Let's be honest — 'Stop Gap' is essentially a limited interest DVD, and will never sell in its thousands. To make a top-quality standards conversion from PAL to NTSC costs a lot of money, and (with all due respect to our N.American and Japanese friends) it will never be economically feasible to get such a conversion made. But my video editor will allow a 'fudge' whereby you can fool a video into thinking it's NTSC. It will never be as good as a proper conversion, but I thought it worth a try.
I sent early test copies to Tom Bache, the USA representative of the Land-Rover Series One Club, and I'm indebted to him for trying the discs on a variety of DVD players, and PC and Mac computers — and (as with so many aspects of modern electronic technology) he's found that there's no right answer! It would play on some combinations of TV and player, but not on others; an individual disc would show signs of digital glitches on one player, but not on another; on some TVs the edges of the picture would be lost, and with it the first letters of the name captions. There is even a suggestion that one of the 'extras' disappeared from view! I wasn't able to test any of this in the UK, because our PAL players will usually handle NTSC discs with minimal problems — it doesn't work the other way round with NTSC machines.
The only constantly successful route would seem to be using a computer player program (such as WinDVD or PowerDVD) in either a PC or a Mac. But then, there is every chance that computer players would be equally happy with a PAL version.
I've therefore decided to recommend that all NTSC-area customers choose the PAL version, on the understanding that they'll probably have to watch it on a computer. If, however, you still prefer to purchase an NTSC disc, then they are available below, but are provided at the buyer's risk, and will only be replaced if they prove to be 'bad' copies for some other reason. They will be burned to individual order, and so may take a little longer to be delivered.
For a full list of countries and their television standards, click here. Do not confuse this with DVD 'Region Codes' — 'Stop Gap' will play in all regions.
You can buy securely online, using your Credit Card or PayPal account. The price is the same worldwide (including postage) — you only pay £22.00 (or its equivalent in Australian, Canadian or US Dollars, Euros or Yen). For UK and EU residents, this includes VAT at the current rate when the purchase is made.
You can order more than one DVD — this is dealt with at the Checkout stage. Note that PayPal will try (more than once) to get you to 'Log In'. If you don't have a PayPal account, skip this bit (and don't attempt to put in an email address) — if you click on 'Continue' you will reach the 'Billing Information' page where you can enter credit card or bank details.
'STOP GAP' DVD (NTSC)
DVDs are usually mailed with the 'Stop Gap' logo on the front. If you wish to keep the source a secret — eg the disc is being bought as a suprise present for someone in your household — then please put "No Logo" in the 'Special Instructions to Merchant' box on the PayPal form.
