AFANA Footy BBS

Which format should I order for videos to be played on American machines, PAL or NTSC?

I know that European tapes and TV's are not compatible with the USA and tapes have to be converted, but I don't know about Australia.

I ordered some tapes and either the format is wrong or the timing section of the tape got damaged or magnetized.

What happens is that the tape plays too fast and it looks like a blank picture, however when I slow the tape down I get vivid pictures but it's too slow and no sound.

I want to order more tapes but I'd like to find out if the format was wrong or the tapes were damaged in shipment, before I do.

Any help you can give on this would be appreciated. Thanks

> Which format should I order for videos to be played on American machines, PAL or
> NTSC?

If you are ordering tapes, order NTSC if you viewing in the US or Canada. There is only one format for DVDs and it is not region encoded and PAL only. But read on...

> I know that European tapes and TV's are not compatible with the USA and tapes have
> to be converted, but I don't know about Australia.

TV's aren't the issue. It's what format the output from the device is. Most modern DVDs are read both, output both PAL and NTSC. Output is selectable on many, just check your setup... should have PAL, NTSC, and maybe Auto. Choose NTSC. If it has this output choice, it can read both. If by some quirk yours cannot read both and output both, there are many cheap ones ($30 to $75) that can.

> I ordered some tapes and either the format is wrong or the timing section of the
> tape got damaged or magnetized.

If the picture is wavy or unsynchronized, then you got PAL. Also, NTSC tapes say NTSC on the box. You can return and exchange the ones that won't work if you pay the return shipping and the A$5 per tape cost differential. Contact AFV first.

> I want to order more tapes but I'd like to find out if the format was wrong or the
> tapes were damaged in shipment, before I do.

E-mail me directly if you need further assistance. It's always possible you got a damaged tape. Stuff happens as all NTSC tapes are special production runs. This is not the place to resolve anything more complicated than the above.

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

AFANA TV page

Hey Seamus,

> Which format should I order for videos to be played on American machines, PAL or
> NTSC?

We are NTSC.

> I know that European tapes and TV's are not compatible with the USA and tapes have
> to be converted, but I don't know about Australia.

PAL Region 4. Europe is PAL Region 2.

Here is the link to Amazon for a cheap DVD player ($58.99 w/ free shipping) that will play PAL DVD's the are coded for all regions. I own this player and it works great for any Footy DVD I have received from Australia.

By ordering DVD's instead of tapes coverted to NTSC you'll spend about the same cash and get a much better product.

Hope this helps,

Paat Kelly

DVD player

Thanks for the information