Page 1 of Scan lines on NTSC

Hi
Dunno if I`m on the right forum - but here goes.

I`ve noticed that when playin a R1 disc, there appear to be quite visible horizontal scan lines on my TV, even in anamorphic. When playing a PAL disc - there are none. These lines IMO are a drop in overall picture quality.
Is this "just one of those NTSC things" or is there something wrong with my TV/DVD player. I have a panny PL1 50hz, the dvd is an ancient toshiba which I`ve got hold of (Chipped by techtronics I was told)
This is probably a simple silly question - but I`m a bit of a newbie at this

Thanks in advance :-)

There`s nothing wrong with your TV or DVD player - it`s perfectly normal, and, as you`ve probably guessed, is "just one of those NTSC things". Basically, the picture consists of just 525 interlaced scan lines, compared to the 625 lines of standard 50Hz PAL.

That explains why you can see the lines (there are fewer of them, spaced further apart). Therefore, assuming all other things are equal, PAL DVDs will give you better picture quality than NTSC ones.

Mike

Exactly. Which beats me why folk bother with getting Region 1 discs as the quality is so much inferior tp PAL (Region 4 is fine, being PAL).
I justy stick with Region 2, always. If it ain`t out yet, it will be. I can wait (assuming I have about another 25 years of life left in me, all going well!).

a 100Hz display won`t exhibit the same flaw though, so it`s a bit of a generalisation to suggest that PAL is superior to NTSC (where scan-lines are concerned anyway). Personally, I`d take an NTSC disc over a PAL one as the encoding is usually more accomplished and there isn`t any speed-up to contend with (Hugh Grant sounds like a chipmunk on R2 discs!). Also, anyone with prog-scan capable equipment would laugh out loud at the suggestion that PAL was in ANY way preferrable...

Big question is, will multi-region and/or hacks be available forever (and ever)? If not, then folk are stuck with unplayable discs outside Region2. It happened to beta and u-mats (huh?).
I feel more secure buying only Region 2 knowing they will always work on off-the-shelf players..

Thanks for that - answered my questions - nice one.

Guess I should have got a 100hz - one day maybe :-)

Tony Vado

Yeah, but not only does NTSC have lower resolution, the picture is jerky also. I`ll always stick with PAL.

Some people don`t notice 3:2 pull down, while others don`t notice PAL speed up. As with most things, it`s all down to personal taste at the end of the day ;)