Almost all VHS VCRs in the UK are now capable of NTSC playback on a PAL
TV, even the cheapest and nastiest (though interestingly, you have to
pay serious money for a machine that will play SECAM).

Rather than go to the trouble and expense of getting PAL copies, I'd
suggest contacting the conference organisers and asking if they can
support NTSC playback.  If they then start mieowing and hissing at you
then it might be worth obtaining PAL copies to avoid the hassle, but
playing NTSC tapes really should be a minor issue for the a/v department
of any UK university; especially in film studies departments, which tend
to order a lot of tapes from the US anyway.

Leo

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