European Format Tapes

Does anyone have the equipment to convert a european formatted videotape to the US standard? My friend recorded me something in England that I'd love to be able to see.

sorry PAL, you're out of luck!

i think the only way you could convert is if you had 2 VCRs - one that is�Euro format and one that is US fprmat to record over...that's the only thing i can think of. They do have VCRS that play both formats (or universal ones), but they tend to be pretty pricy (round $400 range). Since many DVD players secret codes that you can punch in to make them universal (yes...even euro DVDs won't play on most US players) it's a shame your friend couldn't burn it onto a DVD for you.

Did you try one of the media departments at a local university? (NYU?) They might have the equipment to transfer it to VHS.

Good Idea, I do teach at the New York Institute of Technology.

I used to work at a local camera store.� We could do this (Pal ->NTSC) I think it was about $25.� I'd check places that offer to transfer old movie film and such to vhs (or dvd now)� I bet they could do it for you, or point you in the right direction.

the spiffy new video recorder we got a couple years back actually plays both european and american tapes. maybe if your video recorder is getting old or if you were thinking of replacing it anyway, it might be worth investing in a new one that plays different formats, particularly if you're expecting to get a lot more european tapes in the future. :)