MAJOR ANALOG TV STANDARDS

In the primary times of TV, a number of standards originated about that governs how the information is to be
transmitted from the network studio, to the homes of the viewers. Three eventually came out; NTSC-American National
Television System Committee, PAL-Phase Alternation by Line, and SECAM-Sequential Color with Memory.

National Television System Committee

NTSC is developed in the United States of America. It is compatible with the 525 lines, 60 field per second, 2:1
interlaced monochrome system. To transmit color information, NTSC use I and Q signals derived as follows:
I=Vcos33°-Usin33° & Q=Vsin33°+Ucos33°
where,
U=0.492(B-Y) & V=0.877(R-Y)

Note:(B-Y) & (R-Y) are the color signals that contain the real color information.

Further, U & V are weighted color signals and I & Q are then gained from U & V.

I & Q are used to modulate a color sub-carrier of frequency 3.58 Mhz using two balanced modulators. Variants
of NTSC are NTSC 4.43 (VCRs), NTSC J (Japan) & NTSC M (same as J but includes blanking pulses).

Phase Alternation by Line

PAL is adopted by Europe. It is compatible with Europe’s 625 line, 50 fields per second, 2:1 interlaced monochrome
standard. It is a modification of NTSC to overcome high order of phase and amplitude integrity requirements to avoid color
distortion. It implements this by line-by-line reversal of the phase of one of the color components.

U & V signals are used in transmission and the modulation is phase quadrature balanced modulation. The phase
of the V is reversed on every other line so any color sub-carrier phase errors are cancelled. Hereafter, hue errors are
corrected by phase alternation. The color sub-carrier frequencies are different for different versions of PAL:

PAL B, D, G, H, I, N (color sub-carrier frequency = 4.43 MHz), PAL M (3.57 MHz) & PAL Nc (3.58 MHz).

Sequential Color with Memory

SECAM is developed in France 625-line system, 50 fields per second, 2:1 interlaced system. Instead of transmitting
R & B information together, they are sent one by one and information about the color from the preceding line is used. It
transmits Db signal (blue color information) on one line and Dr signal (red color information) on the next line while Y is
transmitted on each line.

Here, Db=1.505(B’-Y) & Dr=-1.902(R’-Y)

The color sub-carrier frequencies for Blue & Red signals are 4.25 MHz and 4.4 MHz respectively and FM is used as
color modulation. Variants of SECAM are SECAM B, G, D, K, K1, & L. (B & G use a video bandwidth of 5 MHz while others
use a video bandwidth of 6MHz.
List of countries using different TV standards:

PAL NTSC SECAM

Afghanistan Canada Benin
Algeria Chile Burkina Faso
Argentina (N) Costa Rica Burundi
Austria Cuba Central African Republic
Australia Dominican Republic Chad
Bangladesh Ecuador Comoros
Belgium Japan Republic of Congo
Brazil (M) Mexico Gabon
China Nicaragua Guinea
Denmark Panama Ivory Coast
Finland Peru Kazakhstan
Germany Philippines Madagascar
Hong Kong Puerto Rico Mali
Iceland South Korea Mauritania
India Taiwan Moldova
Indonesia U.S. Niger
Iraq Russia
Ireland Senegal
Israel Syria
Italy Tajikistan
Jordan Togo
Kenya Turkmenistan
Kuwait
Liberia
Malaysia
Netherlands
Nigeria
Norway
New Guinea
Pakistan
Singapore
South Africa
South W. Africa
Sudan
Sweden
Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey
Uganda
United Kingdom
United Arab Emirates
Yugoslavia
Zambia
 World Map showing countries using different TV standard

Difference of NTSC, PAL and SECAM

There are a number of differences between NTSC, PAL, and SECAM. Let’s start off with the refresh rates. NTSC
uses a refresh rate of 60Hz while PAL and SECAM both use a refresh rate of 50Hz. The refresh rate is the number of
times the image on the screen changes to simulate the illusion of motion. NTSC thus has more fluid motion because of
the 10 more frames per second.

Consequently, NTSC only uses 525 with only 486 of them visible. The rest are used as control mechanisms for
synchronization and vertical retrace. PAL and SECAM both have a higher resolution by using 100 more lines per frame.
Out of the 625 lines of PAL and SECAM, 576 are visible and the rest are used for control as well.

