How come Futurama is only available on DVD in the UK?

I got curious, so I headed over to the amazon.co.uk site to check it out. It's a region 2 release, meaning that even if I did order it, it wouldn't be compatible with my DVD player. Are there plans to release a DVD set here in the States? I mean, my VHS tapes aren't great quality to begin with and I don't think they'll withstand the tests of time.

DJ MaNiAk

Put on ya leather pants/and do the isolation dance/like some stupid-ass Goth kid that didn't stand a chance against me

The Four Horsemen: Kicking the shit out of people with baseball bats and tire irons in parking lots since 1985.

On 26 Feb 2002 05:30:20 GMT, [email] (DJ MaNiAk) wrote:

Syndication (daily reruns on your local station) are a big business in the US, unlike the UK. Fox wants to milk that market first before allowing you to watch them at your own convenience.

On Tue, 26 Feb 2002, Alan Hamilton stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -

That's not to say we don't get just as many reruns as you do though. We do get them uncut though.

"Alan Hamilton" wrote in message news:a5fmbp$494ek$[email]...

It's

in the

don't

So are you saying FOX will keep Futurama in production / prime time until it's eligible for syndication? That usually involves four seasons and/or 100 episodes. How many do they have now?

This may be excellent news for Futurama fans like myself. If not, Rupert can kiss my hairy meat bag ass! ;-)

"DJ MaNiAk" schrieb

It's

in the

don't

There is a little more to region 2 than just the UK. ;) I think they won't release it in the states soon. Maybe you should go to vcdhelp.com and check if your player can be patched code-free.

On 26 Feb 2002 05:30:20 GMT, [email] (DJ MaNiAk) wrote:

Many DVD players will play other regions, but some degree of hacking may be involved. There are three main types of hacks, 1. Secret menus: An odd sequence of keys on the remote that reveals "undocumented options". Apex machines are famous for this. 2. Software upgrades: You download and burn a CDR and insert it in the player. This loads new software into the player. 3. Firmware upgrade: This may require removing the DVD drive from he player and installing it in a computer, as a DVD ROM, and loading new BIOS in the drive.

To find out what may work on your player, check out www.vcdhelp.com.

--Larry

Larry wrote:

As others have pointed out, there is no Region 1 release planned for the immediate future because "syndication is where the money is" (more or less the exact words of the CEO of Viacom). This is why The Simpsons was available on video tape in Australia (or was it New Zealand) as early as 1992 and in the UK in 1993, but (except for the Christmas Special) not in the USA until 1997.

Unfortunately, you've only solved half the problem. The DVDs are formatted to play in PAL-format players onto PAL-format TVs. Video devices and TVs in North America are in NTSC format. It's not the format itself that's the real problem, but the fact that, in this case, PAL signals have more lines across the screen and are redrawn at a slower rate than NTSC ones.

I have a Daewoo 5000N, which not only has an documented region selecting menu, but also has a built-in PAL-to-NTSC signal converter. There is a newer model, the 5700, which I believe can be adjusted the same way, but it might require a firmware upgrade (I'm not sure if it can be done with a CD-R or it requires a DVD).

On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 19:17:53 -0800, Don Del Grande wrote:

Well, your half right about me solving half the problem. (I just had to say that) Some DVD players can playback on PAL or NTSC TVs. Apex often can and they are amongst the most hackable. Someone posted that they bought the region 2 and it played fine. Of course, if you watch on your computer, no problem, since SVGA monitors are generally multi-sync anyway.

Yes, PAL, like European AC current, is 50 cycles. 25 FPS, two fields per frame. To make up for the slower refresh rate, they put more lines. NTSC, like American AC current, is based on 60 cycles.

There are stand alone converters, multi-format VCRs and multi standard DVD players. Price and availability seem to be improving. Worth looking for when you buy a DVD.

--Larry

On Wed, 27 Feb 2002 05:02:45 GMT, [email] (Larry) wrote:

One odd thing I discovered -- to make the 24fps film work under PAL, they simply speed it up 4% to 25fps. This also raises the pitch on the soundtrack, making the cast of Futurama sound more like Melvin and the Squirrels.

Okay, I exaggerate, but I can definitely tell the voices are squeakier.

Alan Hamilton wrote:

I'm pretty sure that's a standard practice, not just limited to Futurama.

I wondered why my DVD player had settings to raise and lower the sound pitch - that must be one of the reasons. Now all somebody needs to do is to have a standard "test sound signal" (say, 440 Hz) at the beginning of each DVD, and then you can adjust the pitch until it matches your tuning fork (sold separately).

I know you're joking, but ahh well, here we go anyway: if they had such a standard test pitch, the software could detect it and adjust automatically.

On Wed, 27 Feb 2002 19:01:06 -0800, Don Del Grande wrote:

Yeah. It's just seems odd to me in a world of $50,000 mega-Dolby Super Surround THX bounce-the-house-off-the-foundations home theater systems, that "It's speed up 4% and the pitch is off? Eh, who cares?" will fly.

I did see on one site that some European audiophiles will set up NTSC systems (which doubles up some frames to turn 24 into 30) to hear it correctly.

On the other hand, resampling the audio to a lower pitch can make it sound muddy, and it'll still be going too fast.

So do people in Europe think Americans really sound like that?

You don't really notice it...it's only 4%. If it was 10%..you would certainly notice

"Don Del Grande" wrote in message news:[email]...

My Apex AD-660 has PAL to NTSC conversion standard, it's right on the remote. :) (Strange considering there are no PAL R1 releases to my knowledge.) I had to use a CD-R to upgrade the firmware to make it region selectable and turn off Macrovision so I could run it through my VCR into my 17 year old RCA TV. Check out www.nerd-out.com for more info on Apex DVD players. Most are very easy to hack.

The Daewoo players sound cool too.

Aaron

Aaron R. Schnuth wrote:

There ARE however, PAL R0 releases. Everyone forgets about Region 0, its for discs released as region free, mostly documentaries and freebie discs. R0 discs should play on any player, but without PAL->NTSC conversion, you're stuck.

Of course, thats NOT why Apex include the feature, but its likely their justification for not hiding the function :)