Note that I'm talking generically, having worked with chips that are capable of doing both NTSC and PAL, and their assorted other hardware bits. I don't know what parts a PVR-500 or a PVR-350 use, so this is a generic explanation. I don't want to say that it's not possible, but there's definitely strikes against it happening. You're better off buying a proper card for your region.
For the PAL PVR-500, it might work. European channels are 8MHz wide, versus 6MHz on an NTSC system. Therefore, the saw filter (assuming there is one, and it's not done digitally) on the PVR-500 card would be 8MHz. (The saw filter, by the way basically causes the signals before and after [frequency + saw/2] to be clipped). So, you can get a 6MHz signal through an 8MHz saw filter (though 1MHz on each side could be crap). Where I see the problem on the PAL PVR-500 is that they likely used a tuner chip that is only capable of locking onto multiples of 8MHz, rather than one that can lock anywhere (it's a cheaper and more readily available part). If, on the other hand, they didn't, with some software changes, it should be possible to at least tune to the frequency and receive data. S-Video input is also an option, since there should be no need for the tuner. The MPEG-2 encoder should be programmable to receive PAL or NTSC signals, so again, with (maybe) a software change, you'd be able to have your PAL PVR-500 work as an NTSC one. The NTSC PVR-350 working in PAL though, well, I don't think that's going to happen. You'd be feeding an 8MHz channel through a 6MHz saw filter (or the equivalant) which would chop off part of the RF signal. Your capture is absolute crap at this point. S-Video might work, but that's about it. Same notes on the software part, about programming the MPEG-2 encoder to work in PAL mode (if supported). -- Joe --- Marty Ravell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I have a mate with an NTSC PVR-350 but who has just > relocated to Australia > (PAL land). Any idea if the reverse is also > possible? > > > Regards > Marty > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf > Of Gideon N. Guillen > Sent: Wednesday, 31 August 2005 8:58 PM > To: Discussion about mythtv > Subject: [mythtv-users] PVR-500 question > > I have a question regarding the PVR-500. > > Will a PAL PVR-500 work with NTSC? I'm in a NTSC > country, but I saw > this PVR-500 being sold locally at a very low price. > The vendor said > it's the PAL model. I'm just wondering if I can use > this card for NTSC > signals (including cable TV). It should be a good > replacement for my > existing bttv card that I'm using for MythTV. > > -- > Gideon N. Guillen > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Take back the web! Download Firefox Today! > http://getfirefox.com > _______________________________________________ > mythtv-users mailing list > mythtv-users@mythtv.org > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users > > > > _______________________________________________ > mythtv-users mailing list > mythtv-users@mythtv.org > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users