PAL/SECAM to NTSC Conversion

Will a Modified Region Free DVD player convert from PAL to NTSC?

PAL (phase alternating line) is the television standard for most European countries. NTSC (national television system committee) is the television standard for North America and Japan. The PAL power wattage usage is 50hz and 25 frames a second while the NTSC format runs at 60hz and nearly 30 frames a second. 95% of the televisions shipped to the U.S. will not play DVDs produced for the PAL format. Therefore, either the television must be modified using a converter or the DVD player must be modified to convert PAL DVDs to NTSC (within the DVD Player). Software modified DVD players will not convert from PAL to NTSC. Modification of the DVD player to play PAL DVDs on an NTSC (or coming in 2009 ATSC) must be done through a hardware modification to the DVD player. A couple of good modifications which accomplish this are the World Clad modifications and the PMC (Post manufacturer chipset) modifications.

What is PAL?

PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is a colour-encoding system used in broadcast television systems in large parts of the world. Other common analogue television systems are SECAM and NTSC. This page discusses the colour encoding system only. See Broadcast television systems and analogue television for discussion of frame rates, image resolution and audio modulation. For discussion of the 625-line 25 frame/s television standard, see 576i.

What is NTSC?

NTSC (National Television System Committee) is the analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, and some other countries (see map). NTSC is also the name of the U.S. standardization body that adopted it.[1] The first black-and-white NTSC standard for broadcast was developed in 1941 and had no provision for color transmissions. The standard called for 525 lines of picture information in each frame, and 30 interlaced frames per second; the frame rate was later slightly adjusted for the color standard. Civilian development of commercial television was halted with the entry of the United States into the war. In 1953 a second standard was issued, which allowed color broadcasting to be compatible with the existing stock of black-and-white receivers, while maintaining the broadcast channel bandwidth already in use. This was an important commercial advantage over incompatible color systems that had also been proposed. NTSC was the first widely adopted broadcast color system. After over a half-century of use, the vast majority of over-the-air NTSC transmissions will be replaced with ATSC by February 17, 2009 in the United States, and August 31, 2011 in Canada. Various digital television systems have replaced the vacuum-tube era standard.

What is SECAM?

SECAM, also written SÉCAM (Séquentiel couleur à mémoire, French for "Sequential Color with Memory"), is an analog color television system first used in France. A team led by Henri de France working at Compagnie Française de Télévision (later bought by Thomson) invented SECAM. It is, historically, the first European color television standard.