Andy Cuffe wrote:
On Thu, 19 May 2005 00:05:43 -0700, "Ron Hubbard"
wrote:

I know somebody in the UK who has some Doctor Who episodes on DVD--
probably made on an incompatible region 2 DVD player. But even if
they were either region 0 or region 1 discs, would they still be
incompatible because of the PAL/NTSC differences?

Ron




There are two issues here. First, there's the DVD region code. If
they are original pressed DVDs, they will almost certainly be region 2
which won't play in an unmodified US DVD player. If they were made on
a computer, or in a video DVD recorder, there will be no region code.
Consumer DVD recorders don't region code the discs they make.

The second problem is the PAL/NTSC issue. DVDs are different for 525
line NTSC, or 625 line PAL. Not all US DVD players will play PAL DVDs
even if there's no region code. Some DVD players will play PAL DVDs
and even give you the option to view it in PAL, or have it convert it
to NTSC.

Ironically, the cheap, off brand Chinese DVD players are the best way
to get around both these issues. My Toshiba and Sony DVD players
won't play PAL and there's no region hack that I'm aware of. My
Philips DVD recorder will play PAL DVDs, but won't convert them to
NTSC and there's no way around the region problem except to copy the
DVD onto a DVD-R with my PC.

On the other hand, my $35 Cyberhome DVD player can be made region free
by entering a code on the remote and it will convert PAL to NTSC, NTSC
to PAL, or let you view it in its original form. Many other cheap DVD
players I've seen will do the same thing. I've even seen a few of
these DVD players in for repair because they had been changed to
output PAL.
Andy Cuffe

-- Use this address until 12/31/2005

-- Use this address after 12/31/2005

The combo drive on my laptop (DVD-ROM/CD-R) has a utility to change the
region, but when you enter it, it pops a dialogue which says something to
the effect that you can do it 'x' number or times, then there's no way to
change it back.

jak