| PAL Standard | | | | United Kingdom cannot be viewed in the United |
| PAL technology is a colour encoding system used in | | | | States. The VCR has no capability to convert a PAL |
| broadcast television systems in a larger section of | | | | video tape to NTSC for viewing. Multi-system VCRs |
| the world. The other common standards are NTSC | | | | can play video tapes of all standards but it cannot |
| and SECAM. PAL is an analogue broadcasting system | | | | convert the standard to make the video standard |
| and is a standard which uses in all 625 alternating lines. | | | | compatible with the existing standard of a television. |
| It is used on 50Hz power frequency cycle and | | | | Solution to this problem is to have a VCR with the |
| operated in those countries where such frequency is | | | | capability of converting the output signal into a |
| the standard specification of its electrical power. | | | | compatible standard for viewing it on a television. |
| PAL was introduced as a standard in the year 1967 | | | | This multi-system VCR would have to have a built-in |
| and has eight different types - PAL B, PAL G, PAL H, | | | | converter for the purpose. |
| PAL D, PAL I, PAL K, PAL K, PAL N and PAL M. | | | | A basic multi-system VCR does not have such a |
| These offshoots of PAL have different specifications. | | | | converter built in and a separate stand-alone |
| PAL is used in China, India, Indonesia, Israel, Laos, | | | | converter is required to be used, in between the |
| Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and | | | | VCR and the television or otherwise you would need |
| United Kingdom, some European countries, some | | | | a multi-system TV to view the tape. A multi-system |
| countries in South America and also in Africa. | | | | TV also has a converter built in, and any VHS tape |
| Within Europe, France, along-with some of its | | | | can be played in any basic multi-system VCR for |
| neighbours, use SECAM technology, where-as, rest | | | | viewing. Suppose you need to view a PAL video tape |
| of the Europe uses the PAL standard. It is the | | | | on a NTSC television. You shall not be able to view |
| dominant standard in the world, with the United | | | | the tape, unless your VCR is a multi-system one and |
| States and Japan using the NTSC standard. PAL | | | | has an inbuilt converter. The PAL tape is read by the |
| delivers 625 lines at 50 half frame per second and | | | | VCR and converted to NTSC signals when the |
| works on 50Hz power cycle. | | | | output of the VCR is being applied to the TV. If your |
| NTSC | | | | multi-system VCR does not have a converter, you |
| NTSC is the technology which sets the standard in | | | | must have a multi-system television in-order that you |
| television and video standard in the United States and | | | | may view the tape. The other alternative would be |
| provides a composite video signal having a refresh | | | | to hook up an external converter in between your |
| rate of about 60 half-frames per second, interlaced. | | | | multi-system VCR and your NTSC television, when |
| A frame consists of a packet of data and in this | | | | you can view that video tape. |
| case it would be a packet of composite video signals | | | | In converting PAL into NTSC, the point to remember |
| that a frame would contain. NTSC contains 525 lines | | | | is that NTSC video standard has a resolution of |
| and can contain 16 million colours. A composite video | | | | 720x480 and a frame rate of 30 frames per second, |
| would mean a video signal in which all the colours are | | | | while PAL has a resolution of 720x576 with a frame |
| present, such as, red, blue, and green signals. It may | | | | rate of 25 frames per second. Therefore, from the |
| also consist of audio signals at times. These are | | | | above specifications, it can easily be determined that |
| mixed together to form the composite video signal. | | | | PAL has a better picture quality than NTSC, while |
| NTSC is essentially an analogue system, developed in | | | | NTSC has a better motion picture display because of |
| the United States and in use in Canada, Japan, South | | | | its higher refresh rate. |
| Korea, the Philippines, the United States, and some | | | | Tenlab offers Tenlab converters which is capable of |
| other countries, mostly in the Americas. The | | | | converting any of the video standards into the other. |
| refreshing rate of NTSC standard is 60Hz, and | | | | These are stand alone video broadcast standard |
| consists of 525 lines per frame. Out of these 525 | | | | converters, supporting PAL, SECAM and NTSC. The |
| lines, 485 carry the video information, with the rest | | | | converter equipment connects to the VCR output |
| are sync pulses, which are not visible. The bank lines | | | | with the converter output going into the television's |
| have been deliberately put there to give time to the | | | | signal input. Therefore, if you are playing a PAL video |
| electronic gun in a television to reposition itself. | | | | tape/disc on your multi-system VCR/DVD, the |
| SECAM | | | | output of the converter is available as a NTSC |
| SECAM is an analogue colour television system, first | | | | standard, compatible with the standard of your |
| used in France, as a video standard, at the early part | | | | television. |
| of 1960. It is historically the first European colour | | | | Some of the Tenlab models stabilise the picture |
| television standard. SECAM uses the same bandwidth | | | | processing, using a bult-in time corrector and has a |
| as PAL but transmits colour sequentially. It runs on | | | | video enhancer to provide you with a crisp and |
| 625 lines per frame and uses the same frame rate as | | | | clearer picture quality. Tenlab converters are also |
| PAL, 25 frames per second. SECAM is used in France | | | | used by number of corporations. The converters are |
| and former French colonies. It is also used in the | | | | used exclusively for their professional applications |
| former communist countries in Europe. Due to the | | | | such as worldwide satellite transmissions, MTV Latin |
| same characteristics that SECAM has with PAL, | | | | America and Gulfstream Aerospace for their |
| especially as far as resolution and frame-rate are | | | | on-board multi-system entertainment systems. |
| concerned, DVDs, VCDs, and SuperVHS use PAL | | | | Tenlab was established in the year 1988 with a |
| internally, but before the signal is available at the | | | | mission to create products solving incompatibility |
| output, the colour encoding is changed to SECAM to | | | | between the different standards existing in video |
| be displayed on a SECAM TV. | | | | systems around the world. The company introduced |
| Due to the incompatibility in the video standards, | | | | the first NTSC VCR capable converter, playing other |
| video tapes from one region cannot be viewed in the | | | | standard video tapes. Since then Tenlab has gone on |
| television of another country, which has a different | | | | to introducing new models and offered upgrading the |
| standard. This means, that a video tape from the | | | | older ones to the new standards. |