Topic: DVD Player Format Question

[DAnahos_XC]

Question:

If your DVD player can play NTSC format can it also play Pal Aisa format?

The Model number is DVPN5425P.

I have my eye on a English Transformers series not released in the US that follows the G1 Season 3 but want to make sure I can play it fine.

How does one check stuff like this out?

[The Pelican]

No, unless it's Multi-Region, it won't play Asian DVD's.

There are 7 Region Codes a DVD can have, 0 is All Regions, 1 I think is the US, 2 is UK/Europe, and I think 3 is Asia and so on.

If you have a Multi-Region DVD player, you can play any DVD from any region. (Most DVD's can be made multi-region, but I don't think the Admins will be happy if I link you to one of the sites, they are easy to find though).

[Gambler]

There are the region issues.  But I also believe the differences between NTSC and PAL would kill it.

[DAnahos_XC]

Thanks for the quick responses.

I didn't want to spend a nice chunk of money and then find out I couldn't play the blasted DVD. Guess I have to look for it in NTSC format since my machine handles that okay...

[Capt. Mike]

I have found that my computer dvd will play British DVDs, I just watched the BFG (Big Freindly Giant) with my granddaughter on my computer..standard ATI decoder...it won't work on the TV DVD player, but I haven't had any problems with the computer, probably because it is not showing it on the screen electronically the same way.

Mike

[kmelew]

I have found that my computer dvd will play British DVDs, I just watched the BFG (Big Freindly Giant) with my granddaughter on my computer..standard ATI decoder...it won't work on the TV DVD player, but I haven't had any problems with the computer, probably because it is not showing it on the screen electronically the same way.

Mike

You have to be careful.  IIRC computer DVD drives will allow you to change regions up to seven times.  After the seventh time, the region is locked to whatever was last played.

[Capt. Mike]

Any technical data on this?  Whie it wouldn't bother be to have one dedicated to PAL, I've never heard of this..

Thanks,

Mike

[Gambler]

Just for kicks and grins I went searching for more info on NTSC vs PAL and regions.  I found the following information.

Video Standards

Most countries around the World use one of
three main television broadcast Standards.

These three main standards are NTSC, PAL and SECAM.
However, each standard is incompatible with the other.
For example, a video recording made in the UK could not be played on US standard VCR's or shown on the TV.

The charts below give a description of each standard and the technical variations within each.
For a more in depth look at the technical aspects of world
television standards, take a look at Bevis King's excellent


To find out which standard each country supports,
take a look at our Worldwide Video Standards Listing

The first colour TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan.
NTSC runs on 525 lines/frame.
 
SYSTEM NTSC M
Lines/Field 525/60
Horizantal Frequency 15.734 kHz
Vertical Frequency 60 Hz
Colour Subcarrier Frequency 3.579545 mHz
Video Bandwidth 4.2 mHz
Sound Carrier 4.5 mHz

 

PAL

The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most  countries except for France.European
The PAL standard utilises a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality. PAL runs on 625 lines/frame.
 
SYSTEM PAL B,G,H PAL I PAL D PAL N PAL M
Line/Field 625/50 625/50 625/50 625/50 525/60
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.750 kHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 60 Hz
Colour Sub Carrier Frequency 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 3.582056 MHz 3.575611 MHz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 4.2 MHz 4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 6.5 MHz 4.5 MHz 4.5 MHz

 

SECAM

The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Colour with Memory) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the colour information sequentially.
SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame.
 
SYSTEM SECAM B,G,H SECAM D,K,K1,L
Line/Field 625/50 625/50
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 6.0 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.5 MHz
 

Talking about regions:

Barrel-of=Monkeys.com

Is It Legal to Bypass the Codes?

Since DVD regional coding ? also known as "zone locking" ? exists merely for marketing purposes, and has nothing to do with copyright or copy protection, most people compare "breaking the codes" to reading a German book in Australia, Britain, the US or another English-speaking country. If you legally obtained either the book or the DVD, it shouldn't matter where you read it or view it. We're not talking about making commercial copies, defeating copy guards or anything else for distribution purposes that would violate copyright laws. We just want to watch a video that we legally obtained in the first place. But it is important to point out that no court decision has established either that regional coding might be an illegal "restraint of trade" or that it may be legal to defeat the regional DVD codes.

Note: Changing the code setting on a DVD-ROM drive is not only possible, but also perfectly legal.

Some DVD vendors (online or otherwise) may not be willing to ship a DVD title to a country with a regional code that is different than the disk. Since this is a decision made by each vendor, you will need to check on a particular vendor's shipping policy.

Ultimately, the regional code issue is a moral and legal matter that you must decide for yourself.

The bold face is my edit.

[Capt. Mike]

Interesting...I knew about the different systems and how they are applied (3 years in England), and there are actual multisystem TV's and VCR's, so I'm sure there is a multi-system DVD...

But as to changing the region code....didn't know it could be done..


Thanks,

Mike

[The Pelican]

Don't know how it works with NTSC DVD's/TV's - but I can play both on my DVD player & TV. If you intend to play imported DVD's, might be best to get hold of one that does play both.

You can find region code sites everyone, some require you to enter a code each time you use the imported DVD, some will allow you to change the Region Code to 0, making it multi-region forever (which is what mine does).

Strangely, the CHEAPER the DVD player, the more likely it is to be region-free!!

[Byzantine]

You can buy DVD players that are 'region free' and are NTSC/PAL switchable.  As an above post mentions - the region cr@p is mostly a market control gimmick.  You can often find links to these from sites that specialize in selling/renting international DVDs.  Or a google for 'region free dvd player' gets a lot of hits.

What is not clear is if these units are 'factory new' or aftermarket modified.  This may leave the taint of questionable legality.  I have seen offbrand units as low as $80


*edited for accuracy*

[Dash Jones]

You can buy DVD players that are 'region free' and are NTSC/PAL switchable.  As an above post mentions - the region cr@p is mostly a market control gimmick.  You can often find links to these from sites that specialize in selling/renting international DVDs.  Or a google for 'region free dvd player' gets a lot of hits.

What is not clear is if these units are 'factory new' or aftermarket modified.  This may leave the taint of questionable legality.  I have seen offbrand units as low as $80


*edited for accuracy*

This is true,  in the US look for APEX DVD players as they can play both PAL and NTSC...and sold in stores legally, they are a chinese make thing I think, so you'll have to come to grips on that, but they are dirt cheap as well...around 50 USD I believe.  However, You might need an adapter if you bring it to Europe, but that's easily had.

Also, there are some other items for computer DVD players if they refuse to switch regions...I can't recall the exact site however off the top of my head.

[Byzantine]

On Dash's note I think I just saw a stack of Apex units at WalMart last night.  Every site I have looked at in the last hour says region/code free players are not illegal.  As with any tool though it can be used for illegal purposes.  Just behave yourself.

Here is an interesting unit - I know nothing of the quality:
http://www.yamakawadvd.com/