Television Fundamentals

Television Broadcast Standards

Comparison of
Television Standards

1. National Television Standards Committee

(NTSC)
a. Higher Frame Rate Use of 30 frames per second (really 29.97) reduces visible
flicker.
b. Atomic Color Edits With NTSC it is possible to edit at any 4 field boundary
point without disturbing the color signal.
c. Less inherent picture noise -

Almost all pieces of video equipment achieve better signal

to noise characteristics in their NTSC/525 form than in their
PAL/625.

National Television Standards

Committee (NTSC)
a. Lower Number of Scan Lines Reduced clarity on large screen TVs, line structure more
visible.
b. Smaller Luminance Signal Bandwidth Due to the placing of the color sub-carrier at 3.58MHz,
picture defects such as cross-color, and dot interference
become more pronounced.

National Television Standards

Committee (NTSC)
c. Susceptibility to Hue Fluctuation -

Variations in the color subcarrier phase cause shifts in

the displayed color, requiring that the TV receivers be
equipped with a Hue adjustment to compensate.
d. Lower Gamma Ratio The gamma value for NTSC/525 is set at 2.2 as
opposed to the slightly higher 2.8 defined for PAL/625. This
means that PAL/625 can produce pictures of greater
contrast.

National Television Standards

Committee (NTSC)
The oldest existing standard, developed in the
USA. First used in 1954.
Consists of 525 horizontal lines of display and 60
vertical lines.
Sometimes irreverently referred to as Never
Twice the Same Color.
Only one type exists, known as NTSC-M.

Phase Alternate/Alternation by
Line (PAL)
a. Greater Number of Scan Lines more picture detail.
b. Wider Luminance Signal Bandwidth
The placing of the color Sub-Carrier at 4.43MHz allows a
larger bandwidth of monochrome information to be
reproduced than with NTSC/525.

Phase Alternate/Alternation by
Line (PAL)
c. Stable Hues -

Due to reversal of sub-carrier phase on alternate lines, any

phase error will be corrected by an equal
and opposite error on the next line, correcting the original

error.
d. Higher Gamma Ratio The gamma value for PAL/625 is set at2.8 as opposed

to the lower 2.2 figure of NTSC/525. This permits a higher

level of contrast than on NTSC/525 signals.

Phase Alternate/Alternation by
Line (PAL)
a. More Flicker Due to the lower frame rate, flicker is more noticeable on
PAL/625 transmissions; particularly so for people used to
viewing NTSC/525 signals.
b. Lower Signal to Noise Ratio The higher bandwidth requirements cause PAL/625

equipment to have slightly worse signal to noise

performance than it's equivalent NTSC/525 version.

Phase Alternate/Alternation by
Line (PAL)
c. Loss of Color Editing Accuracy -

Due to the alternation of the phase of the color signal,

the phase and the color signal only reach a common point
once every 8 fields/4 frames. This means that edits can

only be performed to an accuracy of +/- 4 frames (8 fields).

Phase Alternate/Alternation by
Line (PAL)
PAL was developed by German engineer Walter
Bruch and the German electronic corporation
Telefunken. Walter Bruch patented his invention
1963 and the first commercial application of the PAL
system was in August 1967. Also a 625/50-line
display and variant of NTSC.
Proponents call it "Perfection At Last." Due to the
cost of the enormous circuit complexity, critics often
refer to it as "Pay A Lot".

Sequential Color with Memory

(SECAM)
Sequential Couleur Avec Mmoire

a. Stable Hues and Constant Saturation SECAM shares with PAL the ability to render images with

the correct hue, and goes a step further in ensuring

consistent saturation of color as well.

b. Higher Number of Scan Lines SECAM shares with PAL/625,the higher number of scan
lines than NTSC/525.

Sequential Color with Memory

(SECAM)
a. Greater Flicker Same with PAL/625
b. Patterning Effects The FM subcarrier causes patterning effects even on noncolored objects.
c. Lower monochrome Bandwidth Due to one of the two color sub-carriers being at 4.25MHz
(in the French Version), a lower bandwidth of monochrome
signal can be carried.

Sequential Color with Memory

(SECAM)
SECAM was developed in France. First
used in 1967. A 625-line vertical, 50-line
horizontal display.
Sometimes referred to by wags as
"Something Essentially Contrary to the
American Method" or SEcond Colour
Always Magenta!"