Please Help: How can I play a PAL DVD?

Clueless in Seattle · 08-07-2012

I recently ordered a DVD from a seller on ebay.

It's a film that, as far as I know, was never released on DVD in the U.S. And my old VHS copy is showing its age.

Well, I found this ad on ebay:

THE OUTSIDE CHANCE OF MAXIMILIAN GLICK - ULTA RARE DVD

In the ad, the guy says "DVD REGION ALL," and "Region: DVD: 0, All (Worldwide)" which I took to mean that it would play in all regions, including the U.S.

Well, the DVD arrived today and, (as I'm sure you've already guessed), it's in PAL format and won't play on my hand-me-down DVD player.

I feel like I was tricked by a misleading ad into buying this DVD. Nowhere in his ad does the term "PAL" appear, and the ad is in English on the American ebay site.

So, I'm tying to figure out if there's any way I can play this DVD. I tried it with VLC on my little hand-me-down laptop, and it does play, albeit somewhat jerkily, which makes it unwatchable.

I'm on a small fixed income, so I can't afford to buy a PAL player and monitor. All my hardware is hand-me-down.

Some of you in this forum are familiar with my health problems which limit my ability to learn new tasks and severely limit the amount of time I can spend sitting up at a computer. So I'm not sure I would be able to manage the task of converting the PAL disk to NTSC.

However, if I were to decide to tackle that project, do you know of any free foolproof software that's up to the task?

**Kerry56** · 08-07-2012

Converting PAL to NTSC is not a very simple project. The framerate change almost always causes a bit of jerkiness to the video. And keeping audio/video synchronization is sometimes a problem.

There was one commercial program called ProCoder that was known to be good at this process, but it is prohibitively expensive for you and this one time conversion.

I have seen people use AVStoDVD for this, but I cannot guarantee that it will work. http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/ AVStoDVD is free to download and use. And I am quite familiar with the program, so if you need help setting up the parameters, I can assist.

Another option would be ConvertXtoDVD, which is supposed to handle PAL to NTSC conversions. This is a commercial program, and there is a free trial, but I believe the trial will put a watermark in the video that cannot be removed. If you want to try it, you can find it here: http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/

I think a better option would be to try a different video player in your computer. I've always thought that Media Player Classic Home Cinema does a better job at playing dvds and blu ray than VLC anyway. MPC-HC is a free program, which you can find here: http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/downloads/ Click on the appropriate installer link....in other words, if you are using a 32 bit operating system, get the 32 bit installer. If you are using a 64 bit operating system, get the 64 bit installer.

**Wombler** · 08-07-2012

As Kerry says converting this with free software is no simple task.

There are a few commercial products that would do this for you relatively painlessly but I don't think there's much point in spending money on something just for one use.

There is a cheap and nasty patch method that I'm normally against recommending as the success rate is low but it's very quick and very easy to try so you might want to try it.

If you want to give it a go then when you're ripping the disc I'd take the opportunity to remove those Greek subtitles referred to on that web page rather than having to turn them off each time the way the web page suggests.

Anyway, here are the steps:-

Open the VIDEO_TS.IFO file from IfoEdit
Scan through the files for all references to the aspect ratio (either 4:3 or 16:9). They should look something like this "Video: MPEG-2 720x480 (NTSC) (NTSC 525/50) 16:9 (pan-scan)"
When you find one double click on it.
Then change 'Standard' to 'NTSC', 'Resolution' to '720x480' and 'Static' to 'Automatic letterboxed'.
Repeat this for all entries found.
Save the changes.
Burn the DVD (preferably to RW for test purposes).
Test and see if it works.

The odds are this method won't work BTW.

I know you've said you don't want to spend much money but the best and easiest solution of all though would be to buy a cheap DVD player that supports on the fly PAL to NTSC conversion and you could use this with your existing display equipment.

I believe the likes of Walmart or Best Buy do them very cheaply in the US (less than $30 and possibly cheaper) although I'm not best placed to recommend any specific models. It would be a more permanent solution too that would also leave you free to buy other PAL discs if you wanted to in the future.

