Posted by PTravel on 11/15/17 11:51

"Skookum" <ndale@uniserve.com> wrote in message
news:1151469454.437578.320890@x69g2000cwx.googlegroups.com...
> In previous reply, I forgot to ask: if I went for the other format
> would that still involve the problems with PAL versus NSTC or is that
> not applicable to other formats?

Yep. NTSC and PAL refer to video formats, i.e. what you watch on a
television. There are such things as dual-format monitors, but I guarantee
that you do not have one. In Asia, DVD players that can handle both PAL and
NTSC formatted DVDs are common, but they are much rarer in the U.S. I've
found them on occassion as no-name loss-leaders at places like Best Buy and
CompUSA. They last from 6 months to a year and then break, but for 30-40
bucks they can't be beat (I have in-laws in China, so I frequently buy
PAL-formatted DVDs when I go to visit).

>
>
> PTravel wrote:
>> "Skookum" <ndale@uniserve.com> wrote in message
>> news:1151443423.370449.262600@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
>> >I am on a brief visit to Germany and England (I normally live in North
>> > America). I was considering buying a DVD Camcorder but heard that there
>> > may be a compatibility problem since most of Europe uses PAL format
>> > while the Americas rely on NTSC. I am completely ignorant of what this
>> > means though I did have a look at the relevant Wikipedia articles.
>> >
>> > My bottom line question is whether I should forget about buying over in
>> > Germany or Britain (I have found some great deals on Sonys and
>> > Panasonics)?
>>
>> You'll need an NTSC camcorder for use in North America, and, to the
>> extent
>> they're available, will be more expensive in Europe. NTSC and PAL are
>> incompatible video standards, the latter being common in most of Europe
>> (SECAM being a less common, but equally incompatible, European standard).
>>
>> Since you're buying a DVD camcorder, I assume neither video quality or
>> anything more than minimal editing is of concern to you.
>>
>> >
>

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