I have a question regarding the format of DVDs please.

I wish to send a DVD to some-one in the USA and the format is PAL.

Do DVD players in the US play DVDs in this format, or will it play on some-one's computer without having to be reformatted, as reformatting is definitely way above my very meagre capabilities.

There would be next to no chance of me being able to transfer the tape to another mode.

hola k77,

US formats are in NTSC. However, if their puter is pretty new with XP, it CAN play PAL videos on the puter by changing a setting. But NOT on the DVD players.

However, just remembered...they MIGHT have problems with the region code itself. Maybe...and they can change that in their desktop. But they can only change it three times. To the different regions.

But, if this is a MOVIE DVD, that's different story.

most movie DVD's have region codes. Australia has region code 4 while US has region code 1

and there IS a way to convert PAL to NTSC files, but if they are going to watch it on their puter, I don't think there will be a problem.

here are some freebies that you might want to try if you'd rather convert it to NTSC format

http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm

or get the other person to download it and convert it.

there a few others but I'll have to find some time to look for them. Gotta get back to work here. LOL

Man o man, I wish I could remember what format my DVD's from Germany are in...

I remember that my DVD's from here played when I lived there... My DVD player and DVD's are in storage so I don't have access to them to look at the moment...

I'm racking my brain...
hmmm....

region 2, I believe, oh Abasaki

finding your region codes here

if your friend in the US gets the error message.

he/she can try this. But remember, it can only be changed FIVE times(used to be 3 times) and then it'll be permanant in the last setting:

Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties". On the "Hardware" tab, click "Device Manager".

You'll see a list of devices—double-click DVD/CD-ROM drives the right-click the DVD drive that you want to change region settings for then choose Properties.

On the "DVD Region" tab change it to the region you need.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've purchased a software called DVD region free for a one time fee of $40.00

because we watch movies from other countries and we have friends that send us their home videos from other countries. Not sure if anyone wants to make that investment. But we like it. For us, it's worth it.

this saves you from having to change the setting and only can do it five times.

http://www.dvdidle.com/dvd-region-free.htm (in case anyone is interested)

Thank you Moi.

This isn't a movie type DVD as such, rather a short 10 minute DVD made by a small Australian company that I want to send to her.

How would I go about getting it reformatted to the NTSC format? Should I take it to an IT expert and if so, would it cost this poor pensioner lots of money that she can't afford?

Hmm would it be something that could be played on the TV using DVD player?
Instead of computer?
Maybe the format type wouldn't matte then?
Or maybe she could contact the company , if it's for a product, they would probably send the info to her?

If it's only 10 minutes long you might be able to copy/save it to your computer and email that saved file to her that way.
might be worth a try.

Most definitely it could Jo. In fact that's what I would have envisaged, but when I found out that PAL isn't a format used much in the US, I wasn't sure if that would be possible.

I'd rather not download it to my own computer as I want to send it as a gift.

If the gift recipient has ROXIO, the person can convert from PAL. An ISO file - created from PAL - needs to be converted to NTSC. (Many XP- and VISTA- formatted computers do have ROXIO factory installed.)

If you're unable (for whatever reason) to do the conversion or the recipient isn't, possibly you can take the DVD to someone and have it converted before sharing it.

Thank you Bobbi. I'd do the conversion myself except I'm rather intellectually challenged when it comes to computers and other related technical type stuff.

What sort of IT person would I need to take it to if I wanted some-one to convert it for me, and if I did get it converted, would I then be able to make multiple copies of this DVD? I have a DVD burner in my PC and I have a Nero copying program with it.