While recently searcing the net to purchace a copy of Circle of Iron, we visited a UK site.
At this site it stated all VHS were PAL.
What the heck is PAL, and how likely is an older US VHS Machine to be so equiped? How likely would a newer machine to be unknowingly PAL equiped? How much would a PAL equiped VHS macine cost?
Onto this DVD and Regions… Thier DVDs are stated as Region 2
Is region 2 exclusive to DVD in the UK only? Are US machines Region 2? can I play a Region 2 DVD on my XPs Media Player?
PAL is the TV standard used in the UK (and some other places). A US VHS VCR would be unlikely to be able to play this standard unless it is a multi-standard unit. Region 2 is the UK, Middle East, and Japan. You should be able to play it on your DVD-ROM drive. I can and I’m using WINMe and the Windows DVD player.
Televisions and VCRs sold in the US, Canada, and Japan use NTSC instead of PAL. Multi-standard VCRs are hard to come by here; if you want one, you may have to find an international video store in your area, or order it online.
DVD region coding is just a nasty trick to prevent you from playing imported discs, so the manufacturer can charge different prices in different markets, release the movie later, or censor the movies for a certain market. There’s no technical reason that a UK disc shouldn’t play on a US player, other than one number on the disc that says “only play in this region”. In fact, many DVD players can be “hacked” to play foreign discs, usually by entering a secret code with the remote, or by installing a new chip inside the device.
With a computer DVD-ROM drive, it’s even easier. Some combinations of hardware and software will allow you to play discs from any region. Many drives will let you change the region code, but usually only a few times before the region code gets “locked in”. If you have two DVD-ROM drives, you can set one for Region 1 and the other for Region 2.
NTSC and PAL use different frame rates. To play a PAL tape you need a PAL-capable versions of both the TV and the VCR. An alternative is to get a VCR with a PAL->NTSC conversion circuit. I’ve seen them for about $400 here, but I have no idea how much they cost in the US. It’s unlikely you have one and not know it.
DVDs are more confusing. As Mr2001 explained, a region code is just a number written into the disc. DVD players sold in the US will look at the number, and will refuse to play if the number is not 1. Some DVD players can be hacked to disable this feature, and some shops sell region-free players.
But that’s not all. DVDs also come in PAL and NTSC versions. Even though DVD is a digital format, you have to match the frame rate to the TV. So if you use a simple region-free DVD player hooked up to an American (NTSC) TV, you can play DVD discs from Japan (Region 2, NTSC) but not the UK (Region 2, PAL). But again, there are some DVD players with a built-in conversion circuit which lets you see PAL DVDs on an NTSC TV. I’ve seen them for less than $300.
Computers can play both PAL and NTSC DVD discs, so region code is the only thing to worry about. Both the drive and software have region code settings, and normally they can only be set a certain number of times before they freeze. But for some DVD player software, there are hacks available on the net that reset or disable the region code. Hacks also exist for some DVD drives.
As far as I know, there is nothing illegal about any of this. Region code is not copy protection, so the DMCA does not apply. I’ve bought region-free DVD players from legitimate shops, and region 1 discs from Amazon. Hacking software and drives will void their warranties, but I don’t see any other problems.
sorry to sort of hack this thread, but if I have a dvd drive on my computer, and I buy a “region free” PAL dvd from Australia. (I live in the US) I should be able to play it, right?
Not really. While normally the words are used that way, strictly speaking, NTSC and PAL are schemes or standards for encoding color and both PAL and NTSC exist at different frame rates. Although by far the most widespread standards are 30 frames/sec for NTSC and 25 for PAL, this does not mean they are unique or even that the standard refers to the frame rate. There are countries with different stangdards and I believe Brazil is one of them. There exists PAL at 30 FPS and NTSC at 25 FPS. As I say, they are standards for encoding the color signal and did not exist when TV was B&W.
Thanks guys. I’m constantly amazed at the stuff floating around in the heads of my fellow Dopers. Once again you all score!
I’m thinking that this might be 20 bucks best spent elsewhere.
I know these manufactures do this to keep the money rolling in, but damn now we can’t complete the Bruce Lee collection. Does anyone know where I can find a US version?
perceypercey you can hyjack my thread anythime! Seems to fit into the scheme of things just fine. The only stupid question is the one unasked. Score another for the Teeming Millions!
Sorry, Handy, but that’s wrong. A disc encoded in PAL won’t work on a NTSC-only TV. Now, you could pop it into a computer dvd-rom drive easily enough (once you’ve hacked the firmware to make it region-free) and have it display on the monitor, as computer monitors don’t have the NTSC/PAL problem. You’d have to get either a multiregion player that also had PAL conversion or buy a seperate PAL converter. Basically, those are your two best options besides buying a system from Europe–cheaper too.
Actually. My TV is PAL format but I constantly get stuff from the US. Things differ between diferent makes, so YMMV. Anyhow. I’ve got a Pioneer DV-444. I use a scart to connect to the tv, and when I want to se something in NTSC, i just go to the menu and set the output to RGB. Works perfectly and no hacking needed.
As for the region coding, best is to get a region-free DVD. That way you can order lotsa good stuff from either amazon.co.uk or http://www.blackstar.co.uk.
When I bought my DVD, the store took away the region coding for $20.
One time I got a video of a band’s TV performance on an Aussie TV show (someone in OZ taped it for me and sent it) and i payed $16 to have it converted to NTSC. I looked up “video transfer” in the yellow pages and found some lady down the road who did the transfer right from her house. I’m not sure what the copyright implications might be, but you would own the PAL tape and you’re not using it for commercial use (I assume) so if you really want that tape and can’t find it in NTSC, maybe conversion is the way to go. Cheaper than buying your own conversion stuff.