[homgran]

OK, this is something which has been bothering me for quite some time - so if anyone knows of a possible solution, I would be eternally grateful.

For me, living in a PAL region, DVDs are somewhat of a problem. You see, virtually all films are shot at 24 frames per second (fps), while the PAL television standard is 25fps. In NTSC regions, the television standard is [approximately] 30fps. To convert film to the NTSC standard, some fancy interpolation-based procedure is implemented - and this is rather effective.

However, this technique cannot be used for conversion to PAL (at least, not without looking `jerky'), so instead the frames are run in order and the audio adjusted accordingly. Note that this means that one second of "PAL time" is equal to (25/24) seconds of "film time", thus resulting in a shorter movie (the film will be 24/25ths of its original length). This also means that the PAL release of the film will run slightly faster than the speed at which the film was originally shot.

To be honest, this wouldn't be a problem for me if it was just video that we were watching. But movies have sound, too. And it's the sound that is my reason for posting here.

You see, the audio is also run at 25/24ths of its original speed so as to comply with the video - and as a result its tone is raised (a semitone, I believe). This may not sound like a big deal to some people, but it's a really big deal for me. Whenever a song which I listen to is used in a film, it just sounds stupid ("hyper" is the word I first used to describe it).

So, why don't I just buy Region 1 DVDs? Well, there is currently no multi-region firmware for my GHz TiBook, and I've got so many Region 2's that it would be stupid to start from scratch.

What would be neat is a software-based solution. So, would it be possible to write a piece of software which allows PAL DVDs to be re-adjusted such that they are played at their original (intended) speed? Perhaps a little checkbox or something which, when ticked, plays the video and audio at 24/25 times its specified speed?

Does anyone know if Apple is likely to incorporate such a feature in its DVD Player? Or perhaps those talented programmers behind the likes of VLC and/or mPlayer could experiment a little?

Cheers,


-Matt

[Gee4orce]

I've always thought that certain music in films (and music videos even) sounded faster than the copy of the record I had. Now I know why ! Thanks.

[voodoo]

...

I don't know what to say.

1. Is this really the case? (as matt makes it)
2. Why have I never noticed this before?
3. ...
4. Are you absoloutly sure about this?
5. see 1.
6. Damn!

[VEGAN]

Originally posted by voodoo:
...

I don't know what to say.

1. Is this really the case? (as matt makes it)
2. Why have I never noticed this before?
3. ...
4. Are you absoloutly sure about this?
5. see 1.
6. Damn!

Yes, this is known thing

[voodoo]

Originally posted by VEGAN:
Yes, this is known thing

not to me

[homgran]

Originally posted by voodoo:
not to me

If you have any PAL-released DVDs (or even VHS tapes), you can find a song used in the film and compare it to its CD/mp3 counterpart. Go on, choose a film which uses a song you know, and compare this with the actual CD release - you'll notice the difference immediately.

If you're tone-deaf, try synching the "DVD version" to the "real" (CD/mp3) version and you'll notice that they move further out of synch the longer you let them play. It's a pain, especially in Tarantino films (the Reservoir Dogs "ear scene" is almost unwatchable for me, as I love the Steelers Wheel rendition of "Stuck in the Middle" - and it just sounds plain wrong in the PAL DVD release).

Having searched around Google, I've noticed that a program called "WinDVD Platinum" uses this dream feature - playing back PAL DVDs at the the correct speed. It uses a technology they call "PAL TruSpeed". Thinking about it, it can't be that hard to add this to a software-based DVD player, can it?

Apple developers, if you're reading, have a crack at implementing this! I can honestly say that I (and I'm sure many others) would actually pay for such a feature.


-Matt

[Uncle Skeleton]

it's certainly not an optimal solution, but you could rip the whole movie to {3,D}ivx and mutate it all you want with QTMutator