What’s the difference between NTSC and PAL?

What’s the difference between NTSC and PAL?
If you have been using a video system or have been looking at getting one, you may have come across the terms NTSC and PAL. But what’s the difference between NTSC and PAL?

NTSC is the video standard that is mostly used in North America and most parts of South America. NTSC stands for the National Television System Committee.

PAL is the video standard most commonly used in many European and Asian countries. PAL stands for Phase Alternating Line.

The main difference between NTSC and PAL is the frames per second transmission rate. NTSC transmits 30 frames per second with each frame having 525 scan lines. Whilst PAL transmits at 25 frames per second with each frame having 625 scan lines. The scan lines are to do with visual information, so more scan lines mean a better picture quality and resolution.

The second difference is the power frequency used in each. NTSC has a power frequency of 60 Hz whilst PAL has a power frequency of 50 Hz. These are the main points that answer the question of what's the difference between NTSC and PAL.

You may also come across the term SECAM. SECAM was made by the French and is based on PAL. It stands for Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire. SECAM is more commonly used in France, Russia, and parts of Africa.

If you are looking at getting a diver video monitoring system, please do get in touch with us, our sales team will be happy to help. You can contact them on +44 (0)1772 687775 or via email [email protected].