Alternatively if you fancy a bit of an upgrade a lot of the Blu-ray players currently available support PAL/NTSC conversion for DVDs and would also upscale DVDs to HD as well.

Wombler

*coolcolors* · 08-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clueless in Seattle

I recently ordered a DVD from a seller on ebay.

It's a film that, as far as I know, was never released on DVD in the U.S. And my old VHS copy is showing its age.

Well, I found this ad on ebay:

THE OUTSIDE CHANCE OF MAXIMILIAN GLICK - ULTA RARE DVD

In the ad, the guy says "DVD REGION ALL," and "Region: DVD: 0, All (Worldwide)" which I took to mean that it would play in all regions, including the U.S.

Well, the DVD arrived today and, (as I'm sure you've already guessed), it's in PAL format and won't play on my hand-me-down DVD player.

I feel like I was tricked by a misleading ad into buying this DVD. Nowhere in his ad does the term "PAL" appear, and the ad is in English on the American ebay site.

So, I'm tying to figure out if there's any way I can play this DVD. I tried it with VLC on my little hand-me-down laptop, and it does play, albeit somewhat jerkily, which makes it unwatchable.

I'm on a small fixed income, so I can't afford to buy a PAL player and monitor. All my hardware is hand-me-down.

Some of you in this forum are familiar with my health problems which limit my ability to learn new tasks and severely limit the amount of time I can spend sitting up at a computer. So I'm not sure I would be able to manage the task of converting the PAL disk to NTSC.

However, if I were to decide to tackle that project, do you know of any free foolproof software that's up to the task?

I would contact the seller and double check their ad to be sure what they said is what you posted otherwise you will have to ask for a refund if they said something but sold you something else they call this "Bait and Switch". If so contact Ebay and inform them of the misleading ad and have them resolve the situation and get your refund. If they falsely miss advertise a ad on - Ebay will frown upon and revoke their seller and account(s).

*cholla* · 08-07-2012

There is also DVDFlick . It is supposed to be able to do this .
I've never had a PAL DVD
You probably will need some help getting it to do the conversion .
If your computer is slow it can take a while to run but you don't need to sit & watch it . Just check occasionally to see if you have an error that stops it.

The software Kerry56 suggested AVStoDVD will probably work too.

That covers the freeware except one very old software that I don't know if there is even still a download available . I don't know if it would work .So I will hold off trying to find it till you have tried the other programs.

Before using any of the conversion programs you will need to rip the DVD to your hard drive with a software that decrypts the DVD. DVDFab free after trial will work for this but doesn't compress to SL.
I think DVDFlick can compress but I haven't used it for that. I may give it a test & see if it can go the other way . Convert to PAL & compress.
@ Wombler , I may have to try IfoEdit to convert a DVD to PAL to see if that would work . IfoEdit can be a bit intimidating & not that easy to use. I've played with it quite a bit but it definitely has a learning curve.
Last if you end up with a conversion that needs compressed I would try DVDShrink.

*cholla* · 08-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolcolors

I would contact the seller and double check their ad to be sure what they said is what you posted otherwise you will have to ask for a refund if they said something but sold you something else they call this "Bait and Switch". If so contact Ebay and inform them of the misleading ad and have them resolve the situation and get your refund. If they falsely miss advertise a ad on - Ebay will frown upon and revoke their seller and account(s).

I would contact the seller but since this is a rare movie finding another one might not be an option.

Good luck on getting Ebay to do anything to a seller . Only if the seller is a serious multiple offender will you get any results . For the most part if you have a problem with an Ebay purchase you are on your on to work it out with the seller.

**geno888** · 08-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clueless in Seattle

I tried it with VLC on my little hand-me-down laptop, and it does play, albeit somewhat jerkily, which makes it unwatchable.

I always watch DVD movies in my PC with VLC, and here in Italy all DVDs are PAL, so I know for sure that VLC can manage PAL without problems.

