PAL to NTSC converters?

[Zaxxon]

They have inexpensive NTSC to PAL converters for sale at all the Asian game sites. I can't find a similar PAL to NTSC converter for sale. Does anyone know where they sell one that's $50 or less?

[can_dude]

I too am looking for PAL to NTSC...can't find anything under 200 USD.

[leonk]

That's crazy!

For that kind of $$$ you can buy an international VCR and run through it!!

How can they be so expensive!? for ~100$ I can buy a DVD player that plays PAL/NTSC/SECAM DVD's and outputs as NTSC!

[The Unknown Gamer]

...or even on your computer for free.

[Daltone]

I too am looking for PAL to NTSC...can't find anything under 200 USD.

200USD! Good christ! Hold on, this is a converter for what, exactly? Something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2767232869&category=16145 ?

*looks confused*

[Zaxxon]

That's crazy!

For that kind of $$$ you can buy an international VCR and run through it!!

How can they be so expensive!? for ~100$ I can buy a DVD player that plays PAL/NTSC/SECAM DVD's and outputs as NTSC!

So there's special DVD players and VCR's that can accept a PAL video input signal and convert it to an NTSC outputl, not just another all-region DVD player? Where?


...or even on your computer for free.

and ......? How? I do not want to convert the signal into VGA. I don't want to play on my PC monitor.


200USD! Good christ! Hold on, this is a converter for what, exactly? Something like this:

again, I don't want to convert it into a VGA signal. VGA isn't NTSC. I've already seen all those VGA converters.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

So there's special DVD players and VCR's that can accept a PAL video input signal and convert it to an NTSC outputl, not just another all-region DVD player? Where?

I have such a VCR. They're typically referred to as "multi-standard" VCRs, though they seem to be falling out of fashion here lately as everything migrates to DCD/DVD-R. I have an Emerson multi-standard deck that'll take NTSC, PAL or SECAM input (and this includes several different flavors of PAL and NTSC), and will happily output in any of the above formats as well. There are F-type coax and RCA connectors on the back. Ran me ~$400 in early 2000.

[Zaxxon]

What about DVD players like that? It'd be nice to have S-video and component ins+outs.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

I kinda doubt there's going to be a DVD player with multi-standard throughput, at least not in North America. Do they even equip DVD decks with throughput at all? Just asking because I haven't heard of this before.

[deadtech]

I am looking for a PAL to NTSC convertor thing for a SNES game I have. I will explain: I live in the USA, we use NTSC format, I have an NTSC SNES, but I have a Euro PAL SNES game (Super DropZone) that I really want to play. Anyone have any ideas on an affordable convertor thing, if they exist? Many thanks to anyone who can help. And I know you can mod a SNES to play PAl stuff but I was hopig for a non-mod solution.

-deadtech

[can_dude]

i've seen those A/V to VGA convertors but I want it to run on my tv and it's coax, and I've never heard of a coax to av convertor so the only things I've found are 200USD or maybe a 400 dollar VCR (geez)

[anagrama]

I am looking for a PAL to NTSC convertor thing for a SNES game I have. I will explain: I live in the USA, we use NTSC format, I have an NTSC SNES, but I have a Euro PAL SNES game (Super DropZone) that I really want to play. Anyone have any ideas on an affordable convertor thing, if they exist? Many thanks to anyone who can help. And I know you can mod a SNES to play PAl stuff but I was hopig for a non-mod solution.

-deadtech

A decent convertor cart will do the job nicely (As I seem to be endlessly saying, my Action Replay 2 is yet to let me down).
You don't need to worry about PAL/NTSC output problems, since an NTSC console will always output NTSC, no matter what region the game is from.
Also, the PAL/NTSC region mod for a SNES is very simple - it just involves detatching one pin from the board. There's probably a detailed guide in the Gamefaqs SNES hardware faqs.

[deadtech]

A decent convertor cart will do the job nicely (As I seem to be endlessly saying, my Action Replay 2 is yet to let me down).


Alright, I am unclear on this. I have a US GameGenie for SNES, would this allow me to play my PAL game on my US SNES system and TV? If so, how? Right now, if I put the cart (Super DropZone) in, I just get a black screen.

