NTSC vs PAL

Question

NTSC vs PAL

Hi, I'm presently living in Canada, and I'm planning to buy a new 15inch MacBook Pro. I'm also planning going back to France in a few months. A friend told me that if I start using my new MacBook Pro with NTSC DVD Format, my computer won't be able to read PAL DVD Format in France. Is it true? I'm would be surprised if the answer would be Yes, but it is important for me to know. There must be a way to travel from continent to continent being able to switch from NTSC to PAL DVD Format.

Thank you,

A

iMac G5 - 20' - 1.5 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.1)

Posted on Sep 5, 2006 5:04 PM

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Answer 1

Niel

Level 10

741,911 points

Sep 5, 2006 6:49 PM in response to Alain De_Warnaffe

Is it true?

That statement is not true, but you will likely need to change the region of the DVD drive to play a DVD from France(2) if the DVD region is set to North America(1). You can only change the DVD region a limited number of times; every time after the first, you will be asked if you want to change the region if using the DVD Player. The Front Row application does not have the capability to change the region code, and therefore will not play a DVD if playing it would require that the code be changed.

(15880)

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Answer 2

Sep 6, 2006 4:25 AM in response to Niel

Thank you very much for your answer. Perhaps my statement was not true, but switching from North America to Europe does not sound very easy. Your answer had just created more questions and more worries. Should I buy my Mac before leaving? Maybe I should wait to be in France. How do we change the DVD Settings from North America to Europe? What do you mean by "a limited number of time". And about the "Front Row" problem, How do we change "the code"? Well, bottom line my question was appropriate, it does not look that simple to move from continent to continent with a computer. I'll start to search more on the subject before taking any decision.

Thank again,

A

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Answer 3

Niel

Level 10

741,911 points

Sep 6, 2006 9:21 AM in response to Alain De_Warnaffe

See this article for information on changing the DVD region code.

(15898)

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Answer 4

Sep 6, 2006 10:23 AM in response to Alain De_Warnaffe

Alain,

You will always be able to play NTSC or PAL DVDs as many times as you want, assuming that they all use the same region code. North America has region code 1, France has region code 2. You can switch back and forth between 1 and 2 for up to 5 times, and after that your DVD drive will be locked to the last region code you used.

Front Row will always play a DVD from the region code that the drive is set to.

Regarding your question if it is easy to move a computer from continent to continent.. When it comes to DVD viewing, you can't live in both worlds. You HAVE TO decide what region code you are going to use in the long run.

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Answer 5

Sep 20, 2006 2:31 PM in response to Alain De_Warnaffe

Thanks to everyone...very helpful.

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Answer 6

Sep 20, 2006 6:53 PM in response to Alain De_Warnaffe

It's perfectly allright to buy in North America and take it to France.

The MBP DVD player will play DVDs encoded both ways - the issue with NTSC v PAL is not the DVD Player (SuperDrive) - but the display - an NTSC or PAL television cares as it is a question of resolution and phasing, a computer monitor can cope with either as it is not set to either standard - so this is not a problem - it can be a problem with camcorders though.

BUT.

Commercial DVDs are coded for the region in which they are sold. The first time you play a DVD, the computer asks which region you wish to set to. Once set, it will only play DVDs coded for that region or no region or all regions. So if you insert a US DVD, it will ask you to set the region code. If you select region 1 you can play that dvd. If you then insert a PAL dvd from Europe it will ask if you wish to change the region. If you decline the region stays as before and the dvd will not play - if you accept, it changes and plays. This process can only happen 5 times before it is locked. Once locked only Apple can unlock it and they can only unlock it 5 times.

So if you buy the machine and take it to France, you will be fine if you do not start the DVD player application or Front Row until you get there. Then insert a European DVD and set the region.

I hope that helps. It is a way of preventing global trading of DVDs - and the same thing would happen if you bought a MacBook Pro in France also, so there is no reason to let that stop you from buying the machine.

I hope that helps.

Best of luck.

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