Watching PAL DVDs
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Do you need a particular version of PowerDVD? I'm using ver. 4. It happens that I was looking for a movie and I found it only on amazon UK, region 0, PAL format. I want to know if I will run into trouble runing this with my PC and the Panasonic PTL-75u. I don't know about the refresh rates of the PJ. I have never touched that.
| Originally posted by vfrjim WinDVD and PowerDVD both play back pal discs fine, you might need a region free option, the program AnyDVD works fine to remove region coding. |
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PowerDVD or WinDVD will play PAL discs just fine. The "micro-stuttering" you might notice is due to the fact that NTSC material is 60Hz, while PAL material is 50Hz. Since you're probably running the PJ at 60Hz, you might notice some micro-stutter, but it shouldn't be THAT noticible. Search the forums for info on your PJ, maybe it can support 50Hz native. If it's just for a disc or two, I wouldn't touch it!
Anyway, if the disc is in fact "Region 0", that means it will play on ANY region-set player. European PAL discs are Region 2, North American / Japan discs are Region 1. Your PC should be able to play the disc without the need to install ANyDVD or other such programs. If you plan to use other region discs (2,3,4,5..etc), then AnyDVD is a very good / simple solution.
Now, since I'm an American/Italian in PAL land that owns just as many region 1 discs as region 2 discs.... wouldn't it be great if I could get my Z2 to switch between 50 and 60Hz on-the-fly?!? Oh well.... I'd be happy to get that done even if it was complicated!
Anyway, if the disc is in fact "Region 0", that means it will play on ANY region-set player. European PAL discs are Region 2, North American / Japan discs are Region 1. Your PC should be able to play the disc without the need to install ANyDVD or other such programs. If you plan to use other region discs (2,3,4,5..etc), then AnyDVD is a very good / simple solution.
Now, since I'm an American/Italian in PAL land that owns just as many region 1 discs as region 2 discs.... wouldn't it be great if I could get my Z2 to switch between 50 and 60Hz on-the-fly?!? Oh well.... I'd be happy to get that done even if it was complicated!
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Well, I'm coming from the other way. I was using Zoomplayer with Sonic filters to play a couple of NTSC DVD's and they worked perfectly. One thing I did notice though, was that NTSC is **** 
Get the PAL DVD and enjoy
Get the PAL DVD and enjoy Ciao Phaze,
Sorry for butting in, but I’m in your same situation -- in more ways than one it seems. May I ask how you currently handle switching between 60 and 50 Hz refresh rates? My PJ is a Panasonic AE500 rather than a Sanyo Z2, but I’m guessing the procedure would be identical on the HTPC side.
I was hoping I could use Powerstrip to write a custom monitor driver supporting both refresh rates, so that I could at least change the rate from within Windows’ Display Properties. i.e. Select 1280x720 on the resolution slider, and then either 50 or 60 Hz in the Monitor properties.
However, it appears you can only have one refresh rate per resolution when making a customized monitor driver. So right now, whenever I want to switch modes, I need to re-create a custom timing with the desired refresh rate. Needless to say, that's a major pain when you're constantly switching between NTSC and PAL material.
On the fly switching might be a pipe dream, but hopefully there's an easier way that I haven't thought of...
Sorry for butting in, but I’m in your same situation -- in more ways than one it seems.
May I ask how you currently handle switching between 60 and 50 Hz refresh rates? My PJ is a Panasonic AE500 rather than a Sanyo Z2, but I’m guessing the procedure would be identical on the HTPC side.I was hoping I could use Powerstrip to write a custom monitor driver supporting both refresh rates, so that I could at least change the rate from within Windows’ Display Properties. i.e. Select 1280x720 on the resolution slider, and then either 50 or 60 Hz in the Monitor properties.
However, it appears you can only have one refresh rate per resolution when making a customized monitor driver. So right now, whenever I want to switch modes, I need to re-create a custom timing with the desired refresh rate. Needless to say, that's a major pain when you're constantly switching between NTSC and PAL material.
