Copying USA/NTSC dvds to UK/PAL

[Davoo]

Hi



To copy a US/NTSC dvd to UK format what do I need, where do you get them & how much do they cost?



cheers

David

[rjd0309]

There are several differences between NTSC and PAL, including resolution, frame rate, and color subcarrier frequency. The PAL video will end up looking fuzzier than the NTSC source, since you're converting from a lower-resolution source (NTSC dvd MPEG2 video resolution = 720x482 pixels) to a higher-resolution target (PAL dvd MPEG2 video resolution = 720x576 pixels), requiring that you interpolate existing picture data to fill in missing data.



Converting from one format to the other requires that resolution be altered from 720x480 to 720x576 pixels, frame rate be altered from 30 to 25 fps, and color subcarrier frequency be altered from 3.58 to 4.43 MHz. You basically have two options: the software method or the hardware method.



For the software method, you're going to need to re-encode the dvd's video data, from NTSC to PAL. You can use any good ripper software (such as DVD Decrypter or DVDFab) to extract the MPEG2 video stream from the NTSC dvd. You're going to need to re-encode this video stream into the PAL format. To do this, you will need a good MPEG2 encoder such as TMPGEnc Plus. (You can find more encoder software and much more at the Video Help website.)



For the hardware method, you would play the NTSC dvd on your dvd player, connect the video output to a Video Standards Converter (which changes the video format to PAL), then connect the output to your dvd recorder (set to PAL mode). Video Standards Converters are generally priced in the range of £200 - £350. To find them, just google "Video Standards Converter".

[Steve Crook]

name='Davoo']Hi



To copy a US/NTSC dvd to UK format what do I need, where do you get them & how much do they cost?



cheers

David

Any particular reason why? Most DVD players sold in the UK can play NTSC format and many can get around the region coding issue



Steve

[Davoo]

Hi



Thanks for all the info, I've managed to pick up a ntsc to pal conversion box on ebay for £10.



cheers

David