#France IS on PAL–Oops..
7 messages in this thread
Well, I got it wrong–according to an international video standards chart I
looked at over the weekend, it turns out France is on PAL-M standard, not SECAM
like I originally thought.
The countries on SECAM are all in what used to be Eastern Europe–probably the
old Soviet Union's bright idea of preventing their exposure to "decadent
Western television"…<g>
Sorry about that,
Tim Liebe
Tim:
You were right the first time. France is on SECAM. (like with all French
culture: "Something Entirely Contrary to the American Method").
I don't know who was saying PAL-M, but it isn't right. Or maybe PAL-M is used
in France, but it is not the broadcast standard.
Jeff
Desktop Video Group
Jeff:
>You were right the first time. France is on SECAM. (like with all French
culture: "Something Entirely Contrary to the American Method").
I don't know who was saying PAL-M, but it isn't right. Or maybe PAL-M is used
in France, but it is not the broadcast standard.<
Oh, NOW I'm getting a headache… :-/
I was looking at a world broadcast chart in some store, which Panasonic puts
out for their multistandard VCR (not the AG-1, but another model), and *it*
said that France uses PAL-M same as Brazil. Of course, I *do* remember seeing
another world broadcast chart (for the Aiwa, I think) that said France uses
SECAM….
Is it possible even the French don't know what they're using? 😉
Confused,
Tim
PMJI, but I think what happens is that PAL kit is used for production and
postproduction, then SECAM is used for transmission. They used to use SECAM for
everything, but eventually figured out it was expensive and not really
necessary.
Cheers
Iain Chapman, Amsterdam
Iain:
>PMJI, but I think what happens is that PAL kit is used for production and
postproduction, then SECAM is used for transmission. They used to use SECAM for
everything, but eventually figured out it was expensive and not really
necessary.<
Uh–run that by me again? <g> Why would they use one format for production, and
a second for transmission? Boy–I'm REAL confused now…
The reason I'm asking is I know somebody in France I want to send a copy of a
tape I directed to, but I'm not sure if he can view it in PAL format (and the
converting VCR I'm using doesn't convert to SECAM). Do their VCRs play PAL
tapes, and can their TV sets view PAL?
And why (getting rampantly Ammurican for a moment here <g>) can't everyone else
use NTSC like we do? Or why aren't we using PAL like the most of the rest of
the world?
<*groan*>
Best,
Tim Liebe
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
Iain:
>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.<
Thanks for clearing that up! BTW, doesn't a lot of (what used to be) Eastern
Europe and the Soviet Union use SECAM as well? (What a crazy thought–SECAM was
a Communist plot to rule the world through inefficient television! <VBG>)
>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.<
I already did–I'm waiting to hear from him now to see if he can view my PAL
dubs. In anticipation of which, I've already made one for him…
>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.<
I know–unfortunately, it's pretty typical, eh? Between computers and video
(both of which I use in my business and write about), I seem to be trapped in
incompatible format hell…
Best,
Tim