Question on PAL and NTSC formats on DVD,VCD

Summersond wrote on 5/20/2002, 12:58 PM

My question is: Say I want to convert a VHS tape (NTSC) to DVD or VCD, to be played back in PAL land. For DVD's, I know there is the region issue, but other than that, are there any special issues that I need to address when sending a VCD or DVD from one system (PAL, NTSC) to the other system? I convert VHS tapes from one system to another and now I am getting requests to make VCD's or DVD's to send overseas from the US and I want them to play with no problems. Does it make a difference when playing back on a stand-alone DVD unit or a PC one?

thanks in advance,
dave

Comments

vonhosen wrote on 5/20/2002, 8:02 PM

The region issue will not affect you.
To region encode you need very high end expensive authoring software,burners & media.
Using the main stream DVD-R/-RW/+RW drives & 4.7GB general media you can't do it.

Apart from the obvious difference of frame size the main issue with DVD authoring is audio.
NTSC base support is for PCM & Dolby
PAL is for MPG -1 layer II , PCM & Dolby

To be honest though modern players now can convert each to the other on the fly.
My player will play either and then will auto detect if my TV is a different format to the disc being played and convert it to that signal if required.

Summersond wrote on 5/21/2002, 8:12 AM

Thanks! Sounds like I should be able to burn a DVD then and send it anywhere with really no problem. That's the plan anyway... :)

SonyDennis wrote on 5/21/2002, 12:41 PM

I'd say "some" not "most" players can convert on the fly. For example, many APEX players can transcode on the fly. It's not without it's flaws. Check what your viewer (client) has before investing all your work. You might have to burn a PAL version and a NTSC version.
///d@

altphase wrote on 5/22/2002, 9:13 AM

Be careful about assuming that your DVDs will work anywhere. Keep in mind the best way to encode audio for DVD is using Dolby Digital as it is supported on 99% of PAL or NTSC DVD players. Also, keep in mind that most DVD players cannot convert between PAL and NTSC video (aside from some models from APEX, DAEWOO, SAMPO, and few others). Even then the quality of the conversion is not great. Multi-standard DVD players and TV set are more common in Europe so sending an NTSC DVD there may not be a problem, but if you want guaranteed playback you should create a PAL DVD for PAL markets and a separate NTSC version for the NTSC world.

Summersond wrote on 5/22/2002, 9:51 AM

Thanks for all the info! If the client plays in on their PC DVD, do the rules still apply? (i.e. PAL or NTSC conversion), or is the media player able to decode the DVD, whatever the format is?

thanks again!
dave