Why is a 50 Hz frame rate being adopted in the Europe when 60 Hz is being used in the US?
The standards to be used in Europe were specified by the Technical Committee of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union.) One reason given is that 50 Hz will mean a lower bit rate so the channel uses less bandwidth. This is of course silly since the same effect can be achieved at 60 Hz by turning up the compression ratio. The incompatibility with the US standards of 60 Hz will of course be a problem. It will mean a reduction of quality in conversion of US programs to Europe because they will effectively have to repeat every 5th frame. No doubt this will show as a judder to the discerning eye. There may be further problems with incompatibility between DVD, computer video and games consoles. Another reason suggested for using 50 Hz in Europe is that the mains frequency is 50Hz. If you film at 60 fps under artificial lighting from a 50 Hz AC supply you may see a 10 Hz flicker. The significance of this is probably overstated for professional recordings but there are certainly cases where it w
