DVD: NTSC 'restricted playback' on PAL system.

Posted by: Andy Moore on 30 June 2004

I've got a region 2 NTSC (ie Japanese) DVD that will play perfectly well on my cheapo Prism DVD player, works on my mates SONY and also on an X-Box but refuses to play on my parents Toshiba DVD player. The screen flashes with a message saying the disc isn't PAL and the player's display scrolls with 'restricted playback'. I've tried changing the playback menu from PAL to Automatic but it will only play in fuzzy B&W.

Anyone know if this is a hardware or software restriction and if it can be 'fixed'?

Andy

Give me a bottle of anything and a glazed donut... TO GO.
Posted on: 30 June 2004 by long-time-dead
I have a similar problem with my Sony DAVS 500. It won't play imports or "others" at all.

I got round the problem by purchasing a £29-99 DVD player from my local supermarket. Plays everything !
Posted on: 30 June 2004 by Martin D
LTD
Yeh get a cheepo, works for me!
Posted on: 01 July 2004 by long-time-dead
Martin

I did, and it does !

Smile
Posted on: 01 July 2004 by TomK
I believe some DVD players can generate a PAL signal from an NTSC disk. I'm not sure how common this is but I'd guess it's more likely your DVD player is generating an NTSC signal. I know my Sony and Toshiba players do. In this case the TV has to able to handle an NTSC signal. I think most current TVs can cope but if yours is a few years old it's unlikely.
Posted on: 01 July 2004 by domfjbrown
Yep - Sony, Tosh and a few others only output true "raw" NTSC, so if your telly can only handle PAL60, that's why you're getting black and white.

If it can't even do PAL60, this is why you get a rolling picture, as the tube driving electronics can't sync up to the higher refresh rate...

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Posted on: 02 July 2004 by JohanR
quote:
I think most current TVs can cope but if yours is a few years old it's unlikely.


My 16 years old simple Philips has no problems with PAL60, either from the DVD player or the VCR. It also handles native NTSC, but then it's only shown in B&W.

JohanR