Theresa Bird

Before relocating from the UK Phillips assured me that my expensive, stylish UK TV set would work here in the USA. Power was not a problem, I use a transformer. Phillips told me that the wonders of the internal software would enable it to present high quality pictures from US cable signals. They lied.....it tries to work, but the picture is awful and the sound non existant.
Does anyone know of a USA cable signal to UK convertor. OR a US cable descrambler that could push a UK TV signal out??
Thanks Theresa

frrussre

Maybe Phillips were talking about HDTV, I think invented in USA, but way behind UK & Europe in it's implementation. TV's are in the very expensive range in USA, plus need the newer Digital Cable package (Not readily available) in most areas. So very little demand. In Manhattan NY, we have Digital cable + can buy the TV's $3000 -$18000.

Are you running your cable through a cable descrambler Box. Here in NYC to view & receive cable we have to use a box between the incoming cable & the TV. Even though TV’s are "Cable ready" we still need the box. I have been in other States where they do not use a box.
It may be your TV will work on HDTV shown movies, using a HDTV cable box converter. NOT SURE, would be careful of digging the hole deeper & losing more money. I always advise all would be immigrants & students "Bring no electrical products".
Still maybe some clever person on this board will come up with something.
Re. US TV picture, never very good quality, they generally are still using 406 lines circa 1950's UK.
Reg. Frank R.

frrussre

Interesting reading:


http://www.cheap-us-imports.co.uk/uk...patibility.htm

http://www.ntsc-uk.com/MainContent/I.../ImportFAQ.htm

http://freespace.virgin.net/john.cle...ult/compat.htm

IanR

It sounds most likely that your Philips dealer in the UK was dishonest. Sorry to say.
There are many multi-system Tvs available which cover the UK Pal and NTSC 3.58 (the standard system in the USA). Yours could possible allow for PAL and replay of ntsc on video using 4.43 which is not the transmission standard in the USA. Please give the exact type of Philips Tv you have and we can check it out for you.
Ultimately you could keep your Tv (the fact that it needs an ouside converter tells me instantly it isn't a full multi-system) but remember you not only need a "step up" transformer but a "cycles" change as well..
There are many shops/outlets selling multi-systems if you have the need. Especially in the NYC area
Try J&R music etc and the following site is a guide
http://www.1worldgift.com/11volel.html

Theresa Bird

It's a Philips 32PW9544D. If you could check it out I'd be grateful.

I had originally planned to leave it in the UK, but Philips gave me hope. Interesting that I get a picture from the US cable service, but the quality is poor and the sound has to be pushed through the separate sound system.

IanR

I am having a problem finding out good information on this Tv. But in the brief descriptions I see nothing saying it is a multi-system device so the odds are that you suffered from an unscrupulous dealer in the UK.

For normal Cable or OTZ transmission of Tv you will likely have to buy an NTSC 3.58 model (normal USA Tv). But you can still use this Tv for viewing any PAL Tapes you have or buy in the future all you need is a PAL VCR or multi-system vcr which are quite plentiful. And/or you might consider a multisystem DVD Player.
The advantage of the PAL system for viewing UK material is the better horizontal line definition.

Sorry I cannot be more helpful. Yes it might have been a better deal had you sold the Tv before leaving England. Only other thought is that people do move in the opposite direction and these people might be interested in buying a PAL Tv from you before they move to the UK.

For finality give Philips a call (in the USA) they will be able to tell you all you need to know by checking their internal database. By the way have you reread the manual that came with the Tv?

Enjoy Hull, Mass is a great place

p.s. just to confuse you (joke) take a look at the product shown on this link. It sort of does away with the need for a PAL Tv in the USA if you have a stock of UK Pal DVDs The site is quite useful.
http://www.1worldgift.com/daewdvcodfre.html

Pulaski

If you are getting an "awful" picture there may be some hope as a traditonal TV from the UK wold not give any picture at all as PAL and NTSC signals are completely incompatible.

You should contact Phillips and get some advice from them on how, or indeed whether, your TV can be made to work properly on a US cable signal.

trasler

This is not actually so.

A NTSC TV will gather some information from a PAL signal. You will see a "doubled"picture; the image is recognisable but appears twice on the screen.

Pulaski

Interesting! I didn't realise that, you learn something new every day.

..... so I guess that that means Theresa has been taken for a ride!

IanR

http://www.1worldgift.com/mulcon.html

Take a look at these converters

jaytee

http://www.220depot.com/depot/featur...m_name=CMD-850


Take a look at this one. Has 12 mb memory and TBC (time base correction). Best to buy with multi-system VCR. :lecture:

Excellent conversion characteristics such as
Fully digital decoding and encoding
Ultra fast 12 Megabits video field memory is the highest available in the market today
The latest digital signal processing circuitry along with 12 MBit memory eliminates artifacts in the converted image
Memory speed 50 Mhz
Static resolution: up to 500 lines
Dynamic resolution: up to 500 Lines
4 Field conversion of NTSC signals
8 Field conversion of PAL signals
Built in automatic gain control (A.G.C) function ensures 1 Vp-p output signal which optimizes the video output signal assuring best image quality
Digital Line (525 <-> 625 Lines) and 50<->60 field conversions
Built-in Time Base Correction (T.B.C) for signal synchronization

IanR

That looks like a really good price for an excellent converter...

hunt_terry

If you have a decent Computer, even some of the cheapest Computer TV tuner cards (WinTVGO <$50) will accept a PAL video signal from a PAL VCR or DVD and give you great pictures on your computer screen.

Even though these are NTSC tuners, you just have to set up one channel as a "composite" input and you get the chance to select PAL as an input format. Just feed the video and audio outputs (not the RF) of a PAL VCR into the card, tune in the PAL preset and the pictures are just fine in quality.

While you are at it most Computer DVD drives can be flashed with new firmware to allow them to play Region 2 (UK) DVDs, so You can then buy tapes and DVD's from the UK (Blackstar.co.uk are great) and enjoy some of the programs you will never get over here.

I always looked longingly at high priced converters and multi system TV's but Since getting this card I am enjoying all of my Fools and Horses and Open all hours Tapes plus the latest Allo Allo DVD. for a pretty small outlay.

Terry Hunt

cbone

Is this really the case, that you can save hundreds by purchasing a tv tuner card for our PC. We are talking about $60 instead of $300.
I have a PAL VCR and PS2 with me that I would love to use again. Has anyone else got these working through the TV tuner card method?
thanks

Yorkieabroad

Interesting that it was Phillips. I had a similar experience with them on buying a faxmachine in the UK. I knew I was likely to move to Singapore within a couple of months, so talked at length with the shop manager about whether it was compatible or not. He wasn't sure, so called Phillips technical helpline. They assured us that it was compatible and the same model was on sale in Singapore. So I bought it. When I moved to Singapore, about 6 weeks later, lo and behold, I couldn't buy replacement toner! The local Philips guys weren't interested in my problem, so I kicked up such a stink with the Netherlands management (lots of guys listed as directors on their website!) that within a few weeks I had a half dozen toner cartridges shipped out to shut me up!! Shoddy initial service, happy ending.