What is NTSC and PAL?
There are two basic formats of television signal. In the UK and Europe (and Japan) the standard is called PAL, yet in America the standard format is NTSC. DVD discs can be encoded in either of these two formats, and this should not be confused with Region Coding as this is something completely different. In almost all cases, NTSC discs can be played within the UK and Europe without any problems. And so if you live in the UK or Europe you should easily be able to view discs in either PAL or NTSC format without complication. However, if you live in the USA you MAY experience difficulties replaying PAL formatted DVD discs. But, you can still view PAL discs on devices that do not rely upon a television to view the image, such as a PC, Laptop, portable DVD player etc. Having said that, most modern televisions such as LCDs and Plasma formats are capable of decoding a PAL signal. You should always view the instruction manual of your equipment to check if it is compatible.
