NTSC and PAL Signals

There are two kinds of output signals from DVD players. One is NTSC signals that come from NTSC-standard DVDs and another type of signal is PAL, which is the output of PAL-standard DVDs. Italy uses PAL video system, while other regions like North America use NTSC video system. If you want to play a DVD from any other region on a DVD player purchased in Italy, you should check for certain video standards.

Electrical Standards in Italy for DVD Players

Most of the regionfree DVD players available in Italy are manufactured to meet the basic electrical specifications like operating at 220-230 volts AC, functioning at 50 Hz frequency. This is different from the standards of North America that has DVD players operating at 110-120 volts at 60 Hz oscillation. DVD players bought from a different zone can be made to play DVDs in Italy by manipulating the voltage requirement using a step down rig and by changing frequency of operation by increasing the power line frequency.

DVDs released in different regions usually do not play on coded DVD players in Italy. To avoid this, region free DVD players are purchased. Since DVD players purchased in supermarkets in Italy are usually not regionfree, they only give you a PAL output. You can convert these players into region free DVD players by using a DVD decrypter and shrink. If you have a branded DVD player that was purchased in Italy, many of them have a remote control facility to change them into regionfree DVD players. For example, if you have a Thompson or a Samsung DVD player, you can dial a code with the remote control.

For Panasonic and Sony, you need to buy a chip and modify the hardware. Philips requires a hand-held palm, whereas a firmware upgrade is necessary for a pioneer DVD player. All these branded DVD players are very popular in Italy, and it is very simple to change them into region free DVD players.

Adjusting a DVD Player to be Code Free

Many people think that it is illegal to change DVD players and make them codefree, but no legal cases have established this. If you purchase a particular brand of DVD player in Italy, it would play DVDs that satisfy only PAL standards and will not play DVDs that have NTSC standards.

There are many affordable DVD players available in Italy that are completely region free from the box and can be easily switched to be code free from the remote control. You can find them easily in various supermarkets, mass markets, and electronic chains. Players that are capable of playing discs or DVDs in NTSC, PAL, VCD, and MP3 formats are available. Multi-region players or code free players, as they are called, are usually priced at around $60 to $70. A few companies are also coming up with different varieties of the region free DVD players. One such model is called all multi region code zone free DVD player. A similar codefree DVD player from Toshiba is also available.

Many manufacturers in Italy produce DVD players that do not check for region codes or tags, so you may purchase a region free DVD player without knowing it at all. There are also companies that do not mention the code-free option in their specifications list. Region free DVD players in Italy can be found on the Internet also.