The Difference Between NTSC & PAL Formats
NTSC (National Television System Committee), and PAL (Phase Alternate Line) are different types of television signals. They are incompatible with one another, meaning that televisions that are capable of displaying only PAL images will encounter difficulties when attempting to display NTSC images, and vice versa.
You may have difficulties playing a NTSC disk in a PAL player if the disc is not compatible with the disk player. Some players will play both formats with no difficulties.
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Identification
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Each country will use just one format as a standard, meaning that players and disks that you buy from reputable stores within your own country will be compatible with each other. For this reason, there is no need to worry about whether they are compatible unless you are importing players or disks of any type from another country, in which case you will need to check that the formats on both are the same.
Players and disks are in NTSC format if they are purchased in Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S.A, whereas in Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, New Guinea, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, South W. Africa, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Yugoslavia and Zambia, the PAL format is used (diffen.com).
You can usually find information as to whether a disk is PAL or NTSC on the back of the disk's case. Information on which formats a disk player will play can be found in its manual.
Broadcast Differences
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PAL and NTSC formats broadcast a different amount of complete images onto the screen per second, the amount of which are dictated by the power supply each format uses. PAL is used in countries where there is a 50 hertz power supply with an alternating current. This means that the PAL format broadcasts 25 frames per second. NTSC is used in places with a 60 hertz alternating current supply, meaning that 30 frames per second are broadcast (MichaelDVD.com).
In summary, motion in an NTSC format appears smoother as more images are being broadcast in a second. A faster rate of images being broadcast prevents the broadcast from appearing stilted, as the transitions between them are less noticeable. PAL broadcasts tend to appear to flicker more, especially when something on screen is moving quickly, such as a football.
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Resolution Differences
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A picture on a television is made up of hundreds of scan lines. PAL and NTSC use different amounts of scan lines per frame. PAL uses 625 scan lines -- also known as 576i resolution, and NTSC reads 525 scan lines -- also known as 480i resolution (Absolute Playstation). Because of this, PAL broadcasts a better quality, clearer, higher resolution picture and can portray a greater range of colors that are truer to life (VideoInterchange.com).
NTSC was invented before color televisions, and uses a tint-controller to compensate for the lack of color depth. Some experts believe that the method NTSC broadcasts color in is inferior to that of the PAL format. NTSC is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Never the Same Color" (VideoInterchange.com).
Considerations
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Many disk drives in computers are capable of reading and playing both formats, but due to law and piracy prevention, will only be able to write disks in the standard format of the country it was purchased in.
Games consoles are affected by the differences between PAL and NTSC formats. Some consoles will play both formats, provided that the television is capable of displaying both of them. However, many current-generation games consoles are region-locked to prevent piracy and incompatibility issues (Absolute Playstation). Playing a disk in a games console or any player that is incompatible may lead to the disk not playing at all, although this should not damage the disk or the player.
If you do find a disk is incompatible, conversions between the two formats are possible. However, it is generally less problematic to keep the original formats as most broadcasts are optimized towards the standard format they use. Some companies offer kits to enable their customers to convert disks at home. If you are unsure on how to convert a disk, some companies also offer conversion as a service (VideoInterchange.com).
Misconceptions
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NTSC, PAL and other formats do not dictate region codes, although many different regions share different region codes. NTSC and PAL refer only to the format of the disk or player, not in which country they can be used.
Current generation consoles such as XBox360, PS3, and Wii that have been imported from another country do not refuse to play a disk due to a PAL to NTSC disk-drive incompatibility as commonly thought, but because the game disks themselves are region-locked (Team Xbox). This also applies to DVDs brought from one country to another, so be sure to take caution when bringing home DVDs or games home from a trip abroad.
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References
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