Automatic PAL/NTSC Switching for TV out

[htpcman]

Hi

Just an idea mainly for DVD playback. It would b nice to have a function that would allow MP to detect the Frame rate of a DVD (or File) and switch the TV output accordingly. This would mean if a DVD was 50/25 fps the output would go to PAL and if the DVD was 60/30 fps it would swtch to NTSC.

Why is this prefereable?

When you play a 60Hz DVD (NTSC) and the output is set to PAL then the graphics card has to essentially perform a standards conversion. what will happen is that a 60 Hz frame rate will be sampled at 50 fps thus volating the nyquist theorem. The result is a picture with juddery motion. this is very visible on horizontal pans or moving objetcs. By selecting the apropriate output frame rate this can be avoided.

ATM I use a workaround with "ATI Tray Tools". I have created 2 profiles one for PAL output and one for NTSC output and assigned a hot key "ALT+P,ALT+N" to each this allows manual hassle-free switching. I prefer this because selection of the TVout Standard is buried way down deep in the menu structure of the ATI driver making a quick switch impossible.

Alternatively to automatic switching it would be nice to have a button in MPs "My Videos" section that allows to toggle the 2 output formats.

cheers

htpcman