MythingLink
I hope Sime doesn't mind if I do a cut and paste here with his info on the different DVD regions. Since this question pops up at different times in different forums I thought it would be a good idea to just consolidate it in one topic.
-->Sime's excellent explanation
Well that started a conversation
There would appear to be a bit of confusion, allow me to gibber technical.
Most countries around the World use one of
three main television broadcast Standards.
These three main standards are NTSC, PAL and SECAM. However, each standard is incompatible with the other... That's standards for you
For example, a video recording made in the UK could not be played on US standard VCR's or shown on the TV and the same goes for DVD's.
DVD's are however also encoded with in a reigon format numbered 1 - 6 where 1 is USA and 2 the UK the remainder are for the rest of the world.
Now it is important to understand that with the progress of electronics a great deal of videos and TV's are now capable of understanding both PAL & NTSC formats and in some cases SECAM.
For Example I have a TV and Video bought in the UK and they run as PAL by default however the video recorder plays NTSC tapes and the TV displays them as they have the capability (Check your manuals yours may be compatible)
My DVD Player is infact NTSC but because my TV recognises that format I can see pictures ok (It was also £40 cheaper then the PAL version). The DVD player is also a Multi reigon player and bought as such. This enables me to change reigon with the remote @ will.
If you have a DVD player in your PC you can obtain software that will decode any reigon format you just need to surf.
The TV standards are as follows: -
The first colour TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan.
NTSC runs on 525 lines/frame.
SYSTEM NTSC M
Lines/Field 525/60
Horizantal Frequency 15.734 kHz
Vertical Frequency 60 Hz
Colour Subcarrier Frequency 3.579545 mHz
Video Bandwidth 4.2 mHz
Sound Carrier 4.5 mHz
The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most countries except for France. The PAL standard utilises a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality. PAL runs on 625 lines/frame.
SYSTEM PAL B,G,H PAL I PAL D PAL N PAL M
Line/Field 625/50 625/50 625/50 625/50 525/60
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.750 kHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 60 Hz
Colour Sub Carrier Frequency 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 3.582056 MHz 3.575611 MHz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 4.2 MHz 4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 6.5 MHz 4.5 MHz 4.5 MHz
The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Colour with Memory) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the colour information sequentially.
SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame.
SYSTEM SECAM B,G,H SECAM D,K,K1,L
Line/Field 625/50 625/50
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 6.0 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.5 MHz
Live in the UK - For TV buy a PAL Multi region DVD player.
UK - PC - Buy a Multi reigon system or Get the software off the net (won't be as fast as hardware)
Live in US same but NTSC rather than PAL for the TV.
-->End
I would like to note that multi-region DVD players are illegal in some parts of the US (if not all - this I don't know).
Cheers,
----------
I hope Sime doesn't mind if I do a cut and paste here with his info on the different DVD regions. Since this question pops up at different times in different forums I thought it would be a good idea to just consolidate it in one topic.
-->Sime's excellent explanation
Well that started a conversation
There would appear to be a bit of confusion, allow me to gibber technical.
Most countries around the World use one of
three main television broadcast Standards.
These three main standards are NTSC, PAL and SECAM. However, each standard is incompatible with the other... That's standards for you
For example, a video recording made in the UK could not be played on US standard VCR's or shown on the TV and the same goes for DVD's.
DVD's are however also encoded with in a reigon format numbered 1 - 6 where 1 is USA and 2 the UK the remainder are for the rest of the world.
Now it is important to understand that with the progress of electronics a great deal of videos and TV's are now capable of understanding both PAL & NTSC formats and in some cases SECAM.
For Example I have a TV and Video bought in the UK and they run as PAL by default however the video recorder plays NTSC tapes and the TV displays them as they have the capability (Check your manuals yours may be compatible)
My DVD Player is infact NTSC but because my TV recognises that format I can see pictures ok (It was also £40 cheaper then the PAL version). The DVD player is also a Multi reigon player and bought as such. This enables me to change reigon with the remote @ will.
If you have a DVD player in your PC you can obtain software that will decode any reigon format you just need to surf.
The TV standards are as follows: -
The first colour TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan.
NTSC runs on 525 lines/frame.
SYSTEM NTSC M
Lines/Field 525/60
Horizantal Frequency 15.734 kHz
Vertical Frequency 60 Hz
Colour Subcarrier Frequency 3.579545 mHz
Video Bandwidth 4.2 mHz
Sound Carrier 4.5 mHz
The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most countries except for France. The PAL standard utilises a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality. PAL runs on 625 lines/frame.
SYSTEM PAL B,G,H PAL I PAL D PAL N PAL M
Line/Field 625/50 625/50 625/50 625/50 525/60
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.750 kHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 60 Hz
Colour Sub Carrier Frequency 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 3.582056 MHz 3.575611 MHz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 4.2 MHz 4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 6.5 MHz 4.5 MHz 4.5 MHz
The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Colour with Memory) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the colour information sequentially.
SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame.
SYSTEM SECAM B,G,H SECAM D,K,K1,L
Line/Field 625/50 625/50
Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz
Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz
Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 6.0 MHz
Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.5 MHz
Live in the UK - For TV buy a PAL Multi region DVD player.
UK - PC - Buy a Multi reigon system or Get the software off the net (won't be as fast as hardware)
Live in US same but NTSC rather than PAL for the TV.
-->End
I would like to note that multi-region DVD players are illegal in some parts of the US (if not all - this I don't know).
Cheers,
----------