-deadtech

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

You don't need to worry about PAL/NTSC output problems, since an NTSC console will always output NTSC, no matter what region the game is from.
I'm not an SNES guy - don't own one, never have, not really expecting to - but are you sure about that? It seems to me like it's not just as simple as the NTSC output. The game itself is programmed to produce a PAL display, isn't it? In all likelihood, it seems like what you'd get out of that combination would be...well, no video whatsoever. Or garbled video at best. Because the cartridge is instructing the console to produce a video display in a way that it can't.

I know there are some systems where this doesn't apply - a lot of Odyssey 2 imports play just fine on a US system (and just as many games don't work). But I'd think that more recent games with higher-resolution graphics would address the whole 525-line NTSC or 625-line PAL display in a way that won't just automatically translate depending on the console.

But as with so many things, I could just as easily be wrong. I'm sure someone'll tell me if I am. I'm just interested to find out. :)

[anagrama]

A decent convertor cart will do the job nicely (As I seem to be endlessly saying, my Action Replay 2 is yet to let me down).


Alright, I am unclear on this. I have a US GameGenie for SNES, would this allow me to play my PAL game on my US SNES system and TV? If so, how? Right now, if I put the cart (Super DropZone) in, I just get a black screen.

-deadtech

I've not tried a Game Genie, so I couldn't really say. It will need to be one of the convertors that let you 'piggy-back' a US cart into the back to get around the region-lockout though. Also, some post-'95 games (Yoshi's Island springs to mind) are trickier to play on a US console, but it is possible.

[anagrama]

You don't need to worry about PAL/NTSC output problems, since an NTSC console will always output NTSC, no matter what region the game is from.
I'm not an SNES guy - don't own one, never have, not really expecting to - but are you sure about that? It seems to me like it's not just as simple as the NTSC output. The game itself is programmed to produce a PAL display, isn't it? In all likelihood, it seems like what you'd get out of that combination would be...well, no video whatsoever. Or garbled video at best. Because the cartridge is instructing the console to produce a video display in a way that it can't.

I know there are some systems where this doesn't apply - a lot of Odyssey 2 imports play just fine on a US system (and just as many games don't work). But I'd think that more recent games with higher-resolution graphics would address the whole 525-line NTSC or 625-line PAL display in a way that won't just automatically translate depending on the console.

But as with so many things, I could just as easily be wrong. I'm sure someone'll tell me if I am. I'm just interested to find out. :)

No, I understand where you're coming from on this, but the reason it works is because SNES (and just about all pre-Dreamcast PAL games) were not reprogrammed for a PAL (50Hz) display, so instead we [Europeans] get the NTSC 60Hz game squashed up in 'letterboxes' and slowed down by 17%. In effect, playing a PAL SNES game on a NTSC machine reverts it to the 'true' visual output. If any games were properly PAL-optimised (I know a couple of Euro-programmed Megadrive games were, but I'm not sure about the SNES), then playing them on a NTSC machine would mean the top & bottom of the screen are chopped off, and the game runs 17% fast. But, due to lazy Nintendo programmers, this is not a problem.
This whole issue is a pet peeve of mine (as a result, I use almost exclusively US consoles or modded PAL machines), and to be honest, more than counters the fact that PAL gamers get easy RGB, since what good is that when the display is mangled and speed slowed down? (btw, DC, Xbox & GC games in general avoid this now, or at least give a 50/60Hz option, but MANY PS2 games still suffer from half-assed PAL conversions. Thanks Sony.)

This is a confusing issue, so if anyone's still puzzled, I can try to explain better, but don't count on it ;)

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

That's something I didn't know. Man, what a cheap way to regionalize stuff! O_O

[Bighab]

I have one of those PAL to NTSC converter carts. You plug a NTSC snes game in the back,put the PAL game in the top and you are able to play PAL games on your snes(Terranigma excluded) I don't use it since I play my PAL games thru my snes game copier. If anyone is interested PM me :D A Gamegenie might work if you could find codes for it. I know you can use a Genesis game genie to play some lockout chipped PAL Megadrive games with the right codes.