PAL to NTSC: plays fine then loops back to start

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:10 pm

I'm based in the UK so I've been capturing, editing and burning DVDs in PAL format without a problem (thanks to major support from this forum).

My father-in-law lives in the States so I burn an extra copy of my family DVDs direct from the project file using NTSC settings (thanks to Ken Berry and Lance Carr for their work in providing terrific guidelines).

My f-in-l

is not a techie so the details of the problems he's been having are a bit sketchy but it sounds like this.........

Time before last the DVD kept locking up during the menus I'd added. He took the DVD to a local camcorder shop where the owner was able to fix it. He (the owner) said he did nothing - just made a fresh NTSC DVD by copying mine. It played perfectly!

This time, (just got off the phone) I sent an NTSC copy of my DVD but did not include a menu figuring this might have been causing the problem. My father-in-law tells me that the DVD was playing great (a significant step in the right direction) until about halfway through when it suddenly switched back to the beginning and began all over again. He let it run through and the same thing happened at exactly the same point. My best estimate is that he is maybe 20 minutes through the 37 minute DVD when it starts looping back to the start.

Now, I appreciate that this posting is a little thin on technical merit but I just wondered if anyone has been having similar problems with their father-in-law (or even a mother-in-law)?

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:45 pm

My initial thoughts are, have you changed DVD brands or type (-R or +R)?

It would be interesting to see how those DVDs played in another NTSC player. Maybe your father-in-law's is on the fritz, or doesn't like the type of disc you are using (-R or +R).

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:13 pm

Jeff,

I can be sure that both (PAL and NTSC) are burned on +R but it's possible one could be Sony and the other Memorex (I have a stash of each and they do get mixed up!). What's your thinking behind this? Shouldn't both/either/all work just fine? Or are you just putting your experience ahead of what it says on the tin?

I like the idea that maybe my NTSC version could be tested on his neighbour's player and will get him to try that. But unlikely to be the problem as the local camcorder guy can also find the fault on my DVD but it disappears when he burns a copy.

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:43 pm

Shouldn't both/either/all work just fine?

Older players usually would only play one or the other. Newer brands should play both. And it has been stated many times on this board that (curiously enough) the cheap (Chinese) players will play anything as long as it is round, but more expensive players choke on certain discs. Go figure.

You can check DVD player compatibility with certain media here: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

Another thing you might try is burning at the slowest speed your burner will allow.

maxfrost01 · Post by **maxfrost01** » Thu Feb 12, 2009 9:13 pm

Jeff

Thanks for the link. The DVD Player compatability checker looks very, very useful and I'll try that as soon as I find out what type of player my father-in-law has.

I do burn DVDs on the slowest possible setting.

I'll let you know if the player is the problem.

Appreciate your help on this one.