Just for curiosity: are you watching the movie directly from the disc or did you rip on HDD first?

If also from hard disk playback is stuttering, then there is something wrong in the movie itself.

If the movie plays good from hard disk, then the stuttering problem it is due only to dust or scratches on the DVD that make it more difficult to read. In this case I suggest to make a backup copy of that disc asap, until is still readable, mostly because the disc is so rare to find.

Clueless in Seattle · 08-07-2012

Thanks, guys, for all that helpful info.

I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this forum.

**geno888** · 08-07-2012

You're welcome

**Wombler** · 08-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clueless in Seattle

Thanks, guys, for all that helpful info.

I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this forum.

I'm really glad to hear that Will.

They're a great bunch in here, that are always keen to assist, and we've a lot of very knowledgeable members here.

Let us know how you get on though as we may be able to advise further.

Wombler

*coolcolors* · 08-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by cholla

I would contact the seller but since this is a rare movie finding another one might not be an option.

Good luck on getting Ebay to do anything to a seller . Only if the seller is a serious multiple offender will you get any results . For the most part if you have a problem with an Ebay purchase you are on your on to work it out with the seller.

No you also have Ebay to help you if the seller isn't willing to refund if the product was sold under a mislabeled name. They do have policies that Ebay does enforce if the product is wrong or the seller refuses to address the buyer concerns if the product was a wrong item or doesn't work. So your not left stuck with just the seller and if they are honest and see the mistake they usually will take the product back and correct the mistakes. They have updated their policies and rules since those days back then....

*cholla* · 09-07-2012

Wombler , I tested the IFOEdit method it changed the .IFOs like you said.
What it didn't do was change the .vob files .
I was working in reverse of what Will wanted to do as I didn't have anything PAL.
So when I was finished the .IFOs were PAL but the .VOBs were NTSC.

My DVD players play both.
I was able to create a PAL DVD with AVStoDVD .
I think the reverse could be done with it .
That would give Will a playable NTSC DVD .
It did depend on the player how well this DVD played .
My LG played it fine but my Magnavox had some chopiness.

I'm having some problems with DVDFlick but I think those are related to the rip I'm trying to convert. I will post the results if I get a working copy or not .

**Wombler** · 09-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by cholla

Wombler , I tested the IFOEdit method it changed the .IFOs like you said.
What it didn't do was change the .vob files .
I was working in reverse of what Will wanted to do as I didn't have anything PAL.
So when I was finished the .IFOs were PAL but the .VOBs were NTSC.

My DVD players play both.
I was able to create a PAL DVD with AVStoDVD .
I think the reverse could be done with it .
That would give Will a playable NTSC DVD .
It did depend on the player how well this DVD played .
My LG played it fine but my Magnavox had some chopiness.

I'm having some problems with DVDFlick but I think those are related to the rip I'm trying to convert. I will post the results if I get a working copy or not .

That's interesting that you got it to work.

The patch method is a quick and dirty fix that can work (with varying degrees of success) but it's not something I'd usually recommend and it's very much player dependant as you've discovered.

In this case the OP might as well try it as they've nothing to lose and if it does work then that will avoid any further hassle or expense.

Wombler

ChristineBCW · 09-07-2012

We get Region-2 (Euro) DVDs quite a lot, and everyone in the world except US-Canada uses the PAL Video Encoding Format instead of NTSC. In the past 5 years, flat-screens have started incorporating a signal distinction between PAL's denser pixels-per-inch count than NTSC. Here's a good difference chart. and preventing PAL entertainment from being displayed in North America. Or is that AmeriKa? Region Encoding wasn't enough - now they have to refuse us entertainment based on quality of video signal!

Of course, NTSC has 29.97 frames per second... PAL has 'only' 25. PAL has more pixels per square inch. Why can't they just have BEST OF BOTH for a high-refresh AND high detail? Oh yeah - that'd be TOO easy. I'm sure there are transmission issues someone dreamed up to prevent this best-of-all-worlds.

