DVD for US delivery

Bjørn Sørensen · June 29th, 2008, 07:06 AM

Our situation: We have a video shot and edited in PAL, with 8 audio tracks: English, German, French, Spanish, Portugese, Russian, Mandarin, Danish,, - to be viewed in these countries.

Question: Should we have the video converted to NTSC for use in "NTSC-countries" or will they be able to play a PAL DVD just out of the box?

My DVD-player here plays NTSC DVD's without any problems, even if it is bought to be used in PAL ..

Does it matter to make a NTSC-version or not?

Boyd Ostroff · June 29th, 2008, 07:57 AM

I think you will have some problems with PAL DVD's in the US. My DVD player is about 5 years old and will not play PAL. Since I work for an opera company, we often receive PAL DVD's from companies in Europe and our staff members tell me they can't play them. I don't know about newer players, perhaps they are multi-standard? I just bought a portable DVD player two weeks ago and it will play PAL and NTSC for example.

But I think there are still a lot of players out there which won't accept PAL in the US, and probably even more TV sets which can't display it either. I have a 3 year old Panasonic plasma TV and it can't take PAL inputs. Same thing with a 4 year old Samsung LCD TV/monitor.

When we receive PAL DVD's at work the solution is generally to just watch them on a computer because they will work with both formats. If you want to reach the largest audience in the US, unfortunately I believe you'll need an NTSC DVD.

Bjørn Sørensen · June 29th, 2008, 09:14 AM

Boyd,

Thank you very much. I think we will go for a NTSC DVD as well as PAL.

Bjorn

Eric Darling · June 29th, 2008, 01:53 PM

That's a good call, Bjørn. Just about no one in the USA can play a PAL DVD on their television. On a computer, it's a non-issue, of course. Unlike European units, most DVD players sold in North America will not play any system besides NTSC.

Bjørn Sørensen · June 30th, 2008, 12:46 PM

There is also a French and Russian version included. These countries use SECAM, right?
Or does the SECAM system still exist?

June 29th, 2008, 07:06 AM	#1
Bjørn Sørensen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 143	DVD for US delivery - could it be PAL ? Our situation: We have a video shot and edited in PAL, with 8 audio tracks: English, German, French, Spanish, Portugese, Russian, Mandarin, Danish,, - to be viewed in these countries. Question: Should we have the video converted to NTSC for use in "NTSC-countries" or will they be able to play a PAL DVD just out of the box? My DVD-player here plays NTSC DVD's without any problems, even if it is bought to be used in PAL .. Does it matter to make a NTSC-version or not? __________________ x

June 29th, 2008, 09:14 AM	#3
Bjørn Sørensen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 143	Boyd, Thank you very much. I think we will go for a NTSC DVD as well as PAL. Bjorn __________________ x

June 30th, 2008, 12:46 PM	#5
Bjørn Sørensen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 143	There is also a French and Russian version included. These countries use SECAM, right? Or does the SECAM system still exist? __________________ x

June 29th, 2008, 07:57 AM	#2
Boyd Ostroff Wrangler Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 11,802	I think you will have some problems with PAL DVD's in the US. My DVD player is about 5 years old and will not play PAL. Since I work for an opera company, we often receive PAL DVD's from companies in Europe and our staff members tell me they can't play them. I don't know about newer players, perhaps they are multi-standard? I just bought a portable DVD player two weeks ago and it will play PAL and NTSC for example. But I think there are still a lot of players out there which won't accept PAL in the US, and probably even more TV sets which can't display it either. I have a 3 year old Panasonic plasma TV and it can't take PAL inputs. Same thing with a 4 year old Samsung LCD TV/monitor. When we receive PAL DVD's at work the solution is generally to just watch them on a computer because they will work with both formats. If you want to reach the largest audience in the US, unfortunately I believe you'll need an NTSC DVD.

June 29th, 2008, 01:53 PM	#4
Eric Darling Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Savannah, GA Posts: 463	That's a good call, Bjørn. Just about no one in the USA can play a PAL DVD on their television. On a computer, it's a non-issue, of course. Unlike European units, most DVD players sold in North America will not play any system besides NTSC.