Page 1 of Region 1 vs Region 2

This may seem like a silly question, but when a movie`s release dates are close for both regions (with similar prices and extras - ie LOTR) and you have a multi-region player, does a certain format - PAL or NTSC provide a better quality picture on dvds?

Or does it not matter at all?

This item was edited on Friday, 10th May 2002, 23:01

PAL is better picture quality.

thanks Johnboy, so it`s R2 Lord Of The Rings for me then

techincally PAL is the superior format, but in practice with dvd their is little difference between NTSC and PAL, it all depends on how well the disc was encoded etc (US studios tend to have more money and so can pay for better encodings)

In practice with the newer discs there isn`t much difference.

Buy whichever is the cheapest / quickest delivery etc.

I have a region 3 version of Notting Hill because it was cheap.
It uses NTSC same as USA but the picture is just in Black & White.
Must I buy a new TV to see it in colour?

aznats[at]ten.ocset

This is because your TV doesn`t support NTSC. You may find your DVD player can convert NTSC to PAL - there will be an option for TV format (or something), with AUTO and PAL as options - AUTO leaves the signal as it was (i.e. NTSC for R1,3 discs), whereas PAL will convert to PAL for you - bingo! Colour Notting Hill!