It's angering that the technocrats for SOME flat-screens have installed these extra police capabilities. I'm sure there's an anti-terrorist flag they were waving.

But not ALL flat-screens have this. And this is, by the way, a flat-screen domain - cheapo DVD players only have Region-Encoding detection. When a PAL disc is refused to play, notice that it LOADS on the DVD player and then the Display Monitor issues an "INCORRECT DISK" notation. This comes from that flat-screen company and that model-number.

When we shop for flat-screen TVs, we always carry around a few Region-0 PAL DVDs and watch the salesmen scramble for understanding. But it's a good way to select flat-panels that allow us OUR entertainment, NOT THEIRS.

*_chef_* · 10-07-2012

WE had such problems 10+ years ago, but more and more devices here in europe got NTSC support since then.

I always wondered why "over there" the problem is that big with PAL....

**imkidd57** · 11-07-2012

DVD Patcher is something I seem to remember using to fool DVD players into playing the reciprocal format.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVDPatcher#comments

The idea is to rip the movie from disc to a single file using DVD Decrypter in IFO mode, change the file extension of the resulting MPEG2 from .VOB to .mpg, and patch the headers with DVD Patcher (in this case only change the vertical size [to NTSC = 480] and frame-rate [to NTSC = 29.97 fps] characteristics).

If patching the headers doesn't work, try the whole file option; it is quite quick.

Incidentally you may have to reauthor back to DVD, if the player won't play bare MPEG2 files.

*cholla* · 11-07-2012

I downloaded DVDPatcher. I will give it a try just to see if it works for this.

**Wombler** · 11-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by _chef_

WE had such problems 10+ years ago, but more and more devices here in europe got NTSC support since then.

I always wondered why "over there" the problem is that big with PAL....

Yeah almost all equipment here in the UK supports both standards and has done for a very long time now.

My previous CRT TV which my Dad uses is about 20 years old now and even it supports both PAL and NTSC.

In fact come to think of it even my VCRs way back then supported both standards so that's been the case here for a very long time now.

Wombler

ChristineBCW · 11-07-2012

We've probably got 800 Reg-2 DVDs in our collection, and only in the last few years have folks noticed those - Regionalized to "Zero" - have refused to play on their newest flat-screen TVs. When we started looking into it, we first believed (and still do) that it's a flat-screen embedded processor that is restricting this. We can take a $30 DVD player (thinking the cheaper the player, the less likely it would have the fanciest ROMs embedded) and swap those around and only those certain Flat Screens will refuse to play PAL-encoded video.

We've even streamed it, from a computer's DisplayPort or HDMI, and those screens won't play it!

The WHY irritates me - an attempt to further restrict entertainment from across borders. My family in London and friends in Paris never problems with any NTSC DVD I send them, but we've just been lucky shopping for flat-screens. Test, test, test. I just can't imagine what good it does to regionalize OR refuse to play a signal. It's like California Emissions Standards need to be enforced so PAL Pollution doesn't occur in the wussy USA?!! "Sorry, folks, no SMACK THE PONY, no odd James Mason films, no Margaret Lindsay! Too dangerous for the dainty Americans!" Yeah. Riiiight.

Of course, this is all part of the DRM process, too.

**Wombler** · 11-07-2012

I think it's basically due to the size of the US market compared to other countries.

It's a big enough market for them to be able to get away with not including PAL support and this makes them cheaper to produce so this is what they do.

Whether this filters through as reduced prices or is just skimmed off as extra profit is another debate though.

Wombler

*_chef_* · 11-07-2012

France is a different animal, since they still praise the SECAM format.

Clueless in Seattle · 28-07-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by cholla

I downloaded DVDPatcher. I will give it a try just to see if it works for this.

Hi Cholla!

I had a bad spell that put me out of commission for a couple of weeks, but am back on my feet again (whew!).

So, did you ever give that DVDPatcher a try?

The guy who sold me the DVD seems like a decent sort. He says he'll give me a refund if I can't get the DVD to play. And he insists that there's no hurry.