The biggest drawback of NTSC is its inability to correct the colors onscreen automatically. Thus, it needs a tint
control that a user needs to adjust manually. Seeing the problem, the makers of PAL and SECAM used phase reversal in
order to automatically correct the color and eliminate the need for a tint control.

It is not only PAL and SECAM that has similarities because PAL simply tried to improve on NTSC while SECAM
changed some of the approaches used by NTSC; one of these is the use of QAM. QAM stands for Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation and it is the technique that is used both by NTSC and PAL in modulating the chrominance. SECAM didn’t use
QAM, opting instead to use Frequency Modulation or FM. This gives SECAM superior signal over longer distances but
increased crosstalk between the luminance and chrominance.

Another area where SECAM is different from both PAL and NTSC is in the transmission of blue and red. With NTSC
and PAL, both the blue and red are broadcast concurrently. With SECAM, they are sent alternately. The alternate manner
of sending colors in SECAM eliminates the color artifacts that are present in NTSC and PAL but halves the color resolution.
A comparison of various TV Systems which are used for broadcast television in different
countries:

Television Standards and color coding

Standard vertical vertical frequency/ video audio color
scan refresh rate band- carrier subcarrier
(converter field) lines width frequency
horizontal frequency

NTSC M 525 59.94 Hz/59.94 4.2 4.5 MHz 3.57954545

fields/s MHz MHz

15734 Hz

(FCC) M 525 60 Hz/60 fields/s 4.2 4.5 MHz -

b&w MHz
15750 Hz
PAL B 625 50 Hz/50 fields/s 5.0 5.5 MHz 4.43361875
PAL G MHz MHz
PAL H 15625 Hz

PAL D 625 50 Hz/50 fields/s 6.0 6.5 MHz 4.43361875

PAL K MHz MHz
15625 Hz

PAL I 625 50 Hz/50 fields/s 5.5 6.0 MHz 4.43361875

MHz MHz
15625 Hz

PAL M 525 59.94 Hz/59.94 4.2 4.5 MHz 3.575611 MHz

fields/s MHz

15734 Hz

PAL N* 625 50 Hz/50 fields/s 4.2 4.5 MHz 3.582056 MHz

MHz
15625 Hz

SECAM B 625 50 Hz/50 fields/s 5.0 5.5 MHz 4.406250 MHz/

SECAM G MHz 4.250 MHz
SECAM H 15625 Hz

SECAM D 625 50 Hz/50 fields/s 6.0 6.5 MHz 4.406250 MHz/

SECAM K MHz 4.250 MHz
SECAM K1 15625 Hz
SECAM L

Advantages of NTSC:
1.Higher frame rate – reduces visible flicker
2.Less inherent picture noise – better S/N ratio
3.Simpler circuits than PAL & SECAM
4.Easy studio mixing
5.Less costly than PAL
Disadvantages of NTSC:
1.Small luminance signal bandwidth (3.85 MHz) – increased likelihood of interference
2.Susceptible to hue fluctuations
3. Lower gamma ratio (2.2 as opposed to 2.8 in PAL systems)
4.Costlier than SECAM Lower number of scan lines – means reduced quality on large TV screens
Advantages of PAL:
1.Greater number of scan lines – more picture detail.
2.Wider luminance signal bandwidth (4.43 MHz in most PAL variants)
3.Stable hues – due to error correction by phase alternation
4.Higher gamma ratio (2:8) – hence, higher level of contrast than NTSC
5.Easy studio mixing compared to SECAM
Disadvantages of PAL:
1.Costliest 1receivers’ due to complex circuits for electronic switching
2.Lower frame rate – hence, more flicker
3.Lower S/N ratio than NTSC
4.Variable color saturation – cancelling out phase differences by alternation holds hue stable but at the same time, it can
change (reduce) color saturation.
Advantages of SECAM:
1.Use of FM makes system free of phase errors.
2.No crosstalk between color signals since they do not exist on the same line.
3.Hue control not needed. (needed in NTSC but not needed in PAL & SECAM)
4.Saturation control not needed (needed in both NTSC & PAL)
5.Lower cost than both NTSC & PAL Higher number of scan lines than NTSC
Disadvantages of SECAM:
1.Half color information is lost on each line since only one-color signal is transmitted on each line.
2.Not suitable for studio use – studios use PAL and then transcode to SECAM for SECAM markets.
3.Incompatibility between different versions of SECAM (due to political influence)