Moving from the mainland to Taipei in Jan04 I wonder if I should move my own TV, DVD, and VHS. I’m aware of 110/240 Voltage, but in my new home both is available, so the landlord 
But I have no clue about the different video-systems and if a local TV will be compartible with my DVD, VHS …anyone?
Is this equipment expensive in Taiwan?
Taiwan uses NTSC, and is in DVD region 3. China is PAL and region 6
most TV’s cannot display a PAL signal.
Whether your DVD player will have a problem depends on your DVD player. It might be better to buy a new one here. You can get a multiregion DVD player that can convert a PAL DVD to NTSC for around $2500NT
As for the DVDs themselves, it seems that most DVDs that I or my friends have purchased in China work fine on NTSC players, and irrespective of region.
As for the equipment (TV/DVD/VCR), they have to be NTSC, or they won’t work. The only exception is that if you have a DVD and/or VCR that can handle both PAL and NTSC, but those are rare and expensive, and you usually won’t buy one unless you are specifically shopping for that feature.
As for SECAM, I think that’s rarely used outside of a handful of countries (France, I think?).
Most TVs and Videos sold in China are multi-system. (Well, in Shanghai anyway - Shanghai cable broadcasts some stations in NTSC and some in PAL, if I remember correctly) Check whether or not your model can accept an NTSC signal. Because PAL TVs have more lines than NTSC TVs, they can usually render a lower quality NTSC signal. However, most modern “NTSC” TVs use a tube which is capable of displaying 625 lines, so makers include the function to display NTSC signals. (NTSC has a slightly faster frame rate but less lines than PAL)
Cheap TVs in Taiwan use the old 500 line tubes and cannot physically render 625 lines. You’ll need to get a Sony or summat if you’re going to play PAL videos or DVDs. TV shops here have never heard of PAL, but all Sonys here with Trinitron or better tubes can display PAL, as can one or two Sanyos and Panasonics.
Having said all this, however, could you really be bothered to lug a TV over here ? TVs here are not overly expensive (well, about the same as the UK). But you’ll need to bring your VCR.
DVD players aren’t cheap here.
[quote]The only exception is that if you have a DVD and/or VCR that can handle both PAL and NTSC, but those are rare and expensive, and you usually won’t buy one unless you are specifically shopping for that feature.
[/quote]
My 4000NT DVD player plays PAL and NTSC. When shopping I noticed that most players (except the very cheap) did.
Brian
It might be able to play both NTSC and PAL discs on either NTSC TVs or PAL TVs, but I doubt that it can play on both NTSC and PAL TVs at that price point.
tks for all the tips coming up. i greatly appreciate 'em.
It might be able to play both NTSC and PAL discs on either NTSC TVs or PAL TVs, but I doubt that it can play on both NTSC and PAL TVs at that price point.[/quote]Mine can play NTSC and PAL discs on a NTSC TV, and might be able to do the same on PAL. You will have to check it does what you want before you buy it.
Having a multisystem TV is a better solution, you get a better picture because it’s not being converted. But it’s easier and cheaper to find a multisystem DVD player in Taiwan.
Beware. 220V might only be available at certain points for the Air-Conditions, but I assume most normal outlets/sockets are 110V only.
SECAM is a TV broadcast standard, mainly used in France. There is no SECAM related to DVD (only PAL and NTSC).
As for the DVD / TV issue itself:
- Most TVs here do not support PAL - unless you go upmarket.
- Not all DVD Players output PAL and NTSC but those which do do not convert, so European R2 discs will be output as PAL, R1 or R3 as NTSC.
- Cheap DVD players are mostly multi-region out of the box, branded models need to be modified (extra $$$)
However there is an alternative to buying a multi-system TV, though depending on screen-size this might cost you the same or you get both features with it anyway:
If your DVD player has a Component (YUV) output you can connect it to any display (TV, Plasma, Projector …) with YUV input irrespective of PAL or NTSC, given the DVD player is a) capable of handling PAL & NTSC and b) multiregion-capable.
