Is there a DV camcorder that works in both US and Europe?

[dancray]

I am planning to buy a DV camcorder and I live in North America, but travel to Europe a lot. Is there a DV video camcorder that will be able to play back on TV's in both zones (NTSC/PAL)? If not, is there another solution (apart from buying 2 camcorders)?

regards.

dc

[This_Idiot]

I don't know of any camcorders that can output in both formats, but most european VCRs are capable of playing back NTSC tapes to a PAL TV. I don't know whether the TV's themselves will recognise an NTSC signal or whether they rely on the VCR to unscramble the signal (my TV manual is in a variety of cyrillic script, none of which I read)

Chris
(This_Idiot)

[dancray]

cyrllic? who's making the vcr...russians?

[This_Idiot]

It's a long story, but basically it's a Panasonic TV built in the UK (in Cardiff to be exact) and purchased via their staff discount scheme. It turns out that this particular set was built for export to eastern europe (anyone suggest WHY, since it's actually a full PAL set ?). The one time I needed spares was a nightmare because the parts references aren't the same as the UK model. My local repair shop eventually came up with the goods, but asked me if I'd take it elsewhere next time it breaks

Still, it's been a good TV, excellent picture, lasted me over 5 years (so far) and cost me around half the retail value when I bought it.

All of which is nothing to do with your original problem, but hey, this is a social place right ?

Chris
(This_Idiot)

[Flying dutchman]

AFAIK, Russia uses PAL ? Some other eastern European countries use SECAM. PAL and SECAM are close family members, many TV sets can do both...

[Alexei]

It is SECAM that we use here in Russia (same as in France, AFAIK). But all VCR's and camcorders here are PAL (or PAL/NTSC), so all TV's here got to be at least PAL/SECAM capable.

Regarding the original questions, almost all major brand TV sets sold in Russia today support NTSC input via RCA in. So, I guess you would have a higher chance of compatibility with an NTSC camcorder, cause I remember the hell I ran into trying to find a PAL compatible TV set in the US.

[Flying dutchman]

@alexei: Then how the heck do you record TV programs in Russia? At least the VCR's tuner should be able to decode Secam, shouldn't it?

[Alexei]

Oh yes, VCR's tuner definitely must be able to decode SECAM, since the TV signal is SECAM. But tapes end up being recorded in PAL. What exactly happens in the middle, I do not know. I'm sure Grigory would've given a competent commentary if he was still around.