What Are NTSC/PAL/SECAM Broadcast Formats?
One of the biggest challenges for DV and digital TV (DTV) is that for the foreseeable future they must remain compatible with analog television (ATV) standards that were established half a century ago. As a videomaker, you need to understand this arcane system well enough to make the right choices about equipment that may be compatible with some standards but incompatible with others. (For the most part, filmmakers don’t have to worry about this stuff, aside from framing their shots for the small screen.) ATV broadcast formats apply to network transmissions, cable systems, camcorders, VCRs, and DVD decks. And to make matters worse, there are different ATV broadcast standards for different parts of the world. DV camcorders are designed to work with either NTSC (the North American TV standard) or PAL/SECAM (the British and French/Asian TV standards). Although there are multiformat VCRs and DVD players, camcorders come in one format or the other, not both.