I'm wary of something as complex as trying to decrypt the PAL DVD to my computer and then trying to burn it to an NTSC DVD. I have worsening cognitive deficits that make it difficult for me to follow complicated instructions. And a circulation disorder that makes it difficult for me to sit up at my computer for more than a few minutes at a time these days.

But I'd sure like to give it a try if you think its doable. My VHS version is showing its age and I'm sure will give up the ghost entirely one of these days.

*cholla* · 28-07-2012

I didn't ever try it Will.
I started another thread but I was disapointed with any results I got with AVStoDVD.

I know you on a limited income but the real best solution would be a DVD player that plays both PAL & NTSC . If you get just a player there fairly reasonable .

In reading # 16 it is still somewhat involved . It requires a rip to the hard drive with DVDDecrypter in IFO mode. That might not work if this disc has modern encryption .
So would require running another decrypter in the background like AnyDVD.

I think the simplist thing you could try is Wombler's post using IFOEdit . This is a hit or miss method that works with some players. What it attempts to do is trick a DVD player that only plays NTSC DVD's into thinking the PAL DVD is a NTSC DVD . It doesn't trick all of them .
I will try to help you with that if you want to give it a go.

**Jesterrace** · 07-08-2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clueless in Seattle

I recently ordered a DVD from a seller on ebay.

It's a film that, as far as I know, was never released on DVD in the U.S. And my old VHS copy is showing its age.

Well, I found this ad on ebay:

THE OUTSIDE CHANCE OF MAXIMILIAN GLICK - ULTA RARE DVD

In the ad, the guy says "DVD REGION ALL," and "Region: DVD: 0, All (Worldwide)" which I took to mean that it would play in all regions, including the U.S.

Well, the DVD arrived today and, (as I'm sure you've already guessed), it's in PAL format and won't play on my hand-me-down DVD player.

I feel like I was tricked by a misleading ad into buying this DVD. Nowhere in his ad does the term "PAL" appear, and the ad is in English on the American ebay site.

So, I'm tying to figure out if there's any way I can play this DVD. I tried it with VLC on my little hand-me-down laptop, and it does play, albeit somewhat jerkily, which makes it unwatchable.

I'm on a small fixed income, so I can't afford to buy a PAL player and monitor. All my hardware is hand-me-down.

Some of you in this forum are familiar with my health problems which limit my ability to learn new tasks and severely limit the amount of time I can spend sitting up at a computer. So I'm not sure I would be able to manage the task of converting the PAL disk to NTSC.

However, if I were to decide to tackle that project, do you know of any free foolproof software that's up to the task?

The easiest solution bar none is relatively inexpensive. If you live in a town of any size they have a videogame exchange place. Purchase a used or re-furbished XBOX ($45-$50) and a DVD Remote Kit ($5-$10) and you will be able to watch PAL format DVDs as the DVD Player has a built in PAL to NTSC converter. As long as the DVD is region free (Region 0) it will work and the advantage is that if you pick up other movies that end up being PAL you are set up for it. I would definitely recommend this over trying to convert it as it is a real pain and the end result often ends up being inferior quality (ie glitches, etc.). I know you are probably looking for a more cost effective solution, but IMHO anyone these days should have a DVD Player with both capabilities due to the fact that certain titles are only available in other formats in other countries. Incidentally the original XBOX is what I am referring to, not the 360. I have a number of PAL format DVDs and they work great on both of my original XBOXs. Maybe you will get lucky and be able to find an original XBOX as a hand-me-down.

*_chef_* · 08-08-2012

The easier way is to use a true computer and anydvd if necessary.

