International VHS and DVD Formats

International VHS and DVD Formats

Video standards from around the world vary. The NTSC Standard (National Television System Committee) is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan.

NTSC the American broadcast frequency, offers 525 lines per second to produce an image with a faster frame rate, which reduces visible flickering and picture noise. The PAL standard (Phase Alternating Line) was implemented in most European countries except for France. PAL offers 625 lines per second to produce a very detailed image on a wider luminance (color signal) bandwidth. The PAL system has been adopted by almost all of the world's countries using the 50 Hz (cycles) voltage. The SECAM standard (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Color with Memory) was implemented in France. Many European VCRs are dual format and will play both NTSC and PAL videos.