The picture keeps scrolling n flickering on my Taiwanese DVD player.
Is it because there is a different format used in H.K. and Taiwan?
I’ve never seen any regional encoding on VCD’s. I don’t even think that is possible. Probably the Taiwan-made DVD player or you got a bogus/poorly-made VCD (which is not uncommon). We’ve got tons of VCD’s from all over Asia and none have a problem. Put the VCD in your PC and look for a folder called MPEGAV. Then look inside for a file called AVSEQxx.DAT where “xx” would be the track number. Open that file up with a movie player.
I agree - I believe that VCDs cannot be/are never region coded. However, some DVD players can’t handle VCDs - check the manual. Or as SP says, it could just be the disc.
Scrolling ? That means it’s in the PAL format and your TV can only show NTSC.
It would work on a computer though.
Why on earth would any one want (or make) a VCD in the 21st century anyway ?
Well, they’re cheaper, and not region-coded - but I agree DVD would generally be my first choice.
As far as I know, the PAL/NTSC format difference does not cause scrolling for VCDs (unlike with video). PAL resolution is higher, so if it plays at all, it will just trim the bottom of the image off the screen, so you might lose subtitles etc. However, I’ve never had a problem playing PAL VCDs in full resolution with my cheapie DVD player, and my TV is definitely NTSC 
It would cause scrolling, PAL vcd’s are 25fps and NTSC ones are 30fps, just like videos and DVD’s. Your DVD player just converts it, so does mine. :raspberry:
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]Scrolling ? That means it’s in the PAL format and your TV can only show NTSC.
It would work on a computer though.
Why on earth would any one want (or make) a VCD in the 21st century anyway ?[/quote]
That’s a good point about the PAL format. I didn’t think of that but you’re probably right on.
Lots of us still make VCDs. I make dozens every month. That’s mainly because I have been too cheap to buy a DVD burner. But with prices coming down close to $100US, I might just break down and buy one. I guess if I didn’t download stuff so much, I wouldn’t need to make so many VCDs 
Yes, OK smartypants “Does not” was wrong, it should have been “probably won’t”. It was my understanding that practically all DVD players/TVs nowadays can handle the fps aspect just fine. ‘Multisync’ or something. But you’re right that it could be one of the rare beasties that doesn’t.
I had the same problem and by asking in the VCD store I got the answer.
My VCD player isn’t crappy, it’s top notch, but outdated. With all the piracy that goes on with VCD’s many companies have made VCD’s with a new security feature. Near the hole in the centre of the disc you will see one band on the surface of the VCD, this single band is normal and can be played on any VCD player. There are some VCD’s with two bands on the surface of the VCD, these are not playable in EVERY VCD player, but your computer will almost certainly be able to read it, if the CD drive is fast enough.
This is not a coding problem, it is a stupid security problem that resulted in me buying a New DVD player so I could watch any disc.
NTSC and PAL had nothing to do with the problem, my VCD player has both. It’s an Aiwa and it’s fully loaded with all the gadgets that you’d ever want. But with this twin ring stuff going on it’s useless. The VCD companies these days make one VCD in a set of 2 with a single ring on the disc and the second disc has 2 rings. 
I would have thought that HK is NTSC like here, but if it’s indeed PAL and considering most TVs here don’t understand it this could well cause the scrolling.
It’s also possible that the Macrovision signal (analog copy protection embedded in the video signal) gives your TV a hard time - some display devices are sensitive to that.
As for DVD: There is no NTSC or PAL on a DVD disc, only 575/60 and 625/50!
575/60Hz is usually output as NTSC while 625/50Hz usually is outputted as PAL, some Players (depending on the model) can convert though. Check the setup or if there is a switch at the back.
Possible output formats are PAL(50), PAL60 (aka Pseudo-Pal, i.e. PAL color space with NTSC frequency) and NTSC.
Most DVD players should be able to playback VCDs, if not they are crap.
That said I can play my self-made VCDs on my DVD player and under Linux, but all players (Mediaplayer, Realplayer) under WinXP refuse to. Well, a problem for another thread perhaps …