Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies at DVinfo.net

Carlo Botteghi · February 7th, 2018, 01:25 PM

Hi All!
I'm back here after many years... forgive my english...
I was looking for a Drone to buy and then I remembered that, buying a Panasonic Video Camera in New York few years ago, I had to buy the PAL version of it.
Therefore I asked B&H Online Help and they answered me that I need a Camera standard that fits PAL requirements.
therefore could anybody describe why a Digital Video recording is different in US respect the one in Italy, my country of residence?
Thanks to all!

Brian Drysdale · February 8th, 2018, 05:47 AM

The simple reason goes to the frequency of national power supplies. In Europe it's 50 Hz while in US it's 60 Hz, when the US went for NTSC, that added a complication in how it encoded colour, so resulting in the weird 29.97fps. The analog video frame rates carried over into digital media.

Europe has a wonderfully simple 25fps or 50fps, without any complications.

Adding higher frame rates for games adds another layer.

Andrew Smith · February 8th, 2018, 06:57 AM

We all know that PAL is superior. :-)

Andrew

Tim Lewis · February 8th, 2018, 05:17 PM

National Television Standards COMMITTEE.

If that doesn't scare you...

Seth Bloombaum · February 8th, 2018, 09:51 PM

The NTSC video standard. When they weren’t pulling out their hair, affectionately known by engineers over here as:
“NTSC - Never the same color twice!”

We have some odd legacies of those standards, but the digital revolution has sure improved how things look on the average television!

Cary Knoop · February 8th, 2018, 10:47 PM

In the HD and above world there is no such thing as a PAL and NTSC standard.
Of course different frame rates remain but apart from the regional preference for different frame rates there are no differences anymore.
A good camera should handle all common frame rates.

Christopher Young · February 9th, 2018, 12:36 AM

Brings back memories. Back in the 60s-70s we used to say

NTSC = Never Twice the Same Color

PAL = Pay for Added Luxury

and the old French standard SECAM = Specifically European Contrary to the American Method

The reason the US ended up with 29.97 for color as opposed to 30 fps was that when color was introduced into 60Hz countries the 3.58Hz color sub-carrier caused a frequency beat oscillation due to circuit design limitations at the time. Bit of a mouthful but more info here re the 29.79 question.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC

"Due to limitations of frequency divider circuits at the time the color standard was promulgated, the color subcarrier frequency was constructed as composite frequency assembled from small integers, in this case 5×7×9/(8×11) MHz.[11] The horizontal line rate was reduced to approximately 15,734 lines per second (3.579545×2/455 MHz = 9/572 MHz) from 15,750 lines per second, and the frame rate was reduced to 30/1.001 ≈ 29.970 frames per second (the horizontal line rate divided by 525 lines/frame) from 30 frames per second."

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

February 7th, 2018, 01:25 PM	#1
Carlo Botteghi Tourist Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Milano, Italy Posts: 1	Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies Hi All! I'm back here after many years... forgive my english... I was looking for a Drone to buy and then I remembered that, buying a Panasonic Video Camera in New York few years ago, I had to buy the PAL version of it. Therefore I asked B&H Online Help and they answered me that I need a Camera standard that fits PAL requirements. therefore could anybody describe why a Digital Video recording is different in US respect the one in Italy, my country of residence? Thanks to all!

February 8th, 2018, 05:47 AM	#2
Brian Drysdale Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Belfast, UK Posts: 6,152	Re: Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies The simple reason goes to the frequency of national power supplies. In Europe it's 50 Hz while in US it's 60 Hz, when the US went for NTSC, that added a complication in how it encoded colour, so resulting in the weird 29.97fps. The analog video frame rates carried over into digital media. Europe has a wonderfully simple 25fps or 50fps, without any complications. Adding higher frame rates for games adds another layer. The History of Frame Rate for Film - YouTube

February 8th, 2018, 06:57 AM	#3
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Re: Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies We all know that PAL is superior. :-) Andrew

February 8th, 2018, 05:17 PM	#4
Tim Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Perth, Western Australia. Posts: 591	Re: Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies National Television Standards COMMITTEE. If that doesn't scare you... __________________ Cheers Tim

February 8th, 2018, 09:51 PM	#5
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies The NTSC video standard. When they weren’t pulling out their hair, affectionately known by engineers over here as: “NTSC - Never the same color twice!” We have some odd legacies of those standards, but the digital revolution has sure improved how things look on the average television! __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

February 8th, 2018, 10:47 PM	#6
Cary Knoop Major Player Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Newark, CA Posts: 324	Re: Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies In the HD and above world there is no such thing as a PAL and NTSC standard. Of course different frame rates remain but apart from the regional preference for different frame rates there are no differences anymore. A good camera should handle all common frame rates.

February 9th, 2018, 12:36 AM	#7
Christopher Young Trustee Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 1,567	Re: Digital Video Standards: Euro/US differencies Brings back memories. Back in the 60s-70s we used to say NTSC = Never Twice the Same Color PAL = Pay for Added Luxury and the old French standard SECAM = Specifically European Contrary to the American Method The reason the US ended up with 29.97 for color as opposed to 30 fps was that when color was introduced into 60Hz countries the 3.58Hz color sub-carrier caused a frequency beat oscillation due to circuit design limitations at the time. Bit of a mouthful but more info here re the 29.79 question. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTSC "Due to limitations of frequency divider circuits at the time the color standard was promulgated, the color subcarrier frequency was constructed as composite frequency assembled from small integers, in this case 5×7×9/(8×11) MHz.[11] The horizontal line rate was reduced to approximately 15,734 lines per second (3.579545×2/455 MHz = 9/572 MHz) from 15,750 lines per second, and the frame rate was reduced to 30/1.001 ≈ 29.970 frames per second (the horizontal line rate divided by 525 lines/frame) from 30 frames per second." Chris Young CYV Productions Sydney