08-07-2012	#1
Clueless in Seattle MyCE Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Seattle Posts: 153	How can I play a PAL DVD? I recently ordered a DVD from a seller on ebay. It's a film that, as far as I know, was never released on DVD in the U.S. And my old VHS copy is showing its age. Well, I found this ad on ebay: THE OUTSIDE CHANCE OF MAXIMILIAN GLICK - ULTA RARE DVD In the ad, the guy says "DVD REGION ALL," and "Region: DVD: 0, All (Worldwide)" which I took to mean that it would play in all regions, including the U.S. Well, the DVD arrived today and, (as I'm sure you've already guessed), it's in PAL format and won't play on my hand-me-down DVD player. I feel like I was tricked by a misleading ad into buying this DVD. Nowhere in his ad does the term "PAL" appear, and the ad is in English on the American ebay site. So, I'm tying to figure out if there's any way I can play this DVD. I tried it with VLC on my little hand-me-down laptop, and it does play, albeit somewhat jerkily, which makes it unwatchable. I'm on a small fixed income, so I can't afford to buy a PAL player and monitor. All my hardware is hand-me-down. Some of you in this forum are familiar with my health problems which limit my ability to learn new tasks and severely limit the amount of time I can spend sitting up at a computer. So I'm not sure I would be able to manage the task of converting the PAL disk to NTSC. However, if I were to decide to tackle that project, do you know of any free foolproof software that's up to the task? __________________ Will in Seattle a.k.a. "Clueless"

08-07-2012	#2
Kerry56 Administrator Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: West Texas Posts: 14,416	Converting PAL to NTSC is not a very simple project. The framerate change almost always causes a bit of jerkiness to the video. And keeping audio/video synchronization is sometimes a problem. There was one commercial program called ProCoder that was known to be good at this process, but it is prohibitively expensive for you and this one time conversion. I have seen people use AVStoDVD for this, but I cannot guarantee that it will work. http://sourceforge.net/projects/avstodvd/ AVStoDVD is free to download and use. And I am quite familiar with the program, so if you need help setting up the parameters, I can assist. Another option would be ConvertXtoDVD, which is supposed to handle PAL to NTSC conversions. This is a commercial program, and there is a free trial, but I believe the trial will put a watermark in the video that cannot be removed. If you want to try it, you can find it here: http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/ I think a better option would be to try a different video player in your computer. I've always thought that Media Player Classic Home Cinema does a better job at playing dvds and blu ray than VLC anyway. MPC-HC is a free program, which you can find here: http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/downloads/ Click on the appropriate installer link....in other words, if you are using a 32 bit operating system, get the 32 bit installer. If you are using a 64 bit operating system, get the 64 bit installer. __________________ Basic Guide for BD Rebuilder BD Rebuilder Guide for MP4 or MKV conversion AVStoDVD Guide

08-07-2012	#3
Wombler Administrator & Reviewer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 9,578	As Kerry says converting this with free software is no simple task. There are a few commercial products that would do this for you relatively painlessly but I don't think there's much point in spending money on something just for one use. There is a cheap and nasty patch method that I'm normally against recommending as the success rate is low but it's very quick and very easy to try so you might want to try it. If you want to give it a go then when you're ripping the disc I'd take the opportunity to remove those Greek subtitles referred to on that web page rather than having to turn them off each time the way the web page suggests. Anyway, here are the steps:- Open the VIDEO_TS.IFO file from IfoEdit Scan through the files for all references to the aspect ratio (either 4:3 or 16:9). They should look something like this "Video: MPEG-2 720x480 (NTSC) (NTSC 525/50) 16:9 (pan-scan)" When you find one double click on it. Then change 'Standard' to 'NTSC', 'Resolution' to '720x480' and 'Static' to 'Automatic letterboxed'. Repeat this for all entries found. Save the changes. Burn the DVD (preferably to RW for test purposes). Test and see if it works. The odds are this method won't work BTW. I know you've said you don't want to spend much money but the best and easiest solution of all though would be to buy a cheap DVD player that supports on the fly PAL to NTSC conversion and you could use this with your existing display equipment. I believe the likes of Walmart or Best Buy do them very cheaply in the US (less than $30 and possibly cheaper) although I'm not best placed to recommend any specific models. It would be a more permanent solution too that would also leave you free to buy other PAL discs if you wanted to in the future. Alternatively if you fancy a bit of an upgrade a lot of the Blu-ray players currently available support PAL/NTSC conversion for DVDs and would also upscale DVDs to HD as well. Wombler __________________ ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ Forum Help: Forum Rules, MyCE Help Centre If you find these forums useful then: Register Here DVDFab/ImgBurn: Choosing the correct Layer Break Position in ImgBurn DVDFab: BDMV-REC Supported Burners Reviews: Ideal DVD Copy, Magic DVD Copier, DVDFab DVD Copy v9 Last edited by Wombler; 08-07-2012 at 13:24. Reason: Clarified text

