Using American TV/HDTV Abroad

General

Owners of American TV/HDTV sets relocating abroad more often than not encounter difficulties to use the American TV/HDTV set in the new country because of different local TV system standard. For instance, many overseas countries use the PAL or SECAM / MESECAM standards while the American standard is NTSC. Obviously some conversion is required.

The Scenarios

There are two basic scenarios defining the conversion and connection types required to use your American TV/HDTV abroad. Each scenario determine the type of device (Converter or Tuner) you may want to utilize:

1. Your local overseas service is providing you with Cables set top box like the one you used in the USA or, if you subscribed to Satellite service, a satellite receiver. (We define it "Local Box")
2. In many cases all you will get is Cables or Antenna coaxial feed cable coming out the wall. (We define it "Feeder Only")

Type of Connection and Your TV/HDTV

Before selecting a certain device you must verify first the type on inputs available on your TV/HDTV.

Please consult with your TV/HDTV user manual or with the maker's customer service.

Most common inputs are as follows:

• Audio - Red / White RCA jacks
• Composite Video - Yellow RCA jack. Require also Audio connection.
• S-Video - Round multi pins. Require also Audio connection.
• Component Video - 3 RCA jacks: Red / Green / Blue. Require also Audio connection.
• VGA (also known as PC Input or HD-15) - Square multi pin, like a PC screen cable. Require also Audio connection.
• DVI - Looks like VGA but much bigger. Require also Audio connection.
• HDMI - Looks like USB but bigger. Does not require audio connection.

Devices Connecting American TV To A Local Box

Composite Video and S-Video - These connections work with the most common analog television resolution (480i). Use the Video Converter DVC-1660. to convert PAL, PAL-M, PAL-N and SECAM to NTSC.

Typical Wiring:

Local Box ----> DVC-1660 ----> Your TV
     |                            |
     ==============================
                 Audio Lines

Component, VGA, DVI and HDMI - These connections are used in conjunction with HDTV LCD, LED or Plasma and rear projection television sets as well as with Projectors for variety resolutions.

We offer a few versions of unique Upscalers/Converter/Adapters each designed to work with specific TV/HDTV connection as described above. All of the converters have the following properties in common:

• All of them are high quality automatic PAL / SECAM / NTSC to NTSC converters
• All of them are high quality resolution converters. They will upsacale the 480i regular signal from the "Local Box" Composite Video or S-Video connections to 1080i or 1080p
• All of them are dual voltage 110-220V

Examples:

• From the Local Box video out HDMI use model US295N
• From the Local Box video out DVI use model US391
• From the Local Box video out VGA use model US390




And so on. See all the upscalers here.

Typical Wiring for US295N:

Local Box  ----->   US295N    ~~~~~~~~~>    Your TV
     |                 | Audio & Video lines in one HDMI cable
     ===================   
            Audio Lines

Typical Wiring for US391 and US390:

    Local Box ----> US391 or US390 ----> Your TV
        |                                   |
        =====================================
                        Audio Lines

NEW PRODUCT: HDMI/PAL to HDMI/NTSC Converter & Upscaler (See it here)

Local Box  ~~~~~~~~>  US259H  ~~~~~~~~~>  Your TV
               Audio & Video lines in one HDMI cable

Devices connecting American TV to a local Coaxial "Feeder Only"

Where only a coaxial feeder cable is deployed by the local service provider, or when a terrestrial antenna is in use, you must utilize an External TV Tuner.

All our tuners feature resolution upscaling. They are high quality resolution converters for up to 1080i or 1080p. Because Composite and S-Video connections can not accommodate the bandwidth required for high resolution the tuners convert the PAL or SECAM (or NTSC) signals to digital VGA PC format. Therefore your HDTV MUST have a VGA input as primary connection to the tuner.

Before selecting a certain tuner you must verify first if a VGA input is available on your TV/HDTV. Please consult with your TV/HDTV user manual or with the maker's customer service.

VGA (also known as PC Input or HD-15) - Square multi pin, like a PC screen cable. Require also Audio connection.

Typical tuner with VGA connection:

Coaxial Feeder Cable ----> Tuner/Upscaler ----> VGA Connection Cable ----> Your TV
                                |                                             |
                                ===============================================
                                                    Audio Lines

Available Tuners:

See all the tuners here.

Epilogue

If you need more details please use the links on this tutorial. When contacting us, please make sure you have your TV model and the available connections on it.

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