TV Formats

Video Broadcast Standard

The two dominant color and resolution standards in television are NTSC and PAL.

NTSC, created by the National Television Systems Committee, is used in North America and Japan. The standard frame rate is 30 frames per second (FPS) to produce 1 frame for every 2 cycles of 60 cycle electrical input. Dropping it slightly to 29.97 reduces the sync lines in cathode ray tubes.

PAL, Phase Alternating Line, is the TV standard that was developed for Europe from the NTSC standard and adjusted for 50 cycle electrical input to 25 frames per second.