NTSC and PAL

[rawbee]

What is the difference between PAL and NTSC?
Are they video file formats or what?
Why does Europe use PAL and U.S. use NTSC?
Why and how do cameras shoot in NTSC or PAL?
Does it have to do with frames per second and if so which is better and how many frames per second is it using?

[drfsupercenter]

PAL uses 25 frames per second, NTSC uses 29.97. Different countries use different formats - I think that is because they think that format is an ideal way to release video, but I am not sure. Cameras purchased in the USA are going to be NTSC and UK and other countries will probably be PAL. This has to do with the way the camera is made. As for which is better, in my opinion neither is better. However, if a video is in PAL and is converted to NTSC, it is most likely slowed down by 4%. NTSC videos released in other countries are known to have "PAL Speedup" in which it is sped up by 4%. Depending on where you live, I would go with that format. That is most likely what format your TV is in, however computers WILL play both NTSC and PAL videos, but not all TVs will.

[rawbee]

So is it a file format then? How does a camera using film use a file format? Do European DVD players and televisions actually play movies faster than the U.S., like fast forward? But wouldn't 29.97 fps be faster than 25 fps? So why would 29.97 need to be sped up?

[blutach]

Film is shot at a flat 24 fps.

See Fantastic Info on DVDs in my signature. EDIT - This link.

Regards

[rawbee]

So how can a camera shoot in either PAL or NTSC or be labelled as such?

[blutach]

If its a DIGITAL camera

Film is shot at 24 fps. Read the link.

Regards

[drfsupercenter]

LOL Digital video cameras encode the video at either 25fps or 29.97 fps. Depending where you live you would want a video camera that shoots in that format

And blutach - what about Hi8 cameras - that is film but has TV playback. Is that NTSC too? (My dad has one of those)

[rawbee]

I have many digital camcorders but they use what looks like film or tape. Is the film just encoded with a digital signal that enables it to be transferred to a computer and such? If so how does that work? When I have footage on my computer stored on my hard drive I understand that it is digital and in a file format, but is this the same for when it is on a digital camera using film? How could it be on film and be digital? Is the film being used in a traditional sense; obviously not or it wouldn't be called digital. Digital means electrical and thus would mean nothing mechanical is being used, such as film. A digital SLR uses memory cards instead of film, this makes sense; it's not mechanical and uses nothing but electrical signals to encode hundreds of photos on something the size of a quarter. But isn't film just film and not digital in anyway. Does the film just work like the memory card? Forgive me I'm just a junior member.

[tigerman8u]

read the link that "blu" gave you and read what is DVD here www.videohelp.com this article will give you the info/specs on PAL and NTSC dvd

[nwg]

LOL Digital video cameras encode the video at either 25fps or 29.97 fps. Depending where you live you would want a video camera that shoots in that format

Camcorders in the UK record in both PAL and NTSC. Most TV's can display both as well. Some VCR's and all DVD players/recorder will also do both PAL and NTSC.

There is different versions of PAL such as PAL I in the UK and PAL B/G in Australia.

Some more links

http://kropla.com/tv.htm

http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/pal.cfm

http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/ntsc.cfm

[LT. Columbo]

Some VCR's and all DVD players/recorder will also do both PAL and NTSC.

i wish that were true, my toshiba dvd player doesn't support PAL (as it was designed).

[nwg]

i wish that were true, my toshiba dvd player doesn't support PAL (as it was designed).

I was referring to the here in the UK. R2 is both PAL (Europe) and NTSC (Japan). Therefore, they have to do both.

Most DVD players in the US are NTSC only. These would be big brand names such as Sony and Toshiba.

[LT. Columbo]

I was referring to the here in the UK. R2

that certainly explains it...my err