Panasonic NV-FS200 only plays NTSC tapes, not PAL?

[lordsmurf]

I have a (supposedly) NV-FS200 that is only playing NTSC tapes.

- It plays NTSC VHS as NTSC.
- It does not play PAL VHS. You get the shifted B&W signal, as you would playing PAL in an NTSC deck.

Huh?

All buttons and sliders work, so I don't think this was a gutter shell. Or was it? (I actually have an AG-1980 parts deck, and could swap case if needed.)

Additionally, the unit may needs caps work. With TBC on, the color tints shift.

It has a two-prong (non-grounded) USA/NA (North America) power cord, from the switchable power supply. But not sure if it's really switchable.

I was looking forward to a PAL deck, so this is a total disappointment.

[hodgey]

That's.. odd. Have you had a look inside it? The FS200 has a different mechanism and electronics than the AG1980P, it's more similar to the 1970P really.

Newer PAL VCRs can typically play back NTSC VHS as PAL-60, some NTSC 4.43 (which is autodetected by the cypress TBCs at least afaik). NTSC Playback disables the TBC and most other image processing in all machines I've seen (outside of proper proper multi-system decks.) If the TBC is active in NTSC it's presumably not a FS200.