NTSC, PAL and SECAM Information

Most countries of the world use TV Standards that are incompatible with other countries. For example, a video recording made in Germany could not be played back on an American standard VCR or shown on the American TV. There are three main world standards and the rest are minor branches of these main systems. The systems are NTSC, PAL, SECAM. The charts below give a description of each standard and the technical variations within them.

NTSC

The first colour TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan. NTSC runs on 525 lines/frame.

PAL

The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most European countries except for France. The PAL standard utilises a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality. PAL runs on 625 lines/frame.

SECAM

The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Colour with Memory) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the colour information sequentially. SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame.

World Broadcast Systems Chart

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