FAQ
Analog Video Format Standards
 

NTSC: NTSC stands for the National Television System Committee of the Electronics Industries Association. The organization defines the standard format adopted by the FCC for television broadcast in the United States, Japan, Canada, and Mexico. This is also called "composite video" because all of the video information, luminance, and color combined into a single analog signal.
PAL: PAL stands for Phase Alternation by Line, the broadcast video standard used in West Germany, Great Britain and most Western European nations. By reversing the relative phase of the color signal components on alternate scanning lines, this system avoids the color distortion that appears in NTSC. Otherwise, PAL closely resembles NTSC. Based on the 50 Hz power system, PAL displays 625 lines interlaced at 50 fields per second (25 frames per second).
SECAM: SECAM stands for Sequential Couleur A Memoire" (sequential color with memory). Video format used in France, Eastern Europe, F.S.U and some Middle Eastern countries. Like PAL, SECAM is based on a 50 Hz power system, displaying interlaced lines at 50 fields per second. The color information is transmitted sequentially (R-Y followed by B-Y, etc.) for each line and conveyed by a frequency modulated sub-carrier that avoids the distortion arising during NTSC transmission.
 
 

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