I recently acquired a conversion VCR; I own a number of Irish language VHS video tapes in PAL format which I wanted to convert to NTSC, the North American standard. I thought it a worthwhile investment, as video conversion in my area can cost US$20 or more, and for the number of videos I own, that could be prohibitively expensive; buying the VCR and doing it myself has proven to be the cheaper alternative.
It occurs to me that other Irish language learners/speakers/enthusiasts in the U.S. & Canada might also have tapes they can't play on VCRs here in North America, so I'd like to make you an offer. If you're in Canada or the U.S. and have any Irish language videos in PAL format which you would like to have converted to NTSC for you, I'll be happy to do it for the insanely cheap prices listed below:
PAL VHS to NTSC VHS tape: US$5 plus actual shipping.
PAL VHS to NTSC DVD(no tracks): US$5 plus actual shipping.
PAL VHS to NTSC DVD (with tracks added): US$10 plus actual shipping.
(I don't currently have the ability to convert PAL-only DVDs to NTSC DVD, but many of today's DVDs are multi-zone anyway.)
As you can see, I'll be making no profits from this.
What's the catch? Simple --
no English language videos allowed (or any language other than Irish). Those of you who know me or have been acquainted with me online know that my chief goal is making it easier for people to learn, use & enjoy Irish. And since I figure that equipment such as this converter VCR have only a limited lifespan, I will not waste one minute of its effectiveness on other languages (there are businesses out there where you can get your non-Irish videos converted). So what kinds of videos qualify for this offer?
- Movies in Irish (or with Irish subtitles/dubbing)
- Television programmes in Irish
- Music/concert videos which are predominantly in Irish
- Instructional materials for learning Irish
The quality of the converted video will be approximately the same as the original; I haven't yet tried converting videos that have copy-protection encoding, so I can't say whether or not such videos could be properly converted. It has been my experience that such security measures are rarely ever used on Irish language videos.
If you've got some Irish language PAL videos collecting dust and want them converted, here's your chance! E-mail me off-list for mailing/payment info (
).
This offer is available until 15 February 2006 (my Irish classes resume in March and I'll have less time available for this little project during the spring).
Le meas,
Cionaodh