Family Guy DVD

i just got my Family Guy DVD's in the mail today from Blackstar. it's region 2 of course, and i'm in Region 1. My dvd player is hackable and i did that to make a it region free. however, when i put the dvd in, it plays, but the tv screen shows a black and white picture that is hardly visible due to the wavy lines. i am assuming that the problem is the dvd is in PAL format and my tv is NTSC. is there any way i can watch this on my tv (i hate watching on the computer). are there other dvd players on the market that do both NTSC and PAL? thanks for any help you can give.

<rolls eyes>

"Cambie" wrote in message news:[email]...

A lot of DVD players do the conversion. Most have a P/N button right on the remote control. (PAL/NTSC) Check your instruction manual, then check the internet for help for your specific model.

If yours doesn't, you can get a cheap player on ebay that does it all. I recommend a Daewoo player. Mine's excellent.

Try all the buttons on the remote. These cheap Chinese players that can be hacked sometimes have buttons that don't do what they're labeled -- after the hack as well as before. On mine, the PAL/NTSC/MULTI toggle is a button labeled AUDIO. (!)

On my DVD player there is an option u can access with the remote to change from NTSC to PAL 9and vice-versa)

"CAndersen" wrote in message news:[email]...

Cambie wrote in message news:...

If your player is hackable to play Region 2, it is very, very likely that it can play PAL as well. What is the make and model of your DVD player? Mine, for example, is the Apex 500W and automatically figures out PAL/NTSC; but, there is also a menu option that allows you to change the format as well. Perhaps yours is buried in the menu somewhere.

• Josh

it's a philips DVD-703. to change the region, i had to use my palm pilot to send it some sort of infared code, then enter numbers with the remote. i bet you have to do the same thing to change from PAL/NTSC. i tried the remote thing, and none of the buttons did anything that i could see. i may be better off just buying a new dvd player.

Cambie wrote in message news:...

OK, I found the Philips DVD-703 manual online, and here's how it says to switch from PAL to NTSC and vice versa:

1. Press the POWER ON/OFF button on the front panel of the DVD player to turn OFF the DVD player. 2. Press and hold STOP and >>| (next track button) on the front of the DVD player. While holding STOP and >>| press POWER ON/OFF. 3. After PAL or NTSC appears on the display panel of the DVD player, release STOP and >>| at the same time. The PAL or NTSC indicator that appears on the display panel indicates the current setting. 4. To change the setting press >>| within three seconds. The new setting (PAL or NTSC) will appear on the display panel.

This is from http://www.p4c.philips.com/mprdata/020122/0201220065_dfu.pdf on page 9.

Of course, what I don't understand is why you would have to do this in the first place. Most DVD players automatically convert the PAL to NTSC (I think - at least mine does). Hope that helps.

well, thanks for finding those directions for me, but it still did not work. all i get is a black and white screen, shrunk and a little warped that is all wavy. is there something else in the chain, ie the TV, that could be causing the problem. my TV is NTSC obviously since i am in the USA, so will it not work receiving the PAL signal from the dvd player? this is much more difficult than i was expecting. can anyone recommend another dvd player that won't give so many problems?

I recommend the Apex AD-1500. Make sure somehow that the one you buy has a serial # beginning with A, B, C, or D. Then you can download a free file from the net and burn it to a CD-R. Using this CD-R, you can change the firmware on the player itself using an undocumented firmware update feature. (All you have to do is put the CD-R in the DVD player and turn it on; yes -- you can turn it off with the tray hanging out.) This update will turn off Macrovision copy protection as a bonus and it will also make the player Region Free.

The player itself can play NTSC and PAL, and you can toggle the video output between NTSC and PAL with the remote.

Smashing, considering that the thing costs $80 or so and works quite well. More here: http://www.nerd-out.com/darrenk/1500/1500_firmware.htm

Note that there are ways to do this on a non-A/B/C/D model, but the ideal is to find one so you don't have to program EPROMS or open the machine.

now that i think about it, i looked in my owners manual about this setting (PAL/NTSC). it says this only affects the on screen displays and menus of the DVD player. i guess that explains why it won't convert the actual dvd movie to NTSC for me. i guess i am going to go out shopping for a new dvd player tomorrow. it seems like such a pain to find one that will do what i want. someone already suggested the apex 1500, but you have to be careful about which serial number you get and so on. i'd like to find me one that at most, all i have to do is flash it's firmware. ideally, some sort of hidden button combinations would be what i wanted. someone else suggested daewoo, but i don't know where they sell that brand in the US. if anyone wants to throw any more tips at me, i'd appreciate it.

Cambie wrote:

Try ebay. The sellers there openly discuss region codes, macrovision, and PAL/NTSC conversion. You won't find any such openness in stores, and very little in internet shopping.

In the ebay search field, enter dvd player code You'll find a bunch.

And if you're worried about the integrity of ebay sellers, out of over 350 transactions, I've only had 2 go bad. I've lost a total of $44. Most of the player sellers have ratings in the hundreds and thousands, so they're pretty safe.

i'm not against ebay, and i don't worry too much about being ripped off, i do however hate using ebay for things that i want now. shipping really kills the joy of shopping online :)

If you see anything on your screen, it's not a PAL vs. NTSC problem. It's probably a funky hack problem. J

"Cambie" wrote in message news:[email]...

and

very

350

they're

well the hack didn't involve any firmware updates or anything like that, so i'm not sure how it could be affecting the playback. everything else still works fine too. also, i've noticed this behavior when i try to play back vcd's of movies released by groups before the movie comes out on video. they work fine on my computer, but the dvd player gives me audio with a screwed up picture.