Converter for pal to ntsc for scv?

Answer 1

PAL is the European color encoding system and NTSC is the North American color encoding system. The two are similar systems but not compatible. Additionally, North American video content runs at 59.94hz while European uses a 50Hz field rate. To add to the differences, Pal is normally 576 lines and NTSC is 480 lines. Note that PAL and NTSC apply ONLY to standard definition video. HD video uses neither of the color encoding systems although the field rates still vary between the US and UK.

A full conversion between European PAL to North American NTSC requires that the color encoding is changed as well as the field rate and the number of lines making up the picture.

Changing the color encoding is relatively simple and there are a number of devices at under $100 that will do the job reasonably well. Many televisions will cope with the different line counts and field rates so a color transcoder might be sufficient. However, many others will not handle the different lines and field rates so a full converter is required.

Creating a 59.94Hz, 480 line signal from 50Hz, 576 lines is far from trivial. Television studios that need to make the conversion will have equipment that may be well in excess of $50,000. Domestic versions are considerably less expensive but even models above $1000 have visible failings. Don't expect to get great results from the $100 - $200 range models. Having said that, they will normally work and might be the most cost effective way to convert home videos or other non-published content.

There are some alternatives. Many video specialists will convert to and from NTSC. Make sure they offer a full conversion of frame rate, line count and color transcoding. If they are unable to confirm this straight away, go to another dealer who understands the process and can confirm the full conversion.

The other option is to capture the PAL content to a computer and replay as a video file on the computer. Not perfect but with a video capture card, it's a virtually free way to store and watch any format of video.