I want to buy a DV camera. I have a choice to buy either a NTSC DV camera or PAL Camera. I have a multi-system TV so playing back the movie is not a problem. I want to convert the DV to VCD or DVD. I just wonder which one will give better quality (movie with NTSC source or PAL source)? Thanks

-- Jeremy (jy_01@yahoo.com), November 27, 2001

Answers

PAL uses higher resolution than NTSC, so it seems reasonable to me to guess that you would get better quality out of a PAL camera.

-- Jason (Jason.Shumate@equant.com), November 27, 2001.

The one other thing to look out for with a DV camcorder is whether or not its DV terminal duly supports IN and OUT. All NTSC DV camcorders are like this, but there are DV PAL camcorders that only support DV out, which means you can't bring back your edited clips in your PC/NLE onto DV tape through the DV terminal. This is largely because a stupid European customs law makes a VCR (which can record) require higher taxes than a video player (which can't). For example, there is only one model TRV900 (a 3-CCD Sony DV camcorder) NTSC, but for PAL there is TRV890 (DV-out only) and TRV900E (DV-in/out). Hobbling the wonderful features of a technology just because of politics makes one want to rip out the guts of those responsible.

-- Mehmet Tekdemir (turk690@yahoo.com), November 28, 2001.