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Author Topic: is there a difference between the european and US version?  (Read 1173 times)
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jwsrex

Poppler
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« on: 08-13-2003 14:24 »

I'm thinking about importing the Season 3 DVD rather than waiting for them to release it in the US, is there any difference between the US and european versions?
Bobby King

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #1 on: 08-13-2003 14:27 »
« Last Edit on: 08-13-2003 14:27 »

not what i know    :confused:

and welcome to PEEL  :)
colinb

Poppler
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« Reply #2 on: 08-13-2003 15:50 »

Well, there's the region coding on the disc itself, of course (which is easy to defeat). But in addition to that, I suspect that the Euro DVDs run at 25fps (PAL) instead of the US 30fps (NTSC).
I would have bought season 2 and 3 from the UK already if I didn't suspect that I might be losing five frames of Futurama every second -- that wouldn't do.

--Colin
CyberKnight

Urban Legend
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« Reply #3 on: 08-13-2003 16:14 »

Isn't it a bit moot because standard animation runs at 16 fps, (3D at 24fps)  :p  ;)?
Chump

Urban Legend
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« Reply #4 on: 08-13-2003 16:21 »

Uh, I think he means content wise. I'd like to know that too. Are the menu's different? The commentary? I don't know if anyone has both versions... maybe Jon...
Vamsi

Bending Unit
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« Reply #5 on: 08-13-2003 17:23 »

I imported the Season 3 set from UK as well and have been very happy with it. Of course, I have nothing to compare it with now, but I don't think the Region 1 release will have any more features. If anything, I think the Region 2 release will have more language options. Commentary, deleted scenes and other goodies should be the same between the two releases.

Just make sure you have a region-free DVD player that can handle NTSC-PAL conversion before you import them.
sheep555

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #6 on: 08-13-2003 17:25 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by colinb:
I would have bought season 2 and 3 from the UK already if I didn't suspect that I might be losing five frames of Futurama every second -- that wouldn't do.

Are you beind serious?  :)

I notice that on the S2 DVDs, the background audio track in the commentaries is sped up slightly...I suspect this is something to do with the FPS mentioned...
Unca Dave
Crustacean
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« Reply #7 on: 08-17-2003 01:03 »

I have found that eBay is usually a good hunting ground for region-free DVD players.  Just be sure that it has an NTSC output, regardless of the disc's format. 

I have the three box sets from Europe, so never having seen the US version, I can't tell you about any big differences, except that instead of the usual FBI warning, you get in essence the same thing in English (twice, I think), French, Italian, German, and Spanish.  Among other things are proscriptions against exhibiting the DVDs in schools, prisons, or on oil rigs.

The audio tracks should be at the same speed, regardless of which version you have, as this has nothing to do with the video signal.

As for the frame rate...a video frame is not the same as a film frame.  The standard speed for sound-on-film is 24 frames per second.  Period.  24 little pictures are shown every second. (This doesn't include surround-screen formats, of course.  I'm talking about your garden variety 35 mm or 16 mm movie.)

 Video frames are a whole other thing.  Most all systems (NTSC and PAL) send 30 or 25 frames per second, each frame being sent as two fields consisting of all even-numbered lines followed by all odd-numbered lines, which means a field rate of twice the frame rate, ie 60 or 50 fields per second. This is known as interlaced scanning, and is used to cut down on the flicker.  (There is also non-interlaced scanning, but since that isn't part of the analog standards, let's just leave it alone!) An NTSC frame is composed of 525 lines, while a PAL frame contains 625 lines.  No, you're not being gypped by having a PAL-encoded disc versus an NTSC version.  Besides, remember that the original film ran at 24 fps.

For the record, "PAL" stands for Phase Alternate Line, in which the chroma reference frequency is shifted by 180 degrees on neighboring lines.  "NTSC" stands for National Technical Standards Committee, the group which set the US system in stone shortly after WW II, although there are those that say it should stand for Never Twice the Same Color.  That's why there's such a big hoo-hah being made over HDTV.  Not only do they want to get it right the first time, but they also want the system to be upgradeable without the forced obsolesence we have with  computers.  If computers were held to the same  compatibility guidelines, they'd have to be compatible with everything from Univac on.

Gee, I hope that's clarified things!  (Sorry for any typoes.)
sheep555

Liquid Emperor
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« Reply #8 on: 08-17-2003 05:54 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by Unca Dave:
I have found that eBay is usually a good hunting ground for region-free DVD players.  Just be sure that it has an NTSC output, regardless of the disc's format. 

I don't know about other countries, but here in the UK there's a reputable high street reseller (Richer Sounds) that will chip any DVD player they sell for around £10, and keep the warranty.
Unca Dave
Crustacean
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« Reply #9 on: 08-17-2003 09:34 »

 
Quote
Originally posted by sheep555:
 I don't know about other countries, but here in the UK there's a reputable high street reseller (Richer Sounds) that will chip any DVD player they sell for around £10, and keep the warranty.
In this case, make sure it'll have PAL output regardless of the disc encoding.

For your DVD drives, I suggest you check http://www.remoteselector.com/.   I'm using it on my PC with the Power DVD player, and it works like a champ.  As I recall, it's around $25 or so with a free trial version available.
bender55

Crustacean
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« Reply #10 on: 08-26-2003 12:47 »

With some DVD players u can make them region free ...for free !!  all u need to do is find a code on the net and enter it in....i done it with my "Grundig" dvd player i know there is codes out there for all types of DVD players except Sony.
Invader Bender

Poppler
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« Reply #11 on: 08-28-2003 19:21 »

all i want is a good quality bender figure, thats all
Invader Bender

Poppler
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« Reply #12 on: 08-28-2003 19:23 »

sorry, i posted in the wrong section... i'm new...
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