Hi Emery,
This is just ancedotal information, but over here in Hong Kong (Region 3, PAL broadcast standard), the VAST majority of the DVDs here are in Region 3 and NTSC. All most all of ’em. In doing a quickie survey of my discs, only 1 out of about 15 discs is PAL. So far, all of my Region 1 (and thus NTSC) DVDs have played with no problems.
I spoke to one of my broadcast equipment suppliers today (’cause I need a NTSC only TV!), and she said that almost all PAL TV sets nowadays can play NTSC.
Hope this helps!
Darron