The confusion is that so many things can be recorded on a DVD. DVDs
originally were referred to as Digital Versatile Disc. The DVD format
is neutral but more importantly it is is flexible. You still have the
specifications of the original signal and the player decodes, it does
not convert. What is really being discussed is the DVD format MPEG2.
PAL and NTSC can be "encoded" with MPEG2 and then "decoded". Many
players will decode both systems but basically you have to have a tv
that matches the original encoded signal. A NTSC DVD will not play to
a PAL TV or vice versa.
Of course a computer might playback either. The big problem with all
this digital gear is there are so many options, they don't all work
together. Practically, it says PAL or NTSC so you know it is not wide
screen 16 X 9 digital.
Several people wrote the following:
Yes, they are. But that's like saying they're Mac or PC. The disc is the
same, it's the content that's different. The PAL content won't play on
your
US TV, even if your DVD player is PAL-compatible, see?
on 5/18/04 7:27 PM, Rocky Frisco at rock@rocky-frisco.com wrote:
> Lew Palmer wrote:
>
>> Like someone else mentioned, the PAL compatibility only comes into
>> effect
>> when you hook it up to the TV. It's the broadcast signal that
>> determines
to
>> necessary output format. The DVD disc itself is format neutral. So
>> unless
>> you also have a PAL compatible TV, it does you no good.
>
> Now, I'm confused. I was under the impression that the discs are either
> NTSC or PAL or whatever. They sure label them that way.
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