Help! Questions about PAL to NTSC conversion and which US DVD Players do this? (1 Viewer)

[MikeMiller]

Hello everyone, I have a question that I am hoping the experts here at hometheaterforums can answer.

I am considering the purchase of Until The End Of The World (only available from Italy) DVD from Italy, PAL format. I am in the US. I have been told by a friend that "All DVD players will convert PAL to NTSC".

I don't think they do. What I have been reading is that if you play a PAL DVD in any DVD player it will output in the PAL format and if your TV is NTSC than you won't be watching anything.

Is this correct? does anyone know if standard DVD players play PAL and convert to NTSC or do they just have the ability to play PAL and output PAL. I just haven't been able to find a clear answer anywhere.

I have found a cheap DVD player from Cyberhome that plays and transfers PAL to NTSC and the region code is easy to hack to make it region free. The Cyberhome DVD player is only like $35 US but unfortunately it has a very poor reliability record so buyers beware. I am only buying this DVD player for Until The End Of The World DVD.

This is specifically why I am buying this machine because it does the PAL to NTSC conversion automatically which no other machine on the market does?

Thanks for all your help everyone.

If anyone else is interested in this DVD player (If PAL to NTSC is indeed the case) here is the Cyberhome DVD player. Buyer beware though. This player has a very bad reliabliliy record. amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000A0AJH/104-9992160-7302356?v=glance


.

 

[PaulDA]

Well, I don't know how many players convert PAL to NTSC but I own one that does. In fact, of the three players I own, only one does this. The Cambridge Audio 540D does a pretty flawless PALNTSC conversion (in either direction, for those who could possibly use that) and is region-free out of the box (no hacks required). However, it is considerably more expensive than your Cyberhome. About 10 times or so. But it performs like a player at its price point or above, has superb CD playback (it's the original reason I bought it, getting a region free player was a bonus for me), is solidly built, etc. I wouldn't buy it just to watch one or two other region DVDs (I'd go the Cyberhome route for that) but if you intend to import a lot of films, and would like a reliable, primary DVD player, then the Cambridge is one to consider.

 

[Wes Sokolosky]

You might also consider Momitsu, if you have a DVI capable display. An alternative would be Yamakawa. I have a Momitsu, and it works quite well. No region hack was required, rather a so far one time setting change, and it plays all the european discs I've tried.

Wes