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I'm confused about TV formats

Confused? Yeah it sure can be.  All countries will accept either PAL or NTSC as the TV format.  In most countries modern equipment will usually play the other format (an exception is USA who almost always only play NTSC, yet the same brand of DVD player in Canada will usually play both!). If you live in France the only official format is SECAM, we do not offer the film in SECAM at this time, so if you are in France please check if your DVD player will play PAL or NTSC.     TV Video Formats of Countries (source: http://www.tvtower.com/countries_tv_formats.html)   Abu Dhabi Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Antigua Antilles (Netherlands) Argentina Aruba Ascension Island Australia Austria Azores Azerbaijan PAL PAL / SECAM PAL PAL NTSC SECAM / PAL PAL NTSC NTSC PAL NTSC PAL PAL PAL PAL SECAM Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Barbuda Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bolivia Bosnia Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi NTSC PAL PAL NTSC NTSC SECAM PAL NTSC SECAM NTSC NTSC PAL PAL PAL M NTSC PAL SECAM SECAM NTSC SECAM Cambodia  Cameroon Canada Canary Islands  Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China, Peoples Republic Christmas Island Columbia Congo, Peoples Republic Cook Island Corsica Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Cyprus, Turkish Czech Republic SECAM PAL NTSC PAL  PAL PAL / NTSC SECAM SECAM NTSC PAL PAL NTSC SECAM PAL SECAM NTSC PAL NTSC NTSC PAL PAL SECAM / PAL Denmark Diego Garcia Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Dubai PAL NTSC SECAM NTSC NTSC PAL Easter Island Ecuador Egypt El Salvador England (U.K.) Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia PAL NTSC SECAM / PAL NTSC PAL SECAM PAL PAL PAL Falkland Islands Faro Islands Fiji Finland France PAL PAL PAL PAL SECAM Gabon Galapagos Island Gambia Gaza & West Bank Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe  Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana, French Guyana Republic SECAM NTSC PAL PAL SECAM PAL PAL PAL SECAM / PAL NTSC / PAL NTSC SECAM  NTSC NTSC PAL PAL SECAM NTSC Haiti Holland Honduras Hong Kong Hungary NTSC PAL NTSC PAL SECAM / PAL Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast PAL PAL PAL SECAM SECAM PAL PAL PAL SECAM Jamaica Japan Johnston Islands Jordan NTSC NTSC NTSC PAL Kampuchea Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, North Korea, South Kuwait Kyrgyzstan SECAM SECAM PAL SECAM NTSC PAL SECAM Laos Latvia Lebanon Leeward Islands Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg PAL PAL / SECAM PAL NTSC PAL PAL SECAM PAL PAL / SECAM PAL / SECAM  Macao Macedonia Madagascar Madeira Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Mariana Islands Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Midway Islands Monaco Montenegro Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar PAL PAL SECAM PAL PAL PAL PAL SECAM NTSC PAL NTSC SECAM SECAM SECAM NTSC NTSC NTSC SECAM / PAL PAL SECAM NTSC SECAM PAL NTSC Namibia Nepal Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norfolk Island Norway PAL PAL PAL SECAM PAL NTSC SECAM PAL PAL PAL Okinawa Oman NTSC PAL Pakistan Palau Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Polynesia Portugal Puerto Rico PAL NTSC NTSC PAL PAL NTSC NTSC SECAM / PAL SECAM PAL NTSC Qatar PAL Reunion Republic of Benin Romania Russia Rwanda SECAM SECAM SECAM / PAL SECAM SECAM Samoa Sardinia Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia, Republic Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre St. Vincent Sudan Surinam Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria NTSC PAL SECAM / PAL SECAM PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL PAL NTSC NTSC SECAM NTSC PAL NTSC PAL PAL PAL SECAM / PAL Tahiti Tajikistan Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad & Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks & Caicos Islands SECAM SECAM NTSC PAL PAL SECAM PAL NTSC SECAM PAL SECAM NTSC Ukraine Uganda United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay United States of America Uzbekistan SECAM PAL PAL PAL PAL NTSC SECAM Vanuatu Vatican Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands PAL PAL NTSC NTSC/SECAM NTSC Wallis Island SECAM Yemen Yugoslavia PAL PAL Zaire Zambia Zanzibar Zimbabwe SECAM PAL PAL PAL   NTSC The first color TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) Standard.  NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan. NTSC has 525 lines/frame. SYSTEM NTSC M Lines/Field 525/60 Horizontal Frequency 15.734 kHz Vertical Frequency 60 Hz Color Subcarrier Frequency 3.579545 MHz Video Bandwidth 4.2 MHz Sound Carrier 4.5 MHz   PAL The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most  countries except for France. The PAL standard uses a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC, which allows for better picture quality. PAL uses 625 lines/frame. SYSTEM PAL B, G, H PAL I PAL D PAL N PAL M Line/Field 625/50 625/50 625/50 625/50 525/60 Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz 15.750 kHz Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 50 Hz 60 Hz Color Sub- Carrier Frequency 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 4.433618 MHz 3.582056 MHz 3.575611 MHz Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 4.2 MHz 4.2 MHz Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.0 MHz 6.5 MHz 4.5 MHz 4.5 MHz   SECAM The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Color with Memory) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the color information sequentially. SECAM runs at 625 lines/frame. SYSTEM SECAM B, G, H SECAM D, K, K1, L Line/Field 625/50 625/50 Horizontal Frequency 15.625 kHz 15.625 kHz Vertical Frequency 50 Hz 50 Hz Video Bandwidth 5.0 MHz 6.0 MHz Sound Carrier 5.5 MHz 6.5 MHz

 

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