While b) is not directly related it might still apply due to the ‘coincidental’ relationship between region coding and TV system (well, sort of).
My advise: if you DVD player plays multiregion bring it along, the voltage issue can be sorted with a cheap transformer.
For the TV it might not be worth it unless it can handle 110V and PAL/NTSC.
In general hifi/AV electronics, TVs and speakers are NOT cheap here.
[quote]However there is an alternative to buying a multi-system TV, though depending on screen-size this might cost you the same or you get both features with it anyway:
If your DVD player has a Component (YUV) output you can connect it to any display (TV, Plasma, Projector …) with YUV input irrespective of PAL or NTSC, given the DVD player is a) capable of handling PAL & NTSC and b) multiregion-capable.
While b) is not directly related it might still apply due to the ‘coincidental’ relationship between region coding and TV system (well, sort of). [/quote]That fixes the differences in the frequency of the colour carrier, but what about the framerate ? I bet it’s possible to find a TV with YUV input that can’t take a 50Hz framerate.
As far as I know, DVD players do not convert between PAL and NTSC. They simply are capable of outputting either or, depending on the media format. Converting between NTSC and PAL is a complicated business due to the difference in frames per second (25 against 30) and the lower resolution of NTSC and machines I have seen which do conversions are expensive.
[quote=“Taiwan Beer”]As far as I know, DVD players do not convert between PAL and NTSC. They simply are capable of outputting either or, depending on the media format. Converting between NTSC and PAL is a complicated business due to the difference in frames per second (25 against 30) and the lower resolution of NTSC and machines I have seen which do conversions are expensive.[/quote]I repeat yet again, Mine does convert it, I have used it. It cost $2700NT
My original DVD player is NTSC only but a second one I bought and the one in my wife’s shop can handle both NTSC and PAL and can convert between the two. They have a configuration to set whether the TV connected is NTSC, PAL, or Multi, and if it is set to NTSC or PAL it will do the conversion automatically. Most of the conversion is done digitally, so it’s not that big a deal. DVD players already have framerate conversion hardware (because most movies are encoded as 24fps), and resolution scaling (because widescreen is encoded at 480 or 576 lines and then resized down horizontally on non-widescreen sets).
Possible. However the TV I helped iris to buy here accepts NTSC only but has a YUV input and it works fine with R2 “PAL” DVDs. Was a small (cheap) Phillips.
Conversion either way is possible, though it depends on the manufacturer to implement this. Some models do have that function.
Some convert NTSC to PAL60 (aka Pseudo-PAL) and some to real PAL (PAL50), as well it’s possible to convert to NTSC.
Conversion might however have some side-effects as highlighted by Taiwan Beer, see → 3:2 pulldown etc.
I looked at some web sites and am now completely confused. Join in my confusion !
[i]NTSC’s 3:2 Pulldown
…an artefact known as judder. As with PAL’s 4% speed-up, the great majority of people will never notice this artefact, but for a small minority, this is intolerable. Personally, I find this artefact all but intolerable and find it very hard to watch a movie on an NTSC DVD because of it.
michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/P … vsNTSC.asp
A less obvious effect of this 4% speedup is that the audio for the film is both 4% faster and 4% higher in pitch. In musical terms, this equates to a rise in pitch of approximately one semitone.
michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/P … peedUp.asp
Hue, Saturation, Phase Alternation, Atomic Colour Edits…
He needed one of these
I want one of these for my old videos.
PAL speedup is not so much an issue anymore since mastering usually happens in the digital domain and hence it’s easy to apply pitch correction. At least this applies to produced (PAL) DVDs.
If the DVD player handles the conversion it might become noticable however.
Some explanations on pulldown and why it is required:
projectorpeople.com/tutorials/pulldown.asp
progressivescan.co.uk/threetwo_whatisit.php
Are the broadcast frequencies in Taiwan the same as in the U.S.? If one were to bring a TV from the U.S. (or Japan) to Taiwan, would it function properly?