08-07-2012	#5
cholla MyCE Resident Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Amarillo ,Texas Posts: 5,360	There is also DVDFlick . It is supposed to be able to do this . I've never had a PAL DVD You probably will need some help getting it to do the conversion . If your computer is slow it can take a while to run but you don't need to sit & watch it . Just check occasionally to see if you have an error that stops it. The software Kerry56 suggested AVStoDVD will probably work too. That covers the freeware except one very old software that I don't know if there is even still a download available . I don't know if it would work .So I will hold off trying to find it till you have tried the other programs. Before using any of the conversion programs you will need to rip the DVD to your hard drive with a software that decrypts the DVD. DVDFab free after trial will work for this but doesn't compress to SL. I think DVDFlick can compress but I haven't used it for that. I may give it a test & see if it can go the other way . Convert to PAL & compress. @ Wombler , I may have to try IfoEdit to convert a DVD to PAL to see if that would work . IfoEdit can be a bit intimidating & not that easy to use. I've played with it quite a bit but it definitely has a learning curve. Last if you end up with a conversion that needs compressed I would try DVDShrink. __________________ cholla pronounced ˈchȯi-yə click on cholla to hear

08-07-2012	#8
Clueless in Seattle MyCE Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Seattle Posts: 153	Thanks, guys, for all that helpful info. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this forum. __________________ Will in Seattle a.k.a. "Clueless"

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08-07-2012	#9
geno888 Senior Moderator, Editor and Guru Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Italy Posts: 29,213	You're welcome __________________ Click here or here to download latest version of CD-DVD Speed Click here to read more about DMA User guide for CD-DVD Speed: English version - Versione Italiana User guide for ImgBurn in BUILD mode English version - Italian version Please do not ask questions via PM. Post in the forum instead. Thanks Per favore, non chiedete consigli o suggerimenti tramite PM. Usate invece il forum (che serve proprio per questo). KTPHTT

09-07-2012	#12
cholla MyCE Resident Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Amarillo ,Texas Posts: 5,360	Wombler , I tested the IFOEdit method it changed the .IFOs like you said. What it didn't do was change the .vob files . I was working in reverse of what Will wanted to do as I didn't have anything PAL. So when I was finished the .IFOs were PAL but the .VOBs were NTSC. My DVD players play both. I was able to create a PAL DVD with AVStoDVD . I think the reverse could be done with it . That would give Will a playable NTSC DVD . It did depend on the player how well this DVD played . My LG played it fine but my Magnavox had some chopiness. I'm having some problems with DVDFlick but I think those are related to the rip I'm trying to convert. I will post the results if I get a working copy or not . __________________ cholla pronounced ˈchȯi-yə click on cholla to hear

