Did you know that PAL DVD’S run 4% faster than NTSC and cinemas?
So Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, which runs for 153 minutes at the cinema, will only run for 146.88 minutes when you buy it on DVD. So you are losing 6 minutes!
You’re unlikely to notice as the whole film is being played fractionally faster, not that 6 minutes of action has been cut. Technically everything moves faster and the sound is a slightly higher pitch.
For the technical minded, it’s all to do with films being 24 fps and PAL DVD’S being coded to 25 fps to fit PALS 50hz refresh rate.
I believe it’s not an issue with HD though as HD TVs can adapt and therefore HD DVDs don’t need to be adjusted.
There you go… Todays random fact was brought to you…