quote]

They're Not Really PAL or NTSC
The first thing I need to clarify about DVD is that PAL and NTSC are words and formats that are applied to DVD for convenience, and because of historical convention. There is nothing fundamental about a DVD which makes it either PAL or NTSC, but for simplicity and brevity, I will continue to use these terms throughout this article.
At their heart, DVDs are merely carriers of data files with compressed audio-visual information contained therein. This information can be placed on DVD in one of two resolutions; 720 x 576 pixels (PAL DVDs), or 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC DVDs), and with various frame rates (24, 25, and 30 frames per second are common). The DVD player itself takes this data file and formats it appropriately for display in either PAL or NTSC.

The Issue Of Resolution
In principle, PAL DVDs have a compelling advantage over NTSC DVDs. PAL DVDs have 576 pixels of vertical resolution versus 480 pixels of vertical resolution. That's a 20% increase in resolution for a PAL DVD as compared to an NTSC DVD. Increased resolution translates into a better looking image. However, this is an overly simplistic way of looking at the whole PAL vs NTSC issue as there are other factors that need to be taken into account.
[unquote]

I look forward to your response.

Johnny

[ormonde]

"The article does seem convincing...How do you answer this statement?"

A quote from your initial post:

"I have a pal video that I want to put on a DVD for the USA."

The easiest way of course is if you are in procession of a standalone player that plays both formats, then there is no need to convert the framerate from PAL to NTSC. However, if the standalone player is limited to just NTSC, and you have a PAL based DVD, you will have to convert the framerate in order to view it.