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Old 2005-06-02, 06:24 AM
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rherron rherron is offline
Columbia, SC
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Re: Multizone DVD Players [NTSC, PAL]

Let me preface this comment by saying that I am not an expert on the PAL/NTSC issue. But I have downloaded many PAL DVDs and needed to convert them to play on my supposedly NTSC-only player (I agree with you totally that it would be nice to have a multi-zone player but I just haven’t gotten around to getting one yet – and doing what I describe below I don’t think I will).

As I understand it, many players are capable of multi-zone playback whether advertised or not (I think there is pressure from the movie industry to keep this from happening because it helps make it easier for them to maintain their region encoding system -- just a guess). Again, I’m not an expert but my understanding is the machine takes it cue from the DVD itself. The IFO files, etc. “tell” the DVD player how to play the DVD. Therefore, if you alter those files you can sort of trick your DVD player into playing PAL DVDs, and it is VERY, VERY easy to do. This works in reverse as well for those of you on the other side of the Atlantic (I’m in the USA). And here’s the best part – it does absolutely nothing to alter the video files (VOBs) so there is absolutely no loss of quality.

Here’s how to do it:

Using IFOEdit, open .IFO files. The program will have two windows of information. In the bottom window there will be lots of lines of text. Look for the lines (there will be 1 or 2 or more depending upon which IFO file you are looking at) of text containing the word "PAL." Double click those lines. A dialog box will open. There is a button to select PAL or NTSC. Select NTSC. Save the file. It will ask if you want to change the .BUP files as well. Answer "Yes." You're done. Burn away.

This is not a true conversion (PAL to NTSC) but changing the info files like this will trick many DVD players into believing this is an NTSC recording. I have heard it will not work on all DVD players but it works great on mine. No problems whatsoever. Again, it does nothing to alter the actual video files, so there is no deterioration of the quality.

The worst thing that could happen is that it wouldn't work on your player and you'd have wasted $.50 cents on a DVD+R. Back up every file in the "VIDEO_TS" folder that is not a video (VOB) file and if this doesn't work for you, you can restore the folder to it's original state (this is also a good idea in case you ever wish to trade the show or reseed it, etc.).

IFOEdit is free, and available here: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/v...ols/ifoedit.cfm.

This is what I do. I have done it maybe 15 times and it has worked perfectly every time. Before investing in a new machine I’d suggest you at least give it a try.

Rob
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