09-07-2012	#14
ChristineBCW MyCE Die Hard Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: USA-Canada Posts: 1,299	We get Region-2 (Euro) DVDs quite a lot, and everyone in the world except US-Canada uses the PAL Video Encoding Format instead of NTSC. In the past 5 years, flat-screens have started incorporating a signal distinction between PAL's denser pixels-per-inch count than NTSC. Here's a good difference chart. and preventing PAL entertainment from being displayed in North America. Or is that AmeriKa? Region Encoding wasn't enough - now they have to refuse us entertainment based on quality of video signal! Of course, NTSC has 29.97 frames per second... PAL has 'only' 25. PAL has more pixels per square inch. Why can't they just have BEST OF BOTH for a high-refresh AND high detail? Oh yeah - that'd be TOO easy. I'm sure there are transmission issues someone dreamed up to prevent this best-of-all-worlds. It's angering that the technocrats for SOME flat-screens have installed these extra police capabilities. I'm sure there's an anti-terrorist flag they were waving. But not ALL flat-screens have this. And this is, by the way, a flat-screen domain - cheapo DVD players only have Region-Encoding detection. When a PAL disc is refused to play, notice that it LOADS on the DVD player and then the Display Monitor issues an "INCORRECT DISK" notation. This comes from that flat-screen company and that model-number. When we shop for flat-screen TVs, we always carry around a few Region-0 PAL DVDs and watch the salesmen scramble for understanding. But it's a good way to select flat-panels that allow us OUR entertainment, NOT THEIRS.

10-07-2012	#15
_chef_ MyCE Resident Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: @FX labs .de ...playing LLAMATRON :-] Posts: 30,613	WE had such problems 10+ years ago, but more and more devices here in europe got NTSC support since then. I always wondered why "over there" the problem is that big with PAL.... __________________ Enable DMA with micrAp$0ft Enable DMA free at your will busTRACE => Upper/Lower Filters Util DevCon *HOW TO ... Delete the Upper & Lower Filters!* If you expect help then please use the powerful SEARCH. Try ThreatFire I am looking for DVD-R for Authoring & HD DVD media. Please PM me if you can help me. Vamos Tribbles! V-a-m-o-s!!

11-07-2012	#16
imkidd57 Senior Moderator & Editor Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New Fajara Posts: 8,792	DVD Patcher is something I seem to remember using to fool DVD players into playing the reciprocal format. http://www.videohelp.com/tools/DVDPatcher#comments The idea is to rip the movie from disc to a single file using DVD Decrypter in IFO mode, change the file extension of the resulting MPEG2 from .VOB to .mpg, and patch the headers with DVD Patcher (in this case only change the vertical size [to NTSC = 480] and frame-rate [to NTSC = 29.97 fps] characteristics). If patching the headers doesn't work, try the whole file option; it is quite quick. Incidentally you may have to reauthor back to DVD, if the player won't play bare MPEG2 files. __________________ . .~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you are new to the internet, have a query about digital storage, or would maybe like to tell us a bit about yourself: just register with us and try either the Newbie forum or the MyCE Living Room. Alternatively, if you fancy some chit-chat (without technical help), then you're welcome to use the Chatbox to have a natter to other experienced members and staff. So what are you waiting for? Click the smiley to join --> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

28-07-2012	#23
cholla MyCE Resident Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Amarillo ,Texas Posts: 5,360	I didn't ever try it Will. I started another thread but I was disapointed with any results I got with AVStoDVD. I know you on a limited income but the real best solution would be a DVD player that plays both PAL & NTSC . If you get just a player there fairly reasonable . In reading # 16 it is still somewhat involved . It requires a rip to the hard drive with DVDDecrypter in IFO mode. That might not work if this disc has modern encryption . So would require running another decrypter in the background like AnyDVD. I think the simplist thing you could try is Wombler's post using IFOEdit . This is a hit or miss method that works with some players. What it attempts to do is trick a DVD player that only plays NTSC DVD's into thinking the PAL DVD is a NTSC DVD . It doesn't trick all of them . I will try to help you with that if you want to give it a go. __________________ cholla pronounced ˈchȯi-yə click on cholla to hear

08-08-2012	#25
_chef_ MyCE Resident Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: @FX labs .de ...playing LLAMATRON :-] Posts: 30,613	The easier way is to use a true computer and anydvd if necessary. __________________ Enable DMA with micrAp$0ft Enable DMA free at your will busTRACE => Upper/Lower Filters Util DevCon *HOW TO ... Delete the Upper & Lower Filters!* If you expect help then please use the powerful SEARCH. Try ThreatFire I am looking for DVD-R for Authoring & HD DVD media. Please PM me if you can help me. Vamos Tribbles! V-a-m-o-s!!

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