Do most DVD players these days play both NTSC and PAL, or should I be doing some kind of conversion. What if I make the DVD region free? Thanks
Region and NTSC/PAL are separate. Changing one won't effect the other. Depends what you mean by play. Most players should play both, but if you are in the USA, then most TV's can handle NTSC only, so you need a player that can play PAL and output NTSC. Here most TV's are multiformat, meaning that they can handle PAL and NTSC input, so the player doesn't need to be able to convert.
Is there any software out there that will let me convert PAL to NTSC? That way I would'nt have to worry abou anything. Thanks
Plenty of software that can convert. How well it does it is a different matter. Also comes down to the source and the method used. For instance with a progressive PAL source you would slow down to 23.976fps, encode/mux to 29.97fps with a 3:2 pulldown and speed the audio up to match. Basically a reverse of a progressive film transfer from 24fps to 25fps with the pulldown thrown in. Some software will throw in extra frames, blends, etc. and result in poor output. Make sure that your player can handle converting properly and you shouldn't need to worry.
