We have compiled the following notes to help explain the differences between DVD formats:           DVD Formats All of the DVDs sold via this website are Region 0 ("Region Free"), enabling the DVDs to be played by DVD players worldwide. However, DVDs also need to be encoded to either NTSC or PAL format in order for your DVD and TV to play them back. While most PAL DVD players can play NTSC DVDs, most NTSC DVD players cannot play PAL DVDs. Video on a DVD is stored in digital format, but it's formatted for one of two mutually incompatible television systems: 525/60 (NTSC) or 625/50 (PAL/SECAM). Therefore, there are two kinds of DVDs: "NTSC DVDs" and "PAL DVDs." Some players only play NTSC discs, others play PAL and NTSC discs. Discs are also coded for different regions of the world. PAL is the TV format used in most of Europe, most of Africa, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, North Korea, and other countries. NTSC is the TV format used in Canada, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, United States, and other countries. Almost all DVD players sold in PAL countries play both kinds of discs. These multi-standard players partially convert NTSC to a 60-Hz PAL (4.43 NTSC) signal. The player uses the PAL 4.43-MHz color subcarrier encoding format but keeps the 525/60 NTSC scanning rate. Most modern PAL TVs can handle this "pseudo-PAL" signal. A few multi-standard PAL players output true 3.58 NTSC from NTSC discs, which requires an NTSC TV or a multi-standard TV. Some players have a switch to choose 60-Hz PAL or true NTSC output when playing NTSC discs. There are a few standards-converting PAL players that convert from an NTSC disc to standard PAL output for older PAL TVs. Proper "on the fly" standards conversion requires expensive hardware to handle scaling, temporal conversion, and object motion analysis. Because the quality of conversion in DVD players is poor, using 60-Hz PAL output with a compatible TV provides a better picture than converting from NTSC to PAL. (Sound is not affected by video conversion.) Most NTSC players can't play PAL discs, and most NTSC TVs don't work with PAL video. Bottom line: PAL discs play on very few players outside of PAL countries. NTSC discs (with Dolby Digital audio) play on over 95% of DVD systems worldwide. (This is irrespective of region encoding). The PAL Picture Standard PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is the TV standard introduced in the early 1960’s in Europe. PAL is used in most of the western European countries (except France, where SECAM is used), Australia, some countries of Africa, some countries of South America and some Asian countries. The NTSC Picture Standard NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is a color TV standard developed in the U.S. in 1953. The United States, Canada, Japan, most of the Western Hemisphere and various Asian countries follow NTSC standards. The rest of the world uses either some variety of PAL or SECAM standards. For more information please refer to http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#1.19 A note on region encoding... All of the DVDs sold via this website are Region 0 ("Region Free"). Region 0 (or "region free") is compatible with DVD players from any region. Region 1 discs are intended for use with standard DVD players in North America (Canada and the USA). In most instances they can also be played on compatible "multi-region" DVD players (also known as "chipped" or "region-free" players). They also require an NTSC-compatible television. NTSC is the standard picture format in North America, and differs from the PAL format adopted in Britain and Europe. Region 1 DVDs are usually presented in NTSC format, so you should ensure that your TV is capable of reading the NTSC signal before purchasing Region 1 DVDs. The digital video revolution was supposed to make life easier for those of us who wanted to enjoy foreign-language films on video. With the impending arrival of digital video, we had hoped we would no longer have to worry about the world's three different television formats (NTSC, PAL, SECAM), a problem that has plagued the analog video format since the three competing TV standards came into existence. Such video freedom, alas, proved to be elusive. Regional Codes and Subcodes Hollywood and the video industry, with marketing concerns at the top of their priority list, threw a Regional Codes monkey wrench into the new DVD format. Ostensibly to protect various world markets and to allow the continuation of staggered movie release dates around the globe, the digital DVD format that could have been truly universal was instead divided up into six different regions. This means that a DVD released in Germany (Region 