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International TV FormatsThe three most common video standards found around the world are NTSC, PAL and SECAM. Even though the VHS cassettes may look identical, the formats are completely different. A PAL tape bought in England will not play properly in a VCR in Canada. NTSC (National Television Standards Committee): Originally developed in 1954 in the USA, this is the oldest existing video standard and has been adopted mainly by the USA, Canada, Japan, Central America, half of the Caribbean and half of South America. It has a frame rate of 25 fps (frames per second) and each frame consists of 525 horizontal lines of display and 16 Million colors. 482 of these lines are used for resolution where the remaining lines are used for sync, vertical retrace, and closed captioning. NTSC is sometimes nicknamed "Never Twice the Same Color". PAL (Phase Alternating Line): Walter Bruch developed this standard with the electronic corporation Telefunken in Germany and was used for the first time commercially in 1967. Pal is common in most parts of the world including Europe, China, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and many parts of Africa. It uses 625 lines per frame (as opposed to 525 with NTSC) and has a frame rate of 25 frames per second which may give PAL a better vertical resolution than NTSC, but also results in more flicker. Depending on who you speak to, you might hear PAL referred to as "Perfection at Last" or "Pay a Lot". SECAM (SEquentiel Couleur A Mémoire or Sequential Color And Memory): Developed in France in 1967 as a means of protecting French manufacturers from stiff foreign competition, this system is used mainly in France, Africa, Asia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and many other Eastern European countries. It is similar to PAL in the respect that it uses 625 horizontal lines of display and plays at 25 frames per second. SECAM's uniqueness really comes from it's manner of processing color signals which is a method completely incompatible and unused by any other video standard. Various renditions of the acronym are "Something Essentially Contrary to the American Method" or "Second Colour Always Magenta". Quite a lot people will buy a VHS or DVD in another part of the world not knowing it will not play properly at home. Fortunately Short Run CD can convert any format to NTSC whether it be VHS or DVD, quickly and effectively. Please visit our Video Duplication and Foreign Conversion section for more information. Here's a List of Different Countries' Formats:
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