Does a PAL TV work in US? 

I have a TV bought in London, which is based on PAL system. My
understanding is that US broadcast system is NTSC. I am moving back to
US and want to take the TV with me.

If I use use cable or satellite programs, does a PAL TV work in US? If
not, is there any way to convert it?

Thanks,

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 30 Apr 2006 13:14 PDT

Are you certain that the TV set supports only PAL? Almost all TVs sold
in Europe support both PAL and NTSC (for reasons unknown, since there
are no broadcasters using NTSC in Europe).

Scriptor

Take the set with you. The worst thing to happen will be that it doesn't work.

I was going to wait for a Researcher to weigh in, but as Qed100 has
already posted a comment, I feel I am free to do so as well.
Researchers are encouraged to provide the final word.

A PAL TV is useless in the US for receiving broadcasts or attaching to
a video device (VCR, DVD, cable box, etc). PAL, NTSC and SECAM are all
different "languages" (formats) that video is encoded in and TVs
designed for one system cannot be used in another system's area. If
the TV does not speak the "language" of the broadcast, it cannot work.

SOME TVs are multisystem and are marked as such. They are more
expensive than non-multisystem TVs. Some DVDs (the disks themselves)
are multi-regional and can play on any DVD player.

If you bring a PAL VCR, camcorder, or DVD with you, you can watch PAL
videotapes or DVDs on your PAL TV.

Being multi-voltage does NOT mean the unit is multi-system.

If you have PAL tapes you want to keep in the US, you can bring them
to companies that will convert them to NTSC. They play the PAL tape in
a special VCR that outputs an NTSC signal which is then recorded on
another VCR in NTSC. You can also buy one of these VCRs yourself. In
the Washington DC area, they ran from $200 to $600 ten years ago. Any
major population center will have the service to convert tapes or will
sell the devices, or both (usually along with dual voltage appliances,
transformers, etc.).

--Mark

PS I worked in an export TV shop in school and was a multisystem owner
when I lived in Spain and Japan (though Japan uses NTSC, but a
slightly different NTSC than we do).