Most countries of the world use TV Standards that are incompatible with other countries. For example, a video recording made in the Germany could not be played back on a American standard VCR or shown on the American TV. You can read more about this topic and its solutions on our FAQs page. There are three main world standards and the rest are minor branches of these main systems. The systems are NTSC, PAL, SECAM. The charts below give a description of each standard and the technical variations within them.
 

NTSC:
Which is sometimes misspelled as NSTC. The first color TV broadcast system was implemented in the United States in 1953. This was based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) standard. NTSC is used by many countries on the American continent as well as many Asian countries including Japan. NTSC runs on 525 lines/frame.

PAL:
The PAL (Phase Alternating Line) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in most European countries except for France. The PAL standard utilizes a wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality. PAL runs on 625 lines/frame.

SECAM:
The SECAM (Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Color with Memory) standard was introduced in the early 1960's and implemented in France. SECAM uses the same bandwidth as PAL but transmits the color information sequentially. SECAM runs on 625 lines/frame and is mainly used in France for broadcasting. DVDs in France are in PAL format. VHS tapes after 2002 are also PAL format.

We sell PAL/NTSC/SECAM Multi System TVs, Camcorders, VCRs and Region Free DVD Players on our website

 

World Broadcast Standards and Video Chart COUNTRY VHF UHF DVD REGION AFGHANISTAN PAL/SECAM B    5 ALBANIA PAL B PAL G  2 ALGERIA PAL B PAL G  5 ANGOLA PAL I    5 ARGENTINA PAL N PAL N  4 AUSTRALIA PAL B PAL G  4 AUSTRIA PAL B PAL G  2 AZORES PAL B     BAHAMAS NTSC M    4 BAHRAIN PAL B PAL G  2 BANGLADESH PAL B    5 BARBADOS NTSC M    4 BELGIUM PAL B PAL H  2 BERMUDA NTSC M     BOLIVIA NTSC M NTSC M  4 BOTSWANA PAL I    5 BRAZIL PAL M PAL M  4 BRUNEI PAL B PAL B   BULGARIA SECAM D SECAM K  2 BURKINA FASO SECAM K1    5 BURMA NTSC M     BURUNDI SECAM K1    5 CAMBODIA NTSC M    3 CAMEROON PAL B PAL G  5 CANADA NTSC M NTSC M  1 CANARY ISLANDS PAL B    2 CHAD SECAM K1    5 CHILE NTSC M NTSC M  4 CHINA PAL D    6 COLOMBIA NTSC M NTSC M  4 COSTA RICA NTSC M NTSC M  4 CROATIA PAL B PAL G  2 CUBA NTSC M NTSC M  4 CYPRUS PAL B< PAL G   CZECH REPUBLIC PAL D PAL K  2 DAHOMEY SECAM K1     DENMARK PAL B PAL G  2 DJIBOUTI SECAM B SECAM G  5 DOMINICAN REP NTSC M NTSC M  4 ECUADOR NTSC M NTSC M  4 EGYPT SECAM B/PAL B SECAM G/PAL G  2 EL SALVADOR NTSC M NTSC M  4 EQUAT. GUINEA PAL B    5 ESTONIA PAL B (was SECAM) PAL D  5 ETHIOPIA PAL B PAL G  5 FIJI PAL B     FINLAND PAL B PAL G  2 FRANCE SECAM L SECAM L  2 