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hamid_1 · 9th Dec 2021, 2:28 am

Another option: obtain a French VHS video recorder to go with the French TV.

A VCR from France will be able to play British tapes in black and white (and colour if both the VCR and TV are PAL/SECAM compatible). Quite a lot of French TVs and VCRs were dual standard PAL and SECAM from the 1980s onwards. Satellite TV and video games consoles created a demand for PAL compatible equipment in France.

It doesn't even matter if the French VCR can no longer play tapes. As long as it still switches on, you can use it as a modulator. Connect a British video source to the SCART or AV input of the French VCR, then connect an aerial lead from French VCR to French TV. You'll only get black-and-white pictures this way.

Alternatively you can obtain a French SECAM-L modulator and plug your British VCR into it. This will also only work in black and white.

A French TV equipped with RGB SCART socket will work straightaway with British RGB SCART devices such as DVD players and Freeview boxes. Just plug them in with a fully-wired SCART cable and you'll get colour too. Video cassette recorders do not provide RGB signals. In the past, you could buy devices called transcoders which could convert PAL to SECAM or RGB (or SECAM to PAL if you wanted to use a French video source with a British TV). There were also a few very expensive video recorders with standards converters built-in. Now this stuff is practically obsolete, you can sometimes get lucky and pick one up at a flea market for next to nothing.

9th Dec 2021, 2:28 am	#7
hamid_1 Heptode Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: High Wycombe, Bucks. UK. Posts: 811	Re: French 625 B&W, and UK VHS Another option: obtain a French VHS video recorder to go with the French TV. A VCR from France will be able to play British tapes in black and white (and colour if both the VCR and TV are PAL/SECAM compatible). Quite a lot of French TVs and VCRs were dual standard PAL and SECAM from the 1980s onwards. Satellite TV and video games consoles created a demand for PAL compatible equipment in France. It doesn't even matter if the French VCR can no longer play tapes. As long as it still switches on, you can use it as a modulator. Connect a British video source to the SCART or AV input of the French VCR, then connect an aerial lead from French VCR to French TV. You'll only get black-and-white pictures this way. Alternatively you can obtain a French SECAM-L modulator and plug your British VCR into it. This will also only work in black and white. A French TV equipped with RGB SCART socket will work straightaway with British RGB SCART devices such as DVD players and Freeview boxes. Just plug them in with a fully-wired SCART cable and you'll get colour too. Video cassette recorders do not provide RGB signals. In the past, you could buy devices called transcoders which could convert PAL to SECAM or RGB (or SECAM to PAL if you wanted to use a French video source with a British TV). There were also a few very expensive video recorders with standards converters built-in. Now this stuff is practically obsolete, you can sometimes get lucky and pick one up at a flea market for next to nothing.