Region 1/NTSC --> Mac Mini --> Region 2/PAL???

[JohnnyBoy]

I'd like to buy some DVDs from the United States, but of course, they're tagged as Region 1 with NTSC output. If I ordered them, is it possible to use the Mini to rip the contents and re-burn them onto DVD-Rs as Region 2 with PAL output?
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Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen)

[mooblie]

Short answer - no. You'll need standards conversion (NTSC>PAL) which is NOT trivial at all.

However, if you rip them to some format other than DVD (mp4, etc.), any computer will play them watchably.

If you want to play them as DVDs (using, say Apple's DVD Player software) it will work, but use up one of your five lives in switching the drive's region number. If you're going to do a lot of this, you could get an external drive for Region 1 and keep your internal drive set to Region 2. Saves switching drive Regions back and forth - not a good idea.

However - are you sure you need to bother doing this at all? If you have a multi-region DVD player*, it will play NTSC DVDs OK, and if you have a UK PAL TV made in the last ten years or so, it will show a stable, colour picture from NTSC output too.

(* Often a simple hack with secret codes on the remote - look here for your player.)
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Martin at HeadSpin HD now on Blu-ray

[TonyMontana]

You could rip it and strip the region or reassign a new region. Once ripped and stripped, Visual Hub will convert NTSC to PAL with ease. They sell region free DVD players that will play PAL here in the US for$30. A good investment if you don't want to invest time ripping and trans-coding.
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MacMini 2.0GHz C2D (2009)
MacMini 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
Dell Mini 10v *OSX 10.6.4*

[Smithcraft]

If you don't wanna get the region free player, Handbrake is your friend for playback on the computer.

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[JohnnyBoy]

Thanks for the replies fellas.

I posted this in the software forum because I imagined some kind of Handbrake --> MP4 --> iDVD workflow as a kludgy kind of R1/NTSC-to-R2/PAL conversion process and I hoped that someone would have had some experience of this.

As for just ripping and watching on the computer as an MP4, yep that's certainly a possibility, but I was hoping to watch documentaries in the lounge, sitting on my comfy sofa.

I checked the spec of my DVD player and TV; according to an online source, my Panasonic TV does indeed have an NTSC-capable tuner. I have a DVD player/recorder which is also Panasonic (DMR-EZ28) and the manual says that it can read NTSC DVDs -- but a few web pages claim that the multi-region hack can't be performed using the supplied remote control; you have to get hold of a special remote or a PDA with an infra-red transmitter to do this.

Anyway, I've spent the enormous sum of £1.89 on a R1 NTSC DVD from eBay; when I get it, I can experiment and see what it works with.
_________________
Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen)

[mooblie]

If your existing DVD player and TV won't play it, you may well find that a real cheapo DVD player (the £19.99 sort of "Tesco special" jobby) WILL be multiregion, or CAN be hacked with its own remote control.

However, as you are already doing: the best thing is to try what you've already got. Just avoid changing the Region on your computer DVD drives too often.

Good luck.
_________________
Martin at HeadSpin HD now on Blu-ray

[JohnnyBoy]

[JohnnyBoy]

My Region 1, NTSC DVD turned up in the mail yesterday ("Sideways" with Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church). I popped it into the Mini, and sure enough, DVD Player auto-started and offered me the chance to change its DVD region setting. I pressed "Cancel", to which DVD Player quit and ejected the DVD!

Hmmm.

I pushed it back in and DVD Player re-started together with that DVD region dialog box. I went to quit, but the "Quit" menu item was greyed out. Command-option-escape to the rescue...

I installed Handbrake, but it didn't really want to touch the DVD before VLC Media Player was installed. So, I installed VLC. Here's where it gets interesting...

I selected "Open Disc" from VLC's "File" menu, clicked the "VIDEO_TS directory" radio button and directed VLC using the "Browse..." button to the "VIDEO_TS" folder on the DVD. I clicked "OK" and... this Region 1 DVD began playing in a new window!

So I think that's something worth knowing: while DVD Player might be very picky about which Region your DVD is from, VLC Media Player has no such qualms.
_________________
Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen)

[mooblie]

[Smithcraft]

I was just thinking that VLC should do it, but you already found out.

Time to set up a mini for the HT system!

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[JohnnyBoy]

[Smithcraft]

What about using MakeMKV for the first part and then passing that to VisualHub?

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[JohnnyBoy]

I could give it a try!

Maybe Handbrake (or something else) would let me rip from DVD to the DV (lossless) file format... Then I'd be reducing the number of transcoding 'compressions' in the chain.
_________________
Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen)

[Smithcraft]

Well, that's what MakeMKV would do. It would just bundle the VOBs into one file, then you would do the thing with VisualHub. You could always just try it with a special feature like the trailer or any "making of" stuff.

SC
_________________
Grumpy old man of computing.

[Desktop] G4 mini - 1.5Ghz 1GB 80GB HDD - Newer miniStack v2 500GB - 10.5.8

[Media System] Intel i5 mini - 2.33Ghz 8GB 500GB HDD - 4 x Hitachi 2TB HDD in a qBOX-SF - 10.7.5 (Thanks Phil!)

Make sure it has pins!

[JohnnyBoy]

Well, I'll give it a try once I've got hold of some dual-layer disks -- then I'll report back with my findings...
_________________
Intel Mini 2.0GHz C2D (4GB/120GB/SuperDrive/10.5.8 ), 120GB WD Passport, Logitech ergo k/b
iPod Touch (32GB, 3rd gen), iPod Shuffle (512MB, 1st gen)