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World TV, VHS Video and DVD Formats: PAL, NTSC, SECAM |
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DVDs are produced in either NTSC or PAL format. Some are produced in dual format.
Only dual-standard DVD players will handle both formats. Most DVD players used nowadays are dual-standard, and will play both formats, providing a suitable
television set is used.
... however if you have a really old DVD player and/or TV set (older than 6 years or so) make sure your player and TV set are compatible with either PAL or NTSC standard. The information below might be useful to determine what your home DVD standard is, however in modern era it is very unlikely your DVD player may not be compatible with PAL or NTSC standard. | ||||||
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PAL stands for Phase Alternation by Line, and was adopted in 1967. It has 625 horizontal lines
making up the vertical resolution. 50 fields are displayed and interlaced per second, making for
a 25 frame per second system. An advantage of this system is a more stable and consistent
hue (tint). PAL-M is used only in Brazil. It has 525 lines, at 30 frames per second.
PAL is the most widely used standard for video and is used in the following countries:
United Kingdom, Europe (except France), Australia, New Zealand, and some countries of South
America.
PAL countries include: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina (PAL-N), Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Cameroon, Canary Islands, China, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Gibralter, Greece , Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, North Korea, Kuwait, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madeira, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay (PAL-N), Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Siera Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay (PAL-N), Yeman (the former Yeman Arab Republic was PAL, and the former People's Democratic Republic of Yeman was NTSC), Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
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NTSC stands for National Television System Committee, which devised the NTSC television broadcast
system in 1953. NTSC is also commonly used to refer to one type of television signal that can be
recorded on various tape formats such as VHS, 3/4" U-matic and Betacam.
| NTSC countries include: USA, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Burma, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Greenland, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Kitts, Saipan, Samoa, Surinam, Taiwan, Tobago, Trinidad, Venezuela, Virgin Islands.
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SECAM stands for Systeme Electronique Couleur Avec Memoire, which was adopted in 1967. It has
625 lines and 25 frames per second.
| SECAM Countries include: Albania, Benin, Bulgaria, Congo, former Czechosolvakia, Djibouti, Egypt, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Greece (also PAL), Guadeloupe, Haiti, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg (also PAL), Madagascar, Martinique, Mauritius, Monaco (also PAL), Mongolia, Morocco, New Caledonia, Niger, Reunion, Romania, Saudi Arabia (also PAL), Senegal, Syria, Tahiti, Togo, Tunisia, former USSR, Viet Nam, Zaire. The above was gathered from various older sources, so discrepencies in spelling or political changes are unintentional. Above information courtesy of Dance Vision, USA
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Region coding was imposed by film studios due to the staggered release of movies worldwide and
to protect exclusive markets, region coding was designed as a method of ensuring discs would
be playable only in certain geographical locations.
| Region 1: The US, US territories, Canada Region 2: Europe, Japan, Middle East, Egypt, South Africa, Greenland Region 3: Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong Region 4: Mexico, South America, Central America, Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean Region 5: Russia (former USSR), Eastern Europe, India, most of Africa, North Korea, Mongolia Region 6: China Our DVDs are region free except where otherwise stated. |