Confusion about NTSC DVR in PAL region...

[Florian100 0]

Dear all,

 

first I have to say that I'm really happy to have found this forum, I have already spend hours and hours reading and 'PMing'.

 

I'm intending to buy a 8ch system and was looking at the RTA D1 unit from intellicam, provided by Mike from shoreviewsecurity. So far he has been absolutely excellent in helping me with my questions, a big thank you to him.

 

What puzzles me at the moment is the whole PAL and NTSC story.

First of all, is the RTA D1 unit really recording only in NTSC or maybe in PAL, too? If so, could I connect PAL and NTSC cameras at the same time?

 

If it only records in NTSC, what kind of problems would I experience in Australia, where we use PAL?

Obviously I could not use my PAL cameras, but how about conecting a TV or PC monitor? Do modern TVs cope with both formats? And PC monitors?

 

What about if I burn a DVD, can i only use it on PAL TVs? If I have PAL and NTSC cameras, can I burn them both to the same DVD and watch it on the same TV?

 

How about court in Australia, does anyone know what format they prefer?

 

I know, a lot of questions, but surely some one must have had the same problem before?

It's just so hard to find a comparable system for a reasonable price in Australia. Has anyone seen it over here?

Any experience with shipping from the US to Australia?

 

Any experiences or thoughts would be greatly appreciated, and I thank every one who has already taken the time to read that far.

 

Hope to hear from you guys soon,

Kind regards,

 

Florian

[Florian100 0]

OK, so i've been reading the manual to the RTA D1 and it seems that I can choose between NTSC and PAL.

I assume that I can only connect either PAL cameras or NTSC cameras, but not a mixture of both. Is that right???

 

Again, would I have any problems running a NTSC system in Australia where generally PAL is used?

 

Would I be able to play a burned DVD on a standard TV/DVD system, in court for example?

 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. This is going constantly through my mind these days, the reason being that it is quite hard to get a good DVR and cameras for a reasonable price over here.

 

Thanks for your time to read and hopefully reply to this!

 

Florian

[shoreviewsecurity 0]

Hi Florian,

 

Thanks for your kind words. It has been a pleasure.

 

Although the manual says it can be switched between NTSC and PAL, the only video format that actually is selectable is NTSC. The manual is VERY generic. I would assume it depends on the firmware installed and the only firmware available to me is the current firmware.

 

If you log into my demo again and select config, general tab you will notice that the video format is disabled.

 

I have actually considered removing the manual from my site as it does create some confusion at times and is extremely difficult to follow. That's why I created several videos in an effort to explain some of the more generic set up functions.

 

I considered PM'ing you but thought I would clarify this on the forum so others could see it as well.

 

I look forward to others replying, as I too am curious and want to learn more with regard to your valid concerns.

 

Thanks

 

Mike