PAL vs NTSC - a quick question

[celineg]

I have a non copyright and non protected home movie dvd from my friends in Europe and want to burn a copy of it for my friends in the US.

It's region free so if I do a straight forward copy, will my US friends be able to play it or do I have to convert from PAL to NTSC first?

I don't quite understand the difference between the two and just assumed that if it's region free - it can be played anywhere but thought I'd check first before burning.

Thanks.

[Southstorm]

There are some differences, and conversion is not always easy.
PAL = 25fps, 720w x 576h
NTSC = 29.97fps, 720w x 480h
Myself, using Avisynth, I typically deinterlace the PAL clip doubling the framerate to 50fps, change the framerate to 60fps, and use Selectevery(4,0,3) then Weave(). Sometimes filters to clean up the picture are neccessary. This would mean that your clip is interlaced (which mine are).

Though there are better ways (MvBob, Etc..) I am usually satisfied with the results.

Also, most U.S. players will NOT play PAL DVD's

[JohnnyMalaria]

They'll be able to play it without any problems on a computer since it is region free.

Many dirt cheap DVD players can play PAL or be hacked to do so. It tends to be the most expensive brand names that don't.

[celineg]

Thanks guys. Glad I checked. So am I right in thinking that

- if it's region free and they want to play it on a PC, I can just copy the region free PAL disc and it's PC only play.

- if they want to play it on TV though, I'd firstly have to convert it to NTSC, then burn it onto a disc. They could play this disc on both their TV's and PC's. (Would it still need converting if their DVD players were also region free)?

I'm not familiar with Avisynth or MvBob so what I've done is DVDShrink to my hard drive, import the Video TS files into my Nero Vision and on the last page of options before burning, it allows you to remain as PAL or convert to NTSC, so I selected convert. Everything worked OK and when I review the Disc Info it says it's NTSC, whereas the original says PAL.

So the only thing I really need clarification on is whether I would still need to do this for them for future PAL DVDs....or is the fact that their DVD player is region free enough and they could just play a copy?

Sorry if this sounds stupid or confusing! Cheers.

[Southstorm]

It's possible that "they" can play PAL DVD's on their region free player. The only way of knowing would be to test it. As JohhnyMalaria said, some U.S. players will. At any rate, your converted DVD's should be fine, though there may be jitters in the picture. But I haven't seen how Nero conversions look.
Hope for the best...

[foxyshadis]

A lot of cheapo players will "play" PAL in black & white, sped up, with distorted aspect ratio and no sound. If you at least get the sound, it's watchable, though. Every player chipset has different capabilities, of course.

There are some GUIs that automate the conversion, but are lousy and almost as hard to use as doing it by hand.

[grumpygamer]

excuse me, isn't there a problem with televisons as well?
If i am not mistaken also the tv has to be PAL-NTSC (accordingly)
in order to display properly.

[setarip_old]

@grumpgamer

Hi!If i am not mistaken also the tv has to be PAL-NTSCNot necessarily. To add further confusion, it depends on what it is the standlone player is capable of doing.

If the standalone is merely capable of playing either an NTSC or PAL DVD then, yes, a multi-format TV would be required.

On the other hand, many standalone players are capable of actually converting NTSC to PAL and vice-versa. Such a player can be used with ANY type of TV...