DVD Playback Questions

aev1aev1
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Dear All,



I am planning on buying a Powerbook G4 and have one question regarding the hardware/software capabilities of the box with regards to the output signal.



If these questions have been answered before , sorry for wasting bytes but if you could point me in the right direction and kick...



Without further ado ...



1. I assume that the Powerbook can display both NTSC and PAL encoded DVD's to the laptop screen. Can someone confirm.



2. What is the S-Video signal out : Is it independant of the encoding on the DVD ( all output is NTSC ) or is it the encoding signal of the disc ( NTSC -> NTSC, PAL -> PAL ).



3. Region encoding.



Are there any recommended packages that get round the region lockout issue ( at both a software and/or firmware level ).



Many Thanks



A.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    pastapasta Posts: 112member
    [quote]Originally posted by AEV1:

    <strong>





    1. I assume that the Powerbook can display both NTSC and PAL encoded DVD's to the laptop screen. Can someone confirm.



    2. What is the S-Video signal out : Is it independant of the encoding on the DVD ( all output is NTSC ) or is it the encoding signal of the disc ( NTSC -&gt; NTSC, PAL -&gt; PAL ).



    3. Region encoding.



    Are there any recommended packages that get round the region lockout issue ( at both a software and/or firmware level ).



    Many Thanks



    A.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Some partial help:

    1. Yes, both NTSC and PAL

    2. S-Video will do both.

    3. Don't know, but they exist. Haven't ever needed them myself though.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    /me



    1. Only with a firmware hack which makes you loose your warranty.



    2. S-Video will do both.



    3. ?



    <a href="http://www.wormintheapple.gr/macdvd/"; target="_blank">packages for the region free PowerBook</a>



    HTH
  • Reply 3 of 6
    aev1aev1 Posts: 10member
    Thanks for all the info chaps.



    I'd like to clarify pt 2 a little more. I know that S-Video will display either NTSC or PAL, but If let's say you are playing a PAL disk can the S-Video output be transformed into NTSC so you don't have to buy a monitor that can ( in my case ) play PAL.



    A.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    ghost_user_nameghost_user_name Posts: 22,667member
    I could be wrong, but I was really under the impression that PAL video is PAL video, and you can't really convert that to an NTSC signal on the fly. We're talking about a different resolution and frame rate, you'd have to run that through a black box of some sort, if one even existed for consumers.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    defiantdefiant Posts: 4,876member
    yeah, I think I have to correct my answer, too.



    M3D Jack is right. You can't convert PAL into NTSC just on the fly... But you are speaking of a TV, right ?

    Because, as far as I know, there's no NTSC and PAL for Computer Monitors. Correct me if I'm wrong.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    pastapasta Posts: 112member
    [quote]Originally posted by AEV1:

    <strong>Thanks for all the info chaps.



    I'd like to clarify pt 2 a little more. I know that S-Video will display either NTSC or PAL, but If let's say you are playing a PAL disk can the S-Video output be transformed into NTSC so you don't have to buy a monitor that can ( in my case ) play PAL.



    A.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    If the DVD is a PAL DVD, your S-video output will be in PAL format. Likewise for NTSC DVDs, the output will be NTSC. There's no easy way to convert the signal. You would have to decode the data and re-encode it into the other format, which currently can't be done on the fly (unless you've got a spare $100,000 or so). In regards to a monitor, monitors are capable of both NTSC and PAL. It's TV's that are preset for NTSC or PAL.
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