This is my problem right now. My TV is NTSC only, but my DVD player has a switch on the back for NTSC or PAL. When I switch it to PAL, however, I get sound, but the picture is b&w and jumps like the vertical shift is all screwed up. Any way around this that you know of?
OT(a bit) This switch would change the output of your player from NTSC to PAL, and if you changed it to PAL, your TV wouldn’t cope, and would do exactly what you described. It sounds like it’s converting the NTSC disc to PAL. If it worked the other way around and was region free, it would be ideal.
Maybe I should add Multi-region multi-format players to my services ?
OT(a bit) This switch would change the output of your player from NTSC to PAL, and if you changed it to PAL, your TV wouldn’t cope, and would do exactly what you described. It sounds like it’s converting the NTSC disc to PAL. If it worked the other way around and was region free, it would be ideal.
Maybe I should add Multi-region multi-format players to my services ?[/quote]
Yeah, BFM’s right. Just leave it on NTSC and it will force the output to always be correct for your TV. Doesn’t that work?
OT(a bit) This switch would change the output of your player from NTSC to PAL, and if you changed it to PAL, your TV wouldn’t cope, and would do exactly what you described. It sounds like it’s converting the NTSC disc to PAL. If it worked the other way around and was region free, it would be ideal.
Maybe I should add Multi-region multi-format players to my services ?[/quote]
Yeah, BFM’s right. Just leave it on NTSC and it will force the output to always be correct for your TV. Doesn’t that work?[/quote]
Nay, lad. All I get is a message on the screen saying “PAL disc loaded” or something.
Bizarre. I think you might have to go through the menu looking for an “automatic” option. Please post the make/model here and I’ll try and find out more. It kinda defeats the whole purpose of having a PAL/NTSC switch if it does that.
The make is JVC but I don’t know the model offhand. It’s one of those ones that looks more like a mini-stereo – actually it IS a mini-stereo.
Its especially irksome because the DVD I want to watch is the Pogues Live at the Town and Country.
It seems for me that the setting on the DVD player is for reading a PAL disc, and sending the PAL signal to a PAL TV. I think the solution would be to have a NTSC-PAL coverter between the player and the TV, to covert the PAL signal to a NTSC signal.
Have no idea where to buy such a converter, but I know they exist.
Edit:
One of these:
Maybe they have some local distributors, or maybe you can buy samples from them: www.cypress.com.tw
Is this the one, Sandman?
pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/180785/ … -hifi.html
NTSC/PAL converters are not always very good quality, plus even the cheap ones cost as much as a new (cheap) DVD player.
Precisely what I think. Iris, however, who knows everything being as how she’s from Norniron, says it should work even if the sequence is broken by having an NTSC TV. I hope she’s right, but I have my doubts.
[quote=“X3M”]It seems for me that the setting on the DVD player is for reading a PAL disc, and sending the PAL signal to a PAL TV. I think the solution would be to have a NTSC-PAL coverter between the player and the TV, to covert the PAL signal to a NTSC signal.
Have no idea where to buy such a converter, but I know they exist.[/quote]
They do a very poor job.
I am confused as to why your DVD player needs such a switch. Even the simplest ones here have a setting in the menu which you set to “NTSC” with a NTSC TV. The DVD player then converts the PAL DVD to NTSC very badly so that everything’s jumpy but almost watchable. (Try watching a PAL footie disc that’s been converted by a DVD player and you WILL be chucking your ring within 15 minutes)
The reason for this is: All PAL TVs can play NTSC, but all NTSC TVs cannot play PAL. Some of the older ones simply don’t have enough lines on the cathode ray tube. Some of the newer ones don’t have a PAL demodulator.
And that is also the reason why I find your switch bizzarre. It is perhaps there to tell the DVD player if you have a PAL TV. If so, it will spit out PAL stuff in its native PAL, and NTSC stuff in its native NTSC, as the PAL TV can handle it. However, if you set it to NTSC, it knows to convert PAL to NTSC first, or in your case, tell you to fuck off, which is what it appears to be doing.
Or maybe… I give up.
The real-time PAL/NTSC converters that they use in broadcast TV are made by Snell & Wilcox and cost US$60k, so you can imagine how well the NT$2,000 DVD player does it. However, it will be good enough for watching The Office or whatever. I have a Datong one which does PAL to NTSC surprisingly well.
Annoyingly, my DVD player does not have a “Whatever” option to output the film in whatever form it comes in for use with a multi-region TV, so it has to be changed every bleeding time.
As Lord Lucan mention, the set-up menu can also be worth playing around with.
Maybe the menu can be set for the DVD player to read the PAL disc, and the switch to send NTSC signal to the TV, or vice versa.
He is probably right about the quality issue as well.
It’s just that I reckon you could get a new player for the same money as a converter, and it might even do the job better. You could go for one of those LG jobbies that plays Divx files. You could sit in the comfort of your living room with that “My Favourite Shucks” video that’s downloading on Kazza…
OT(a bit) This switch would change the output of your player from NTSC to PAL, and if you changed it to PAL, your TV wouldn’t cope, and would do exactly what you described. It sounds like it’s converting the NTSC disc to PAL. If it worked the other way around and was region free, it would be ideal.
Maybe I should add Multi-region multi-format players to my services ?[/quote]
Yeah, BFM’s right. Just leave it on NTSC and it will force the output to always be correct for your TV. Doesn’t that work?[/quote]
Nay, lad. All I get is a message on the screen saying “PAL disc loaded” or something.[/quote]
Hold on a minute! Please tell us the exact message there, Sandman. Are you sure it’s not saying it’s the wrong region?
[quote]Hold on a minute! Please tell us the exact message there, Sandman. Are you sure it’s not saying it’s the wrong region?[/quote]No, it’s saying it’s the wrong format, and that it can’t convert from PAL to NTSC.
How do you know, BFM?
[quote=“irishstu”]How do you know, BFM?[/quote]I know everything. And I’ve spoken to Sandman outside this thread about this.
Ahhh… well in that case I surrender. If you can’t get it working, I’m pretty sure I can’t either. Tough crap, Sandman.
Pretty weird having that switch though. It obviously already knows what sort of disk is loaded… so why the switch?
Maybe the switch is not connected to anything - just an option that is not activated, or something…
Sorry Iris, its what BFM said. Nothing to do with region encoding. Also, I’ve now tried the offending disc in a friend’s system whose TV can supposedly handle both NTSC and PAL, and it works – except when they say the TV can handle PAL, they must be using a different definition of “handle” to the one I’m used to, because the picture’s absolute crap.
I suspect you might have either an RTFM, IDTS, or POS problem there. You could always try swearing at it or bouncing it off the bloke who sold it to you.