CompuServe Messages

Tim Well, I think it goes a little like this… Everything in France used to be SECAM. You had to pay a little more for your equipment, because manufacturers sold less units of SECAM kit than PAL kit, but all domestic TVs (and VCRs when they came along) were SECAM, so that was that. One big problem of SECAM was that you couldn't do any mixing or DVEs – some fundamental problem with the format I'm told. All you could do were cuts. Around the same time everyone started wanting to do these, component video became available. As PAL and SECAM have the same picture format and frame rate, you could use PAL component equipment to do all your mixing and effects, then go to SECAM composite for transmission and reception by the installed base of TVs. Which is what people now do. Nowadays, virtually all TVs and VCRs sold in France are dual standard – PAL *and* SECAM – but they are different from machines sold outside France, which don't bother with SECAM at all. The upshot is – your friend in France could *almost* certainly play back a PAL tape, but it may be best to drop them a note first. It would be nice if there were one worlwide format, but the standards were made a long time ago, and I guess global sharing of video seemed kind of unlikely then. IMHO, PAL does give you better pictures, though also a few extra hassles. Someone once told me the BBC planned to use NTSC until the other Europeans ganged up on them… but that could be hearsay. Anyway, once you've got a few million sets installed, you're pretty much stuck with the format until the last of them goes to recycling. Best of luck with the tape! Iain