a guy from the UK sent us a VHS tape of his work for my boss to look at. he said he sent it in VHS form so we'd be able to view it no matter if it was NTSC or PAL... is that true? doesn't the VCR have to PAL also?

also, i tried to pass it thru my tape deck to digitize it and make a small file, but that didnt work. the image showed up very bad, like the tracking was off and scrambled and played faster than normal. i'm wondering if that's because it's PAL. also could have been the VCR - does that have to be PAL compatible also?

ALSO, i'm wondering if the guy can just send us files of his work on a data CD or DVD, but do those files have to be NTSC for me to view it? or can a computer view both NTSC and PAL?

i hope it's not too confusing...

thanks.

-edward

You are right, and he is wrong. Your VCR has to be PAL or multisystem in order to play PAL tapes.

If he re-sends on a disk, the problem is more complicated as there are more options. A PAL DVD *MAY* work on your NTSC DVD player, but it's not for sure - some manufacturers make them multisystem even without listing that on the tech specs, but it's not mandatory, so some firms don't. If played on a PC, you can change the region 5 times or buy software to bypass that limitation.

Depending on the length of the video, a platform and system independent format would be recommended. MPEG1 comes to mind (VCD or SVCD), QT or Windows Media depending on what computers you guys are using.

Just to add that if the DVD is authored as Region 0 (which it almost certainly will be) then you won't need to change the PC's DVD region.

One of the problems I have found in setting up VTC rooms all over the globe is finding "TRUE" universal VCR/DVD units. ones that advertise as being "Global" units will play back PAL but only if you have a PAL display as far as the VCR. but the DVD will multi-region. so I just started to specify Format converters as part of our packages, because the manufacturers keep changing models and features. if you can get one of these format converters in your goodies kit so youll never have to deal with this problem. they are but a couple of hundred bucks for the cheap ones. if you only need for an afternoon , then rent one from one of your rental houses. but they do come in handy to have one for yourself. then tell the guy to never send you anything other than NTSC.