Section 106. About Different TV Standards

106. About Different TV Standards

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

4 About Video Capture

14 Add Media with the Adobe Media Downloader

SEE ALSO

18 About Troubleshooting Add Media

There are three primary TV standards in the world: PAL, NTSC, and SECAM. Premiere Elements uses only the PAL or NTSC standard when burning a DVD. Most DVD players can play only one of the standards (PAL or NTSCthe Premiere Elements DVD format does not directly support SECAM because SECAM devices play PAL formats just fine). Additionally, there is the confusion surrounding region specifications. Here we briefly describe the formats and how they affect you and your video editing.

At their heart, DVDs are merely carriers of data files containing compressed audio-visual information. This information can be placed on DVD in one of two resolutions: 720x576 pixels (PAL DVDs) or 720x480 pixels (NTSC DVDs) with various frame rates (24, 25, and 30 frames per second are common). The DVD player itself takes this data file and formats it appropriately for display in either PAL or NTSC.

Here are the three primary television standards used throughout the world:

• PAL (Phase Alternate Line) The television broadcast standard throughout Europe (except in France, where SECAM is the standard). This standard broadcasts 625 lines of resolution, nearly 20% more than the U.S. NTSC standard of 525 lines.

• NTSC (National Television Systems Committee) There was a time when TV was just black and white. Eventually, color TV took over, and the Federal Communications Commission established the NTSC standard of 525 lines of resolution per second for broadcasts in the United States. The NTSC standard combines blue, red, and green signals with an FM frequency for audio.

• SECAM (Sequential Couleur avec Mémoire) The television broadcast standard in France, the Middle East, and most of Eastern Europe, SECAM broadcasts 819 lines of resolution per second.

The DVD world is divided into six regions. To keep it simple, this means that DVD players and DVDs are labeled for operation only within a specific geographical region in the world. For example, the United States is in region 1; all DVD players sold in the United States are made to region 1 specifications. As a result, region 1 players can play only region 1 discs. That's rightthe DVDs themselves are encoded for a specific region. On the back of each DVD package, you will a find a region number (1 thru 6).

NOTE

The DVDs you create with Premiere Elements are region free; you can play them in any of the six regions. Just be careful of the standard you use (PAL or NTSC). NTSC-formatted DVDs play on all NTSC and most PAL DVD players; but PAL-formatted DVDs will not play on NTSC DVD players.

WEB RESOURCES

www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

www.microcinema.com/index/ntsc

Visit either of these sites to learn more about TV standards and DVD regions.