Computers play Pal format in the US?

[mike1961]

Hi Sage Experts. As it turns out, I just discovered there's lots of stuff out there on ebay and some in the UK that plays only in PAL format. I was wondering if computers in the US will play in PAL format on DVDs with either Nero or Windows Media Player or Sage?

Thanks,
Mike

[Lucas]

They should.

We play NTSC and PAL on our computers here in Europe without any issues and I don't think there are any diffences between European and US computers......

[Thomas Wischgol]

You can play PAL just fine on a US computer. You may run into problems with the regional code, though, if it is a European DVD and your DVD drive is not unlocked. But the format is not an issue. I have a PAL tuner in my system which I hooked up to a PAL VCR. I used it to watch my old PAL VHS tapes this way (saves me from having them converted to NTSC to play on a US TV). Most of the tapes I care about are converted to DVD by now though (using this same setup). With respect to Sage however, it does not let you choose the format on a per-tuner basis, but only on a system-wide basis. Hence, I cannot use the PAL tuner in Sage since it is set to NTSC.

[mike1961]

When you say it should if the DVD is not "UNLOCKED" is this a software or hardware issue to "UNLOCK" the DVD? Also, can I just assume all new DVD's for computers today in the US will play PAL and they don't "LOCK" them anymore?

Thanks,
Mike

[Thomas Wischgol]

Originally Posted by mike1961

When you say it should if the DVD is not "UNLOCKED" is this a software or hardware issue to "UNLOCK" the DVD? Also, can I just assume all new DVD's for computers today in the US will play PAL and they don't "LOCK" them anymore?

Yes, all DVD drives sold in the US "play" PAL DVDs. This is because they just read the data, the interpretation is done by the decoder. So the DVD drive is not involved in that decoding process at all. Unlocking the drive is usually done in software, but completely depends on the drive. It may not even be possible for your drive. I never did it myself and you may be in a legal gray area there.

Thomas