NTSC & PAL Formats
Introduction

Keep in mind that television standards differ in foreign countries. The US, Canada, Mexico, and Japan
use an NTSC signal for television. Parts of Europe, Russia and Africa use SECAM. The rest of the
world gravitates toward PAL. You might need a television that can handle NTSC, SECAM, and
PAL, or a DVD player that can output any signal to an NTSC signal.


PAL Format
PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is a video standard used in many countries around the world. Countries
such as the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and more use PAL as their video standard. When a
VHS, DVD or laserdisc is released using the PAL format it can have a maximum resolution up to 625
lines with a vertical frequency of 50Hz. There are different types of PAL standards, one of which
uses a vertical frequency of 60Hz instead of 50Hz.


NTSC Format

NTSC - NTSC (National Television Ssystem Committee) is another video standard used in many
countries around the world. While it's not technically superior, it's more widely used thanks to its use
in the United States and a variety of other countries, such as Japan. When a VHS, DVD or laserdisc
is released using the NTSC format it can have a maximum resolution up to 525 lines with a vertical
frequency of 60hz


So what happens if I live in the USA or UK ?

So can you play a PAL VHS, DVD or laserdisc on an NTSC TV? The answer is no. TVs are either
NTSC capable, PAL capable or both. Unfortunately, nearly every TV in the United States is NTSC
only. If you live in a country where PAL is the standard you can generally get a TV that is capable of
both PAL and NTSC native playback.


Resolution

So you live in an NTSC country and you want to play a PAL DVD, what's one to do? Lets look at the
possible solutions and the good and bad of each...

Solution Good Bad
Buy a NTSC / PAL TV - Allows native playback of both NTSC and PAL standards. Native playback of both signals. Expensive - Have to import it (high shipping + taxes). Power converter needed.
Buy a NTSC / PAL converter - Converts PAL to NTSC format, allowing for playback on NTSC TV (or vice versa) High quality conversion if you get a nice model. Expensive - nice models go for $200+ easily.
DVD decoder card - Many have PAL / NTSC conversion capability Inexpensive. Quality isn't as good as the other solutions, often producing MPEG artifacts on playback.


Countires that use PAL format
The colour TV broadcast syStem used in the UK plus Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia,
Canada, Canary Islands, China, Croatia, Denmark, Dubai, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong,
Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway,
Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. .


Countires that use NTSC format
The colour broadcast system used in the US, Canada and Japan


Countries that use SECAM format
The colour boradcast system used in France and her dependences and also Canada (who also use the
pther two systems as well)




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