--- Forwarded Message from Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]> ---
>Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 15:48:08 -0700
>From: Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]>
>To: Language Learning and Technology International Information Forum
<[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #7729 creating a PAL DVD, region-free
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>References: <[log in to unmask]>
Commercially produced (glass master) DVD-Video discs can have a region code
set, or not. They can be produced as region-free discs (Region code 0)
that will play on suitable DVD players in any country, without regional
restrictions. PAL vs. DVD encoding is still a factor, even with
region-free discs. A few years back, most of the DVDs that we got from
Europe and Latin America were region-free. Now, about half have the region
code set. This is at the discretion of the manufacturer, so if any of us
want to produce a commercial region-free DVD-Video disc, we would have the
choice to do so.
However, most of us will be producing DVD-R discs. Terminology in the DVD
realm is confusing. A commercial DVD-Video disc is not precisely the same
as a DVD-R disc, even if they contain the same video. These recordable
discs cannot have a region code set. They are all region-free, due to the
nature and specifications of the recordable disc format. I quote from p.
28 of the Visual QuickPro Guide to DVD Studio Pro 2 by Martin Sitter.
After explaining Region Coding, and using the term "DVD-Video disc" five
times, the author says: "Tip- You cannot region-protect a DVD-R (General)
disc."
Converting PAL video to NTSC, or vice versa, is not a simple process. Both
the resolution and the number of frames per second must be changed. While
iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and other editing software can edit footage that was
shot in either PAL or NTSC, they do not convert between the two standards.
I have read of several software converter programs, but haven't tried any.
We have been told by European colleagues that most DVD players sold in
Europe during the last few years will play NTSC DVDs without difficulty.
Emboldened by this report, we have sent our NTSC DVD-Rs to several sites in
Europe, where they have played successfully. Perhaps Mary could do the
same.
However, it is worth noting that DVD-R discs made and played in the US
routinely fail to play on one brand of player, or another. There are no
guarantees, even within a country.
Derek
>> Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2004 10:11:54 -0500
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> From: Mary Toulouse <[log in to unmask]>
>> Subject: creating a PAL DVD
>
> Hello everyone,
> I need to create a number of Pal DVD's as part of an exchange program. It
> is my understanding that before I import any media into I-movie or I-DVD,
> I can set my general preferences to export in PAL format, not NTSC. I have
> recently been told that my DVD won't play because it will be a region 1.
> My understanding was that the region coding was a commerical add-on, not
> something that came out of a personal video editing/creation program like
> I-movie.
Derek Roff
Language Learning Center
Ortega Hall 129, MSC03-2100
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505/277-7368, fax 505/277-3885
Internet: [log in to unmask]
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