Digits in Motion can convert all your video tapes and DVDs to or from the American format, known as NTSC. We can also convert your video tapes, like VHS or MiniDV or your DVDs from NTSC into the English format, known as PAL.

As you may already know, video and DVDs come in many formats. There are DV, miniDV, DVCAM, VHS, VHSC, SVHS and so on.

But there is another important factor and that is, that these tapes will come in different "standards". Basically this means that they are recorded and played differently in some countries, although you end up seeing exactly the same "film", where ever you are.

For instance, countries such as AMERICA, CANADA, MEXICO, JAPAN and almost all of the CARRIBEAN, all use a Video Standard called NTSC

Countries such as UK, most of EUROPE, AUSTRALIA and NEW ZEALAND all use a Video Standard called "PAL"

Hence, a video from USA (NTSC), is not designed to be be played on an English (PAL) video player, although nowadays most new PAL video players have a special feature called NTSC PLAYBACK. NTSC PLAYBACK (unsuprisingly), allows you to play back NTSC video tapes on a PAL video player.

NTSC PLAYBACK is just a "quick convenient fix", your PAL video player just "shows you, what you want to see", but is NOT a real NTSC signal, or a real PAL signal for that matter!

So, if you have a PAL video player, with NTSC PLAYBACK feature, and you put an NTSC video into the machine, it will play fine and can viewed as a normal PAL tape would, BUT do not assume that it can be copied to another PAL or an NTSC video. This will NOT work, because the PAL video player that is playing the NTSC tape, is not sending out a proper NTSC or PAL signal, that any recording video machine can understand.

NTSC PLAYBACK is sometimes reffered to as PAL 60

Some PAL DVD players also have NTSC Playback and the same problems will apply.

To summarize , DVDs have two standards, PAL and NTSC

Most video tape based formats also uses PAL or NTSC, but note the following: -

French tapes usually use a standard called SECAM

A lot of middle East counties use a standard called MESECAM

Brazil often uses a standard called PAL M, but is slowly moving over to the NTSC standard

Argentina and Paraguay uses a system called PAL N

 

The lesson is over !

MAIN MENU

VIDEO TO DVD

DVD COPYING

VIDEO COPYING

CONVERT NTSC & PAL

VIDEO TO COMPUTER

EMERGENCY SERVICE

DVD LABELS & CASES

TV HIRE & INSTALLATION

CAMCORDER & TV REPAIR

FINDING OUR OFFICE

COLLECTON & DELIVERY

PAYMENT

PRICE LIST

SEND AN EMAIL

MAIN NTSC COUNTRIES
AMERICAN	JAMAICAN
CANADIAN	BRAZILIAN
JAPANESE

FORMATS THAT CAN BE COPIED TO DVD
VHS	VHSC
SVHS	8mm
VIDEO 8	Hi 8
DIGITAL 8	Mini DV
MICRO DV	DV CAM
DVD	BETACAM SP
DIGITAL BETACAM	BETAMAX
MPEG 1	MPEG 2
MPEG 4	AVI
IPOD VIDEO	3G MOBILE CARDS

NTSC & PAL CONVERSIONS