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 ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html