It is important to realise that to play a region 1 disc (American) you do require that your television is capable of handling the NTSC 3.58MHz signal (North American broadcast system). A Multi-Region player will allow you access to discs from all over the world but your television in turn must be able to support the different transmission formats.

Some, but not all, Multi-Region players have internal transcoders that will modulate the source signal to a derivative of Pal.

When choosing a player and you know that your television doesn't have the ability to play NTSC 3.58, look for the Pal 60 ability in the specifications.

If you do get a black & white picture there are two things you should try to resolve the problem:

In the DVD player's setup choose the Video option and set the player to output RGB to the television, ensuring that you are using Scart # 1 from the player to Scart #1 of the television.

Some Multi-Region DVD players have the ability to modulate the source signal, either with a switch located on the player, or in the setup options.