Why isnt my recorded shows frum america working right on the vcr in europe?

Question

i heard that blank tapes will work in vcrs in europe just not the store bought kind vcr tapes. they do work but instead of being in color they play back in black and white. is there a way to fix this or will i have to buy a new vcr that will play them back the right way

Answer 1

Europe works on a PAL system.  25fps versus America's NTSC 29.97fps.  If you use SMPTE non-drop timecode it is then 30fps, but thats mostly for oldschool laser shows and for control of old digital audio desks, and with that I've said more than the question requires...

Answer 2

If you can get hold of a VCR which is capable of NTSC playback this will solve the problem. The european television broadcast standard is not compatible with your tapes - but there are VCR's available which are dual standard playback.

(Have you thought about getting the tapes transferred to DVD?)