On the fly switching might be a pipe dream, but hopefully there's an easier way that I haven't thought of...
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You can?! That would make life so much easier!
I'm off to investigate this further... And will probably come crying back here when I can't get it to work.
| YOu can use power strip to set a time at 50hz and one at 60hz and use short cut keys to change. |
That would make life so much easier!I'm off to investigate this further... And will probably come crying back here when I can't get it to work.
You can also use ReClock to change on the fly. Reclock can use powerstrip to change resolution/refresh rate depending on the frame rate of the source. Look at 'RunEvent.sample.vbs' for more info. I've never tried it since I only output via s-video, so I can't comment on how easy/difficult it is to get working.
Thanks for the suggestions! But are any of you using Powerstrip to switch between two profiles with the same resolution, the only difference being the refresh rate?
I've saved two different display profiles, both with my PJ’s native resolution of 1280x720p, but with different refresh rates: 50 and 60 Hz. However when switching between the two, Powerstrip doesn’t actually change the refresh rate -- possibly because I’m not asking it to change the resolution as well.
It switches fine if the profiles have different resolutions, say 1280x720 @ 60Hz and 1280x768 @ 50Hz, for instance; but then I’d lose 1:1 pixel mapping on one of the profiles.
I don’t know whether I’m doing something wrong, or whether this is a limitation of Powerstrip.
I've saved two different display profiles, both with my PJ’s native resolution of 1280x720p, but with different refresh rates: 50 and 60 Hz. However when switching between the two, Powerstrip doesn’t actually change the refresh rate -- possibly because I’m not asking it to change the resolution as well.
It switches fine if the profiles have different resolutions, say 1280x720 @ 60Hz and 1280x768 @ 50Hz, for instance; but then I’d lose 1:1 pixel mapping on one of the profiles.
I don’t know whether I’m doing something wrong, or whether this is a limitation of Powerstrip.
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Ciao Abstract,
Actually, I gave up on the whole thing! I'm just running my Z2 at 1280x720 60Hz via DVI. There is a thread I started some time ago regarding PAL 50Hz on the Z2 in the "Under $3500.00" PJ forum, and they seem to have found some solutions for 50Hz on the Z2, but it's a hit-and-miss thing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. I'll try to tackle the problem again when I have more time at hand, maybe this summer.
Good luck!
| Originally posted by Abstrakt Ciao Phaze, Sorry for butting in, but I’m in your same situation -- in more ways than one it seems. May I ask how you currently handle switching between 60 and 50 Hz refresh rates? My PJ is a Panasonic AE500 rather than a Sanyo Z2, but I’m guessing the procedure would be identical on the HTPC side. (...) |
Actually, I gave up on the whole thing! I'm just running my Z2 at 1280x720 60Hz via DVI. There is a thread I started some time ago regarding PAL 50Hz on the Z2 in the "Under $3500.00" PJ forum, and they seem to have found some solutions for 50Hz on the Z2, but it's a hit-and-miss thing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't. I'll try to tackle the problem again when I have more time at hand, maybe this summer.
Good luck!
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What you want to do is possible, and here is the link that will help you out
| Originally posted by Abstrakt Thanks for the suggestions! But are any of you using Powerstrip to switch between two profiles with the same resolution, the only difference being the refresh rate? I've saved two different display profiles, both with my PJ’s native resolution of 1280x720p, but with different refresh rates: 50 and 60 Hz. However when switching between the two, Powerstrip doesn’t actually change the refresh rate -- possibly because I’m not asking it to change the resolution as well. It switches fine if the profiles have different resolutions, say 1280x720 @ 60Hz and 1280x768 @ 50Hz, for instance; but then I’d lose 1:1 pixel mapping on one of the profiles. I don’t know whether I’m doing something wrong, or whether this is a limitation of Powerstrip. |
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Thanks from me also, Orangelo: I guess I'll just have to find the time to try that out. (even though I think my real problem is 50Hz on the Z2 in itself !)
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