Video Standards
If you live in Canada or USA and have the videotape or DVD recorded in the country from the list below, or you want to send video to one of the countries listed below, you may need a conversion.
The History of Video Standards
CN Tower in Toronto broadcasts NTSC television signal.In 1953 the United States was the first country to widely implement the first color TV broadcast system based on the NTSC standard (National Television System Committee). Today, NTSC standard is used not only in the United States, but in most countries of the Western Hemisphere as well as Japan and some other countries of Asia. Frame rate (number of times the entire screen is redrawn in a second) is 29.97 per second with 525 lines per frame.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris has been broadcasting SECAM television signal since 1957.Later in the 50's and early 60's the PAL standard (Phase Alternating Line) was adopted by most European countries, except for France, which adopted the SECAM standard (the French acronym for Sequential Color with Memory). With wider channel bandwidth, these standards allow for better picture quality than NTSC. Both PAL and SECAM have frame rates of 25 per second with 625 lines per frame. In addition to different frame rates and line numbers, the standard VHS tape speed is slower in PAL and SECAM than in NTSC.
| Country | Format | Country | Format | Country | Format | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | PAL | Algeria | PAL | Antilles | NTSC | ||
| Australia | PAL | Austria | PAL | Bahamas | NTSC | ||
| Bahrain | PAL | Bangladesh | PAL | Barbados | NTSC | ||
| Belgium | PAL | Belorussia | SECAM and PAL | Bermuda | NTSC | ||
| Bolivia | NTSC | Brazil | PAL | Bulgaria | SECAM and PAL | ||
| Burundi | SECAM and PAL | Brunei | PAL | Canada | NTSC | ||
| Canary Islands | PAL | Chile | NTSC | China | PAL | ||
| Columbia | NTSC | Congo | SECAM | Costa Rica | NTSC | ||
| Cuba | NTSC | Curacao | NTSC | Cyprus | PAL | ||
| Czech Republic | SECAM and PAL | Denmark | PAL | Dominican Republic | NTSC | ||
| Ecuador | NTSC | Egypt | SECAM | El Salvador | NTSC | ||
| Estonia | PAL | Ethiopia | PAL | Fiji | PAL | ||
| Finland | PAL | France | SECAM | Germany | PAL | ||
| Ghana | PAL | Gibraltar | PAL | Great Britain | PAL | ||
| Greece | SECAM | Greenland | NTSC | Guadeloupe | SECAM | ||
| Guam | NTSC | Guatemala | NTSC | Guyana (French) | SECAM | ||
| Haiti | SECAM | Honduras | NTSC | Hong Kong | PAL | ||
| Hungary | SECAM | Iceland | PAL | India | PAL | ||
| Indonesia | PAL | Iran | SECAM | Iraq | SECAM | ||
| Ireland | PAL | Israel | PAL | Italy | PAL | ||
| Ivory Coast | SECAM | Jamaica | NTSC | Japan | NTSC | ||
| Kazakhstan | SECAM and PAL | Jordan | PAL | Kenya | PAL | ||
| Korea (North) | PAL | Korea (South) | NTSC | Kuwait | PAL | ||
| Lebanon | SECAM | Liberia | PAL | Libya | SECAM | ||
| Latvia | PAL | Lithuania | PAL | Luxembourg | SECAM | ||
| Madagascar | SECAM | Malaysia | PAL | Malta | PAL | ||
| Martinique | SECAM | Mexico | NTSC | Monaco | SECAM | ||
| Mongolia | PAL | Morocco | SECAM | Mozambique | PAL | ||
| Netherlands | PAL | New Caledonia | SECAM | New Zealand | PAL | ||
| Nicaragua | NTSC | Niger | SECAM | Nigeria | PAL | ||
| Norway | PAL | Oman | PAL | Pakistan | PAL | ||
| Panama | NTSC | Paraguay | PAL | Peru | NTSC | ||
| Philippines | NTSC | Poland | SECAM | Portugal | PAL | ||
| Puerto Rico | NTSC | Qatar | PAL | Rumania | SECAM and PAL | ||
| Russia | SECAM and PAL | Saudi Arabia | SECAM | Senegal | SECAM | ||
| Sierra Leone | PAL | Singapore | PAL | South Africa | PAL | ||
| Spain | PAL | Sri Lanka | NTSC | Sudan | PAL | ||
| Surinam | NTSC | Swaziland | PAL | Sweden | PAL | ||
| Switzerland | PAL | Syria | SECAM | Tahiti | SECAM | ||
| Taiwan | NTSC | Tanzania | PAL | Thailand | PAL | ||
| Trinidad | NTSC | Tunisia | SECAM | Turkey | PAL | ||
| Ukraine | SECAM and PAL | United Arab Emirates | PAL | United Kingdom | PAL | ||
| Uganda | PAL | Uruguay | PAL | USA | NTSC | ||
| Venezuela | NTSC | Vietnam | NTSC | Virgin Islands | NTSC | ||
| Yemen | PAL | Yugoslavia (former) | PAL | Zaire | SECAM | ||
| Zambia | PAL | Zanzibar | PAL | Zimbabwe | PAL |
All former Soviet Union countries use PAL and SECAM.