FRENCH POLYNESIA SECAM K1     GABON SECAM K1    5  GAMBIA PAL I    5 GERMANY PAL B PAL G  2 GHANA PAL B PAL G  5 GIBRALTAR PAL B PAL H  2 GREECE PAL B (was SECAM) PAL G  2 GREENLAND NTSC/PAL B    2 GUADELOUPE SECAM K1     GUAM NTSC M    1 GUATEMALA NTSC M NTSC M  4 GUINEA PAL K    5 GUYANA (FRENCH) SECAM K1    4 HONDURAS NTSC M NTSC M  4 HONG KONG   PAL I  3 HUNGARY SECAM D/PAL SECAM K/PAL  2 ICELAND PAL B PAL G  2 INDIA PAL B    5 INDONESIA PAL B PAL G  3 IRAN SECAM B SECAM G  2 IRAQ SECAM B    2 IRELAND PAL I PAL I  2 ISRAEL PAL B PAL G  2 ITALY PAL B PAL G  2 IVORY COAST SECAM K1    5 JAMAICA NTSC M    4 JAPAN NTSC M NTSC M  2 JORDAN PAL B PAL G  2 KENYA PAL B PAL G  5 KOREA NORTH PAL    5 KOREA SOUTH NTSC M NTSC M  3 KUWAIT PAL B    2 LATVIA PAL D (was SECAM) PAL K  5 LEBANON SECAM B SECAM G  2 LIBERIA PAL B PAL H  5 LIBYA SECAM B SECAM G  5 LITHUANIA PAL D (was SECAM) PAL K  5 LUXEMBOURG PAL B/SECAM L PAL G/SEC L  2 MADAGASCAR SECAM K1    5 MADEIRA PAL B     MALAGASY SECAM K1     MALAWI PAL B PAL G  5 MALAYSIA PAL B    3 MALI SECAM K1    5 MALTA PAL B PAL H  2 MARTINIQUE SECAM K1     MAURITANIA SECAM B    5 MAURITIUS SECAM B    5 MEXICO NTSC M NTSC M  4 MONACO SECAM L    2 MONGOLIA SECAM D    5 MOROCCO SECAM B    5 MOZAMBIQUE PAL B    5 NAMIBIA PAL I    5 NEPAL PAL B     NETHERLANDS PAL B PAL G  2 NETH. ANTILLES NTSC M NTSC M   NEW CALEDONIA SECAM K1     NEW GUINEA PAL B PAL G  4 NEW ZEALAND PAL B PAL G  4 NICARAGUA NTSC M NTSC M  4 NIGER SECAM K1    5 NIGERIA PAL B PAL G  5 NORWAY PAL B PAL G  2 OMAN PAL B PAL G  2 PAKISTAN PAL B    5 PANAMA NTSC M NTSC M  4 PARAGUAY NTSC M NTSC M  4 PERU NTSC M NTSC M  4 PHILIPPINES NTSC M NTSC M  3 POLAND PAL D PAL K  2 PORTUGAL PAL B PAL G  2 PUERTO RICO NTSC M NTSC M  1 QATAR PAL B    2 REUNION SECAM K1     RUMANIA PAL D PAL K  2 RUSSIA SECAM D SECAM K  5 RWANDA SECAM K1    5 SABAH/SAWARA PAL B     ST. KITTS NTSC M NTSC M   SAMOA (US) NTSC M    1 SAUDI ARABIA SECAM-B/PAL-B SECAM G  2 SENEGAL PAL    5 SEYCHELLES PAL B PAL G  5 SIERRA LEONE PAL B PAL G  5 SINGAPORE PAL B PAL G   SLOVAK REPUBLIC PAL PAL  2 SOMALIA PAL B PAL G  5 SOUTH AFRICA PAL I PAL I  2 SPAIN PAL B PAL G  2 SRI LANKA PAL B    5 SUDAN PAL B PAL G  5 SURINAM NTSC M NTSC M  4 SWAZILAND PAL B PAL G   SWEDEN PAL B PAL G  2 SWITZERLAND PAL B PAL G  2 SYRIA SECAM B    2 TAHITI SECAM K1     TAIWAN NTSC M NTSC M  3 TANZANIA PAL B PAL B  5 THAILAND PAL B    3 TOGO SECAM K    5 TRINIDAD TOBAGO NTSC M NTSC M  4 TUNISIA SECAM B    5 TURKEY PAL B PAL G   UGANDA PAL B PAL G  5 UKRAINE PAL / SECAM D-K    5 UNITED ARAB EMIR. PAL B PAL G  2 UNITED KINGDOM   PAL I  2 UPPER VOLTA SECAM K1     URUGUAY PAL N PAL N  4 USA NTSC M NTSC M  1 VENEZUELA NTSC M NTSC M  4 VIETNAM PAL B PAL G  3 YEMEN PAL B    2 YUGOSLAVIA PAL B PAL G  2 ZAIRE SECAM K1     ZAMBIA PAL B PAL G  5 ZIMBABWE PAL B PAL G  5