2) cannot be played on a DVD player in the US (Region 1) or vice versa. By the same token, a DVD disk intended for Australia or New Zealand (Region 4) won't play in any of the other five regions. Thus, a movie released in the US earlier than in Europe may be available on DVD and video in Region 1 (the US and Canada) prior to its release in Region 2 (Europe, Japan). So, theoretically at least, this means a German can't buy the US DVD of a movie and view it before the film even appears in German cinemas. In addition, DVD has the same NTSC vs. PAL problems as the older analog videotape and laserdisc systems. Although the video information is stored in MPEG digital form, European DVD players are set to play in 625-line PAL or SECAM mode (similar systems in many ways), and sometimes in a pseudo-NTSC mode, but standard US DVD players function only in the 525-line NTSC video mode. DVD playback on computers avoids this problem by displaying on the computer's monitor, but the problem of regional coding may remain. So instead of only three video systems, DVD has introduced six regional differences around the world, in addition to the PAL vs. NTSC problems. List of International Video Formats : Country & Video Format Afghanistan PAL Albania PAL Algeria PAL American Samoa NTSC Andorra SECAM Angola PAL Anguilla Unknown Antigua and Barbuda NTSC Argentina PAL Armenia SECAM Australia PAL Austria PAL Azerbaijan SECAM Bahamas NTSC Bahrain PAL Bangladesh PAL Barbados NTSC Belarus SECAM Belgium PAL Belize NTSC Benin SECAM Bermuda NTSC Bhutan PAL Bolivia NTSC Bosnia and Herzegovina PAL Botswana PAL Bouvet Island Unknown Brazil PAL Brunei Darussalam PAL Bulgaria PAL Burkina Faso SECAM Burundi SECAM Cambodia PAL Cameroon PAL Canada NTSC Cape Verde PAL Cayman Islands NTSC Central African Republic SECAM Chad SECAM Chile NTSC China PAL Colombia NTSC Congo SECAM Congo, the Democratic Republic of the SECAM Cook Islands PAL Costa Rica NTSC Cote D'Ivoire SECAM Croatia PAL Cuba NTSC Cyprus PAL Czech Republic PAL Denmark PAL Djibouti SECAM Dominica NTSC Dominican Republic NTSC Ecuador NTSC Egypt PAL El Salvador NTSC Equatorial Guinea SECAM Eritrea PAL Estonia PAL Ethiopia PAL Falkland Islands (Malvinas) PAL Faroe Islands PAL Fiji PAL Finland PAL France SECAM French Guiana SECAM French Polynesia SECAM Gabon SECAM Gambia PAL Georgia SECAM Germany PAL Ghana PAL Gibraltar PAL Greece PAL Greenland PAL Grenada NTSC Guadeloupe SECAM Guam NTSC Guatemala NTSC Guinea PAL Guinea-Bissau PAL Guyana NTSC Haiti NTSC Honduras NTSC Hong Kong PAL Hungary PAL Iceland PAL India PAL Indonesia PAL Iran, Islamic Republic of PAL Ireland PAL Israel PAL Italy PAL Jamaica NTSC Japan NTSC Jordan PAL Kazakhstan SECAM Kenya PAL Kiribati Unknown Korea, Democratic People's Republic of PAL Korea, Republic of NTSC Kuwait PAL Kyrgyzstan Unknown Lao People's Democratic Republic Unknown Latvia PAL Lebanon PAL Lesotho PAL Liberia PAL Libyan Arab Jamahiriya SECAM Liechtenstein PAL Lithuania PAL Luxembourg PAL Macao PAL Macedonia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of PAL Madagascar SECAM Malawi PAL Malaysia PAL Maldives PAL Mali SECAM Malta PAL Mauritania SECAM Mauritius SECAM Mayotte Unknown Mexico NTSC Moldova, Republic of SECAM Monaco SECAM Mongolia SECAM Montserrat NTSC Morocco SECAM Mozambique PAL Myanmar PAL Namibia PAL Nauru Unknown Nepal PAL Netherlands PAL Netherlands Antilles NTSC New Caledonia SECAM New Zealand PAL Nicaragua NTSC Niger SECAM Nigeria PAL Niue Unknown Northern Mariana Islands NTSC Norway PAL Oman PAL Pakistan PAL Panama NTSC Papua New Guinea PAL Paraguay PAL Peru NTSC Philippines NTSC Poland PAL Portugal PAL Puerto Rico NTSC Qatar PAL Reunion SECAM Romania PAL Russian Federation SECAM Rwanda SECAM Saint Helena Unknown Saint Kitts and Nevis NTSC Saint Lucia NTSC Saint Pierre and Miquelon SECAM Saint Vincent and the Grenadines NTSC Samoa NTSC San Marino PAL Sao Tome and Principe Unknown Saudi Arabia PAL Senegal SECAM Seychelles PAL Sierra Leone PAL Singapore PAL Slovakia PAL Slovenia PAL Solomon Islands PAL Somalia PAL Spain PAL Sri Lanka PAL Sudan PAL Swaziland PAL Sweden PAL Switzerland PAL Syrian Arab Republic PAL Taiwan, Province of China NTSC Tajikistan SECAM Tanzania, United Republic of PAL Thailand PAL Timor-Leste Unknown Togo SECAM Tokelau Unknown Tonga PAL Trinidad and Tobago NTSC Tunisia PAL Turkey PAL Turkmenistan SECAM Turks and Caicos Islands Unknown Tuvalu Unknown Uganda PAL Ukraine PAL United Arab Emirates PAL United Kingdom PAL United States NTSC United States Minor Outlying Islands Unknown Uruguay PAL Uzbekistan SECAM Vanuatu PAL Venezuela NTSC Viet Nam PAL Virgin Islands, British NTSC Virgin Islands, U.s. NTSC Western Sahara Unknown Yemen PAL Zambia PAL Zimbabwe PAL Hawaii NTSC