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How to Play NTSC Games on PAL

The two predominate broadcasting standards in the world are NTSC (National Television System Committee), which is used by the Americas and Japan and PAL (Phase Alternate Line) which is used by much of Europe, Africa, India and Australia. Unfortunately, the two are not compatible, meaning that a video game console designed for an NTSC television will not work on a PAL television and visa versa. Luckily, there's a very easy-to-use device known as an NTSC-PAL converter that will allow you to play NTSC video games on PAL TVs, which can be very useful if you're traveling.

Things You'll Need

NTSC-to-PAL converter
Video/audio cables (composite or component depending on video game system's video output options and TV's video input options)

Instructions

- 1
  Connect your video game system's video/audio outputs to the video/audio inputs of the NTSC-to-PAL converter. The video game system will have an A/V cord that is a single plug at one end (the end that goes into the console) and separates into three strands with different colored heads depending on what system you're using. High-definition consoles such as Microsoft's Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation 3 usually use component video/audio cables that are green, blue and red, while standard-definition consoles use composite cables, which are yellow, white and red. Simply match up the colors of the console's video output cables to the colors of the converter's video inputs.
- 2
  Connect the video/audio output of the NTSC-to-PAL converter to the audio/video input of the television using the extra video/audio cables. The cables must be the same type (component or composite) as you used to connect the game console with the converter. However, if the television only has composite input (most TVs built before 2003 or so will not have component), you will need to use composite cables in both Step 1 and Step 2.
- 3
  Turn on the television and the video game console, then set the television to the proper video channel. This channel should correlate to the video input you used. These are typically labeled "Video 1" and can be accessed by pressing "Input" or "Source" on your television's remote control.
- 4
  Flip the switch (if applicable) on the converter box to the proper mode. Most converter boxes convert both from NTSC to PAL and from PAL to NTSC, so you'll need to set your converter to "NTSC to PAL," which can typically be done with a small switch on the box. When done, the images from your video game system should run from your console through the converter box and onto the TV.

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