Nikon D7000 24p PAL and NTSC confusion. at DVinfo.net

Rainer Halbich · January 25th, 2012, 02:32 PM

As far as I know 24p is a NTSC standard. I have never seen a Pal camera with 24p until today.

In SA and the EU the power phase has a frequency of 50 hz. This is why 25p, 50i and 50p is the standard frame rates for Pal because it matches up with the power phase and prevents flickering.
In the us it is 60 Hz, this is why 30p, 60i and 60p is the standard for NTSC. The way I understand it, 24p is the minimal frame rate to maintain smooth motion in film, I do not know how they prevent flickering with a 60hz power phase and a 24 frame rate because they don't really match up.

Can someone please explain to me why the Nikon d7000 records 24p when set to Pal mode?
There are only two 25p options in Pal mode, 1280x720 and 940x424, but not 1920x1080.

Is 30p also a NTSC standard? I am just making sure.

John Wiley · January 26th, 2012, 05:33 PM

As far as I am aware, the PAL/NTSC selection on the D7000 is more related to playback on an external device than it is to acquisition frame rates. It simply makes the output video stream compatible with the external device of your choice.

With HD this is becoming much less of an issue because frame rates and colour space are now matching worldwide, so you can easily playback your 24p footage natively on a new TV purchased in Europe or Australia.

Is should also be noted that PAL and HD are not at all alike or interchangeable. 1080p is not within the PAL specifications, so any camera recording HD at any frame rate is not tehcnically a PAL camera (although it may have features which make it more compatible with PAL systems such as 25p).

Of course all of this does not solve your problem if you want to shoot 1080p25 with your D7000. My advice would be that if you are not syncing up multicam footage with any other sources, then you simply interpret the footage to 25p. This basically means your footage plays back at 25fps, 4% faster than real time, with no frame blending or interpolation at all performed. This is the same method used to play films (mastered at 24p) on PAL tv systems for decades. This won't work if you are trying to sync it up with content from another camera shot at 25p, as the sync will gradually drift. In this case, you are unfortunately out of luck and might need to lok at swithcing cameras.

Rainer Halbich · January 27th, 2012, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Wiley

With HD this is becoming much less of an issue because frame rates and colour space are now matching worldwide, so you can easily playback your 24p footage natively on a new TV purchased in Europe or Australia.

1080p is not within the PAL specifications, so any camera recording HD at any frame rate is not tehcnically a PAL camera (although it may have features which make it more compatible with PAL systems such as 25p).

I know that most TV will play NTSC and Pal, But the point is that it makes no sense to record 24p in a country with a 50 hz power phase because the footage will come out looking like it was shot in a dance club.

This is what Wikipedia says: In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second (typically, 23.976 frames/s when using equipment based on NTSC frame rates) frame rate with progressive scanning (not interlaced).

I do not know why you say that 1080p is not comparable with Pal, my PAL Canon xa 10 records perfect 1920x1080 @25p with crystal clear sharp frames.

Speeding the footage up by 4% is just not a good idea and I am not willing to convert 24p to 25p because then it basically becomes 25 interlaced images.

I am fine with the lower resolution, I just want to know why Nikon thinks that 24p is a suitable frame rate for Pal? 24P is THE WORST frame rate that exists because it can't really be used with anything other than cinema. If it was 30p it would have been OK because you can easily convert it to 25p without losing to much quality.

Nikon is clearly a DSLR manufacturer, when it comes to video they are stupid.

January 25th, 2012, 02:32 PM	#1
Rainer Halbich Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: South Africa Posts: 41	Nikon D7000 24p PAL and NTSC confusion. As far as I know 24p is a NTSC standard. I have never seen a Pal camera with 24p until today. In SA and the EU the power phase has a frequency of 50 hz. This is why 25p, 50i and 50p is the standard frame rates for Pal because it matches up with the power phase and prevents flickering. In the us it is 60 Hz, this is why 30p, 60i and 60p is the standard for NTSC. The way I understand it, 24p is the minimal frame rate to maintain smooth motion in film, I do not know how they prevent flickering with a 60hz power phase and a 24 frame rate because they don't really match up. Can someone please explain to me why the Nikon d7000 records 24p when set to Pal mode? There are only two 25p options in Pal mode, 1280x720 and 940x424, but not 1920x1080. Is 30p also a NTSC standard? I am just making sure.

January 26th, 2012, 05:33 PM	#2
John Wiley Trustee Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Byron Bay, Australia Posts: 1,155	Re: Nikon D7000 24p PAL and NTSC confusion. As far as I am aware, the PAL/NTSC selection on the D7000 is more related to playback on an external device than it is to acquisition frame rates. It simply makes the output video stream compatible with the external device of your choice. With HD this is becoming much less of an issue because frame rates and colour space are now matching worldwide, so you can easily playback your 24p footage natively on a new TV purchased in Europe or Australia. Is should also be noted that PAL and HD are not at all alike or interchangeable. 1080p is not within the PAL specifications, so any camera recording HD at any frame rate is not tehcnically a PAL camera (although it may have features which make it more compatible with PAL systems such as 25p). Of course all of this does not solve your problem if you want to shoot 1080p25 with your D7000. My advice would be that if you are not syncing up multicam footage with any other sources, then you simply interpret the footage to 25p. This basically means your footage plays back at 25fps, 4% faster than real time, with no frame blending or interpolation at all performed. This is the same method used to play films (mastered at 24p) on PAL tv systems for decades. This won't work if you are trying to sync it up with content from another camera shot at 25p, as the sync will gradually drift. In this case, you are unfortunately out of luck and might need to lok at swithcing cameras.