Television standards dictate how television signals are formatted, transmitted, and received by TV sets. There are three main analog color standards called NTSC, PAL, and SECAM, and they’re each used in different parts of the world.
The different standards are not compatible so if you tried to play a tape recorded with the PAL standard on a NTSC VCR, for example, you’d just see a lot of black and white noise on the screen.
In this article, we explain the difference between NTSC vs PAL vs SECAM standards, how they differ, and whether you can convert footage from one standard to another.
WHAT IS THE NTSC FORMAT?
NTSC stands for National Television System Committee, and it’s the name of the group that created the first technical TV standard. It was established by the United States government in 1940 because individual companies were arguing about what to do.
The committee first created a standard for monochrome television then, in 1950, a new standard for color television. This standard is what we know as NTSC today.
It was completed and began broadcasting in 1954. Over time, many other countries started using it, including:
- Japan
- Canada
- Mexico
- South Korea
- Netherlands
- Jamaica
- Philippines
- Columbia
NTSC uses 525 lines and a frame rate of 29.97 Hz, and it won out over other standards because it was backward compatible with black-and-white television sets. To achieve this, they kept most of the original monochrome standard and added color information through a subcarrier.
WHAT IS THE PAL FORMAT?
In Europe in the 1950s, there was the same need for a new color television standard but the NTSC standard developed in the United States wasn’t ideal. With Europe’s size and weather conditions, poor transmission conditions were frequent and the NTSC standard suffered from color tone shifting.
To fix these problems, Germany and the United Kingdom began designing their own standard based on NTSC. The result was PAL (Phase Alternating Line), which was developed by Walter Bruch in Germany.
PAL successfully solved the color shifting problems of NTSC and used 625 lines and a frame rate of 25 Hz.
There’s a long list of countries that adopted the PAL standard, including:
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Australia
- Belgium
- China
- Denmark
- Hong Kong
- Italy
- Kenya
- Norway
- Singapore
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Thailand
- United Arab Emirates
WHAT IS SECAM?
SECAM (séquentiel de couleur à mémoire or color sequential with memory) was also a European project aiming to adapt and fix the problems with NTSC — but led by France. Its development actually started a little before PAL, and its picture is also made up of 625 interlaced lines displayed at 25 Hz.
Due to compatibility problems and new rules enforced throughout Europe, it took quite a while for SECAM to get implemented. It eventually launched in France in 1967 and was also adopted by East Germany in 1969. Other countries that chose SECAM include:
- Afghanistan
- Bulgaria
- Egypt
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iraq
- Morocco
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NTSC VS PAL VS SECAM?
| NTSC | PAL | SECAM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it stands for | National Television System Committee | Phase Alternating Line | Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire |
| Year of development | 1954 | 1963 | 1967 |
| Geographic usage | United States, Japan, Canada | United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, China | France, Russia, North Korea, Greece |
| Frame rate | 29.97 | 25 | 25 |
| Frames per second | 60 | 50 | 50 |
| Picture resolutions | 720 x 480; 704 x 480; 352 x 480; 352 x 240 | 720 x 576; 704 x 576; 352 x 576; 352 x 288 | 720 x 576; 704 x 576; 352 x 576; 352 x 288 |
| Resolution lines | 525 | 625 | 625 |
| Color encoding | Manual tint color correction | Color signal phase alteration | Color signal phase alteration |
NTSC was the first standard to be developed, while PAL and SECAM were both adaptations of NTSC designed to better suit Europe. PAL and SECAM, while not compatible, are very similar.
Pictures in the NTSC standard are made up of 525 lines, while PAL and SECAM use 625. NTSC runs at 29.97 Hz and 60 frames per second but PAL and SECAM run at 25 Hz and 50 frames per second. The picture resolutions for NTSC are also a little different.
CAN YOU CONVERT PAL TO NTSC? OR SECAM TO NTSC?
Now that television is digital and VCRs aren’t frequently used, the different standards shouldn’t be restrictive. If you want to watch your PAL, SECAM, and NTSC tapes wherever you want, the best thing to do is convert them to digital.
At EverPresent, we’ve amassed a collection of video decks from all over the world, covering all three television standards. This means we can digitize your tapes no matter where they come from or what standard they were recorded in. Once all your footage is digitized, we can return it to you on DVDs, USB flash drives, or as cloud files.
NTSC vs PAL vs SECAM FAQs
WHAT DOES SECAM STAND FOR?
SECAM is an abbreviation of “séquentiel de couleur à mémoire,” which means “color sequential with memory” in French.
WHAT DOES PAL FORMAT MEAN?
PAL is an acronym for “phase alternating line,” which describes how the standard works. It was developed by a German named Bruch — which means “breakage” in German — so he decided not to name the standard after himself.
WHAT DOES NTSC MEAN?
NTSC is an initialism that stands for “National Television System Committee.” This was the name of the organization the United States put together with the sole mission of creating a national television standard.
IS THE USA NTSC OR PAL?
The USA uses the NTSC standard, which they developed themselves.
DOES THE PAL FORMAT WORK IN THE USA?
The PAL format does not work in the USA. If you try to play a PAL tape on an American VCR, it will just play noise. However, because PAL was based on NTSC, PAL-based VCRs can usually play NTSC tapes.
WHICH IS BETTER: NTSC OR PAL?
Because NTSC footage can typically be played on both NTSC and PAL machines, it’s usually more convenient to choose NTSC. If you need to convert footage stored on a physical tape, you can digitize it.
