Question:
anyone know if i can play a PAL disc on an american NTSC dvd player?
the dvd is region 0 so i should have no region problems.
as the Yanks have no need of NTSC - Pal conversion doubtful, unless the machine was bought especially to do this, but they cost bucks.
What you need is something like a Apex or a Sampo DVD player.
Sampo DVE612(N) is your best bet at the moment - as cheap as chips (as low as $58 !) and supports raw .mpg/.mpeg playback, raw .vob playback, .jpg playback, VCD/SVCD/mp3/CD/CD-RW/CD-R, easy remote control hack, and (for the first time in a Sampo player) perfect anamorphic PAL to NTSC conversion, as well as standard PAL to NTSC (and vice versa), and multi-voltage operation (ie if you come to the UK it will work fine and dandy - I've got the older model in my front room).
Check out our guide here (http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/quickguide/dve612n.htm). Not to be confused with the ordinary DVE612 - the extra (N) at the end of the model number is all important : the DVE612(N) comes in a green/white carton rather than red/white.
The only downside is non-VCR friendly playback, but the underground hackers are known to be trying to isolate the firmware from the soldered EEPROM (very slow, very laborious work ;) )
Noooo, not the Sampo/Apex (expecially the Apex)! they are cheap but do a really bad conversion job (although the newer player mentioned by clayts may be better but I haven't seen it to compare)! Renowned as the best are the Malata Players (have full X-Y Scaling etc and superb PAL-->NTSC conversion and Progressive Scan), but these aren't cheap as mine cost $280 shipped.
Other options are a multi-standard TV (Expensive) or a standalone convertor (not cheap either). If its just one R0 DVD then basically don't bother!
I do know that Wal-Mart sell a TV for $99 which does play PAL though! Not sure on the make but a guy in the office has one and didn't know for sure until I loaned him a PAL disc (he already had a region free DVD player without converter though)
The sampo DVD players and its clones (including my Encore 450) have always done an excellent job of converting from one format to another (except for seasons of R1 X Files going from NSTC to PAL).
Originally posted by nwgarratt
The sampo DVD players and its clones (including my Encore 450) have always done an excellent job of converting from one format to another (except for seasons of R1 X Files going from NSTC to PAL).
Is this NTSC to PAL only though? Going the other way generally seems to screw up the aspect ratio on WS DVD's, unless you can tweak it.
Is this NTSC to PAL only though? Going the other way generally seems to screw up the aspect ratio on WS DVD's, unless you can tweak it.
It is only a NTSC to PAL. Also the x files are only 4:3 not widescreeen on the affected discs.
Any striaght edges such as the front of the FBI building had jaggy lines and they shimmered.
Also, while thinking about it, I think it is the way the discs are authored as the discs also has problem going from PAL to NTSC while playing on a CL Encore DVD ROM drive playing though a dxr2 decoder card to a TV.
The effect was different though and only showed up when switching scenes. It looked like frames were messed about with and got a black screen for a couple of frames.
The problem on the US Sampo players on 4:3 TVs is that anamorphic PAL pictures are not rendered correctly. This is a limitation of the video chipset/video encoder used (ESS/Analog Devices ADV7170 or ADV7175), as it cannot handle doing PAL to NTSC and the anamorphism (if that's a word :dork: ).
See here (http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/troubleshooting/anamorphicpal.htm) for an example.
The newer DVE612(N) uses a Cirrus Logic encoder and a MediaTek chipset (MT1369, the one ESS are saying MediaTek copied from them - they're currently suing, and technically players with the MT1369 shouldn't be sold in the US - well the last I heard, anyway :smokin: ). This combination does a perfect job at rendering the anamorphic PAL pictures on a standard 4:3 TV. It really is the best player Sampo have released for a while, I kid ye not :)
As far as NTSC to PAL conversions, or PAL to NTSC on a widescreen TV, are concerned the conversion should be faultless.
The early series of X Files were indeed shot in 4:3 (later ones are in widescreen - season 5 onwards ?), so that's not actually a fault of the player - you really needed to watch them in that format, rather than stretching them (or worse still, zooming in) to 16:9.
The early series of X Files were indeed shot in 4:3 (later ones are in widescreen - season 5 onwards ?), so that's not actually a fault of the player - you really needed to watch them in that format, rather than stretching them (or worse still, zooming in) to 16:9.
I was watching season 2 of the x files in 4:3 on a 4:3 TV (didn't have a widescreen TV at the time). It also did it for season 3.
I think it is definitely the discs as they are the only discs that do it (out of nearly 300).
I actually mentioned it on the disc fault forum on the encore 450 site a couple of years ago.
You did indeed - was that back in the days of that awful ezBoard Forum - man, how times have changed :)
How's your 450 bearing up ? Mine's going great guns on the DVE631CF firmware - can do all sorts of naughty things with it now :)
Did you know the site got featured in a US computer magazine for our work on attaching hard drives to our players - just hit the newsstands : we get front page coverage - see here (http://www.computerpoweruser.com/editorial/stoc.asp?guid=kkeys868&vol=3&iss=2&type=9) - the article entitled Add storage to your DVD player. Impressive huh ?!
http://www.computerpoweruser.com/images/SmartComputing/covers/C___0302.jpg
How's your 450 bearing up ?
Have a look at the link in my signature. It is mentioned there.
The Encore 450 is still being used. I have a Sony player which is my main player.
I do have other uses for the Encore. I have flashed the firmware a few times and currently have the DVE631CF firmware. I like the jpeg viewer (I then worked out you can zoom and rotate the pictures) which I use with my digital camera. I am glad the MP3 menu/display have improved.
the dvd is region 0 so i should have no region problems.
