LadyAberlin Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I ordered Jolly phonics videos from the Book Depository. I received the 2 videos and they didn't work. The screen was black and the voices were garbled. So I e-mailed them and told them the problem and they offered to mail me another copy. My dh said that maybe the VCR's in the UK are different than the ones here in the US. So I told the Book depository that I would like a new copy and that if the vcr's were different to make sure that they send a US copy. So I just received the new copy and it doesn't work either. Has anyone had this happen before? Is there a difference in UK VHS tapes vs US VHS tapes. I don't see anywhere where it says on the box anything other than VHS. I'm asking for a refund which is dissappointing because they had a really good deal on their tapes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Well, yes. European videos use the PAL format, and US videos use the NTSC format. They are mutually incompatible. If you are buying this from a UK company, there is a 99% chance that they do not make a version for the US, hence their not sending it to you. You can buy VCRs with the capability to play both formats, but they are not cheap. DVDs from Europe are a bit like this too, except they've faked the format differences - it's really all digital and they put some code in to make them incompatible. :confused: With the DVDs it's fairly easy to jury-rig them so they'll work, or they'll work in your computer, or you can get a multi-format player fairly cheaply. But with video, unless you know someone with a dual-format machine who can copy it over to the US format, there's not much to be done. South America uses yet another format (although I think Mexico may use NTSC?). I think there may be a fourth for Asia, but I'm not 100% sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyAberlin Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 I purchased it through Amazon and Rainbow carries it too. So there must be a US version. Hopefully I can get my money back. They offered a refund the first time so I'm hoping the will again especially since I warned them not to send a UK version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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