[Paul FS]

I live in South Africa (PAL system) and need to convert some PAL VHS tapes onto DVD's that will play in the US (NTSC)

Now some people say that I should just do them on normal PAL DVD's because most DVD players in the US can playback PAL DVD's. Others say I should not leave this to chance as the person on the other side, their DVD player might NOT be able to play them back ..... they say rather convert the PAL VHS videos to NTSC DVD's which will DEFINATELY playback OK in the US.

If I choose the latter option using my Pioneer 5100, can I do a format conversion with a setting on the recorder or not. If so, how !!

Although I have a seperate PC and capturing software etc I did not really want to go down that route as there are MANY tapes that need converting and they are all LONG (lots of time capturing and HUGE hard drive space needed)


Need advice quick .... thanks !


Paul

 

[Benfica]

(I think) your recorder will not convert a PAL program to NTSC, so you can not do it with your recorder.


Hope that helps.

 

[Benfica]

I've been thinking about your problem ... may I sugest that you post this request in another forum ?


Try AVFORUM:
http://www.avforums.com/frame.html?h...s=&forumid=113


Because, maybe ... I said maybe ... you can do what you want with your pioneer recorder.


But I'm not expert enough to support you on this.


Hope that hepls

 

[Paul FS]

Thanks .... have just posted on the other forum.

 

[MarkhamPete]

Quote:

Originally posted by Paul FS Now some people say that I should just do them on normal PAL DVD's because most DVD players in the US can playback PAL DVD's. Paul

I don't think you'll find many here agreeing it's "most", a small percentage perhaps, and strangely enough, I find it's usually the lower end cheaper players. If you find you must leave the format in PAL, just advise the recipient(s) to get themselves a PAL capable player.

 

[slimoli]

There are FEW DVD players that will play PAL material on PAL TV and NTSC on NTSC TV. These rare players DO NOT convert PAL to NTSC therefore you must have a PAL TV to play a PAL DVD.


Converting PAL to NTSC is possible with special software but can be a nightmare since mostly you will be dealing with freeware often not so reliable.


Look at www.bhvideo.com for some PAL/NTSC DVD players available in US . If you want to play anything different from ZONE 1 or ZONE 0 (no zone) DVDs you will also need a ZONE FREE DVD player (search the net for them).


The tricky part is the fact that almost no NTSC/PAL will convert PAL to NTSC (even the zone free ones) and you need a PAL TV. PAL DVD players normally convert NTSC to PAL without any problem.


Hope you didn't get even more confused!


Sergio