Answers:
as the Yanks have no need of NTSC - Pal conversion doubtful, unless the machine was bought especially to do this, but they cost bucks.
Answers:
What you need is something like a Apex or a Sampo DVD player.
Answers:
Sampo DVE612(N) is your best bet at the moment - as cheap as chips (as low as $58 !) and supports raw .mpg/.mpeg playback, raw .vob playback, .jpg playback, VCD/SVCD/mp3/CD/CD-RW/CD-R, easy remote control hack, and (for the first time in a Sampo player) perfect anamorphic PAL to NTSC conversion, as well as standard PAL to NTSC (and vice versa), and multi-voltage operation (ie if you come to the UK it will work fine and dandy - I've got the older model in my front room).
Check out our guide here (http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/quickguide/dve612n.htm). Not to be confused with the ordinary DVE612 - the extra (N) at the end of the model number is all important : the DVE612(N) comes in a green/white carton rather than red/white.
The only downside is non-VCR friendly playback, but the underground hackers are known to be trying to isolate the firmware from the soldered EEPROM (very slow, very laborious work ;) )
Answers:
Noooo, not the Sampo/Apex (expecially the Apex)! they are cheap but do a really bad conversion job (although the newer player mentioned by clayts may be better but I haven't seen it to compare)! Renowned as the best are the Malata Players (have full X-Y Scaling etc and superb PAL-->NTSC conversion and Progressive Scan), but these aren't cheap as mine cost $280 shipped.
Other options are a multi-standard TV (Expensive) or a standalone convertor (not cheap either). If its just one R0 DVD then basically don't bother!
I do know that Wal-Mart sell a TV for $99 which does play PAL though! Not sure on the make but a guy in the office has one and didn't know for sure until I loaned him a PAL disc (he already had a region free DVD player without converter though)
Answers:
The sampo DVD players and its clones (including my Encore 450) have always done an excellent job of converting from one format to another (except for seasons of R1 X Files going from NSTC to PAL).
Answers:
Originally posted by nwgarratt
The sampo DVD players and its clones (including my Encore 450) have always done an excellent job of converting from one format to another (except for seasons of R1 X Files going from NSTC to PAL).
Is this NTSC to PAL only though? Going the other way generally seems to screw up the aspect ratio on WS DVD's, unless you can tweak it.
Answers:
Is this NTSC to PAL only though? Going the other way generally seems to screw up the aspect ratio on WS DVD's, unless you can tweak it.
It is only a NTSC to PAL. Also the x files are only 4:3 not widescreeen on the affected discs.
Any striaght edges such as the front of the FBI building had jaggy lines and they shimmered.
Also, while thinking about it, I think it is the way the discs are authored as the discs also has problem going from PAL to NTSC while playing on a CL Encore DVD ROM drive playing though a dxr2 decoder card to a TV.
The effect was different though and only showed up when switching scenes. It looked like frames were messed about with and got a black screen for a couple of frames.
Answers:
The problem on the US Sampo players on 4:3 TVs is that anamorphic PAL pictures are not rendered correctly. This is a limitation of the video chipset/video encoder used (ESS/Analog Devices ADV7170 or ADV7175), as it cannot handle doing PAL to NTSC and the anamorphism (if that's a word :dork: ).
See here (http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/troubleshooting/anamorphicpal.htm) for an example.
The newer DVE612(N) uses a Cirrus Logic encoder and a MediaTek chipset (MT1369, the one ESS are saying MediaTek copied from them - they're currently suing, and technically players with the MT1369 shouldn't be sold in the US - well the last I heard, anyway :smokin: ). This combination does a perfect job at rendering the anamorphic PAL pictures on a standard 4:3 TV. It really is the best player Sampo have released for a while, I kid ye not :)
As far as NTSC to PAL conversions, or PAL to NTSC on a widescreen TV, are concerned the conversion should be faultless.
The early series of X Files were indeed shot in 4:3 (later ones are in widescreen - season 5 onwards ?), so that's not actually a fault of the player - you really needed to watch them in that format, rather than stretching them (or worse still, zooming in) to 16:9.
Answers:
The early series of X Files were indeed shot in 4:3 (later ones are in widescreen - season 5 onwards ?), so that's not actually a fault of the player - you really needed to watch them in that format, rather than stretching them (or worse still, zooming in) to 16:9.
I was watching season 2 of the x files in 4:3 on a 4:3 TV (didn't have a widescreen TV at the time). It also did it for season 3.
I think it is definitely the discs as they are the only discs that do it (out of nearly 300).
I actually mentioned it on the disc fault forum on the encore 450 site a couple of years ago.
Answers:
You did indeed - was that back in the days of that awful ezBoard Forum - man, how times have changed :)
How's your 450 bearing up ? Mine's going great guns on the DVE631CF firmware - can do all sorts of naughty things with it now :)
Did you know the site got featured in a US computer magazine for our work on attaching hard drives to our players - just hit the newsstands : we get front page coverage - see here (http://www.computerpoweruser.com/editorial/stoc.asp?guid=kkeys868&vol=3&iss=2&type=9) - the article entitled Add storage to your DVD player. Impressive huh ?!
http://www.computerpoweruser.com/images/SmartComputing/covers/C___0302.jpg
Answers:
How's your 450 bearing up ?
Have a look at the link in my signature. It is mentioned there.
The Encore 450 is still being used. I have a Sony player which is my main player.
I do have other uses for the Encore. I have flashed the firmware a few times and currently have the DVE631CF firmware. I like the jpeg viewer (I then worked out you can zoom and rotate the pictures) which I use with my digital camera. I am glad the MP3 menu/display have improved.
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