convert DVD from PAL format to NTSC format

Hello,

Can someone tell me how to take a DVD containing a movie in PAL format (popular in asia) and convert it to NTSC format on an iMac (2010 model with snow leopard)?

thanks
-kamal

iBook, 3.06 iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2005 model, 2010 model

Posted on Dec 21, 2010 3:25 AM

Reply
11 replies

Dec 26, 2010 8:59 AM in response to Jeffrey Schevitz

When I take the burned DVD to the US, will it show on a normal DVD player?


No - but it will play in computers which will be your best bet for viewing in the US.

If not, can I recode the project to NTSC by changing the preferences and burn again?


iDVD doesn't do a good job in format conversion. Something like the JES Deinterlacer will do a better job. You will then need to start a new project and switch to the NTSC format before you add any content.

Dec 21, 2010 8:03 AM in response to Limnos

VLC media player allows region free playback which should get around having to switch region on a DVD player.



That was true on older Macs, but I believe it is no longer true. (Which is why I didn't mention it.)


From http://www.videolan.org/support/faq.html?en/index.html#id239426

Does VLC support DVDs from all regions?
This mostly depends on your DVD drive. Testing it is usually the quickest way to find out. The problem is that a lot of newer drives are RPC2 drives these days. Some of these drives don't allow raw access to the drive untill the drive firmware has done a regioncheck. VLC uses libdvdcss and it needs raw access to the DVD drive to crack the encryption key. So with those drives it is impossible to circumvent the region protection. (This goes for all software. You will need to flash your drives firmware, but sometimes there is no alternate firmware available for your drive). On other RPC2 drives that do allow raw access, it might take VLC a long time to crack the key. So just pop the disc in your drive and try it out, while you get a coffee. RPC1 drives should 'always' work regardless of the regioncode.


Message was edited by: F Shippey

Dec 26, 2010 10:39 AM in response to F Shippey

That was true on older Macs, but I believe it is no longer true.


VLC plays R1 and R2 on my new Mac Pro.

Better Blu-ray, (and standard DVD) players are “Multi-region”, they can play DVDs designed for ANY region in the world. This is nice because there are many great movies that are not available as R-1.

Most multi-region DVD players will automatically convert a PAL DVD to NTSC seamlessly.

As an example, I have a Multi-Region Oppo BDP-80. It will play ANY Disc, from anywhere in the world, PAL or NTSC.

Dec 27, 2010 11:42 PM in response to F Shippey

Hi!

it looks lie you misunderstood my question. The dvd is to be played on a dvd/**-ray player that supports only NTSC because it is imported from the US which supports region 1.
But the DVDs I have -are meant for PAL format available in India (or region 5). I want to convert these on an imac with ilife 10 - so that they can be played on a dvd/blu-ray layer that can handle NTSC/region ONLY.

thanks
-kamal

Dec 29, 2010 8:37 AM in response to kamal_prasad

The first thing you need to do is to change the mpg-2 compressed video content on your DVDs to another format that can be used in iDVd (mpg-2 content CAN'T).

iDVD will convert PAL content to NTSC content BUT NOT WITH HIGH QUALITY. You would be better off using something like the JES Deinterlacer. In any event, standards conversion PALNTSC is not something easily done on home computers if you want decent quality.

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convert DVD from PAL format to NTSC format

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