MediaXcer

Miscellaneous Multimedia Glossary

Jul 28, 2009 How To

There are 3 main TV standards in use all over the world, NTSC, PAL and SECAM, which each one is incompatible with the other. This post will describe the common other bits and pieces multiple glossary, such as NTSC, PAL, SECAM, Region, Codec, Streaming, DRM.

NTSC

NTSC stands for National Television System Committee.
NTSC is a color TV standard developed in the United States in 1953 by National Television System Committee. NTSC is used in most of the America & Canada and in various Asian countries. Rest of the world uses either some variety of PAL or SECAM standards.

National Television System Committee
lines/frame	525/60
Horizontal Frequency	15.734 kHz
Vertical Frequency	60 Hz
Color Subcarrier Frequency	3.579545 MHz
Video Bandwidth	4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier	4.5 MHz
Frame rate	29.97 frames/sec

PAL

PAL, was introduced in the early 1960’s in Europe, stands for Phase Alternating Line. It has better resolution than in NTSC, having 625 lines/frame, but the frame rate is slightly lower, being 25 frames/sec.
PAL is used in most of the western European countries (except France, where SECAM is used instead), Australia, some countries of Africa, some countries of South America and in some Asian countries.

Phase Alternating Line
SYSTEM	PAL	PAL N	PAL M
Line/Frame	625/50	625/50	525/60
Horizontal Freq.	15.625 kHz	15.625 kHz	15.750 kHz
Vertical Freq.	50 Hz	50 Hz	60 Hz
Color Sub Carrier	4.433618 MHz	3.582056 MHz	3.575611 MHz
Video Bandwidth	5.0 MHz	4.2 MHz	4.2 MHz
Sound Carrier	5.5 MHz	4.5 MHz	4.5 MHz
framerate	25 frames/sec	25 frames/sec	25 frames/sec

SECAM

Sequential Couleur Avec Memoire or Sequential Color with Memory
SYSTEM	SECAM B,G,H	SECAM D,K,K1,L
Line/Field	625/50	625/50
Horizontal Frequency	15.625 kHz	15.625 kHz
Vertical Frequency	50 Hz	50 Hz
Video Bandwidth	5.0 MHz	6.0 MHz
Sound Carrier	5.5 MHz	6.5 MHz

Codec

Codec stands for Coder/Decoder.
Basically it is a piece of software or a driver that adds a support for certain video/audio format for your operating system. With codec, your system recognizes the format the codec is built for and allows you to play the audio/video file (=decode) or in some cases, to change another audio/video file into that format (= (en) code).

DRM

DRM stands for Digital Rights Management.
DRM doesn’t mean just basic copy-protection of digital content (like eBooks, MP3s or DivX videos), but it basically means full protection for digital content, ranging from delivery to end user’s ways to use the content. Somehow DRM system needs to know when the copying is allowed and when not — users also have rights to make copies to their closest relatives, etc. So, normally this has been solved by allowing “hops” — original file can be copied, but the copy of the original file cannot be copied any further. Obviously this also causes problems, if user accidentally deletes the original file, but still has the legal copy of the file.

Region codes

Region codes in this instance mean flags implemented in DVD-Video discs that determine the geographic area where the DVD-Video disc is being sold and where it can be watched. All DVD players and discs have region codes, which vary between regions. A DVD player and disc must be of the same region or the disc will not play. If you want to watch movies from other countries, you need a multiregional DVD player. This will allow you to play any disc from any region.
The region controls are also implemented in PC’s DVD-ROM drivers, normally in three levels.

1. First of all, if the DVD-ROM driver is manufactured after 1st of January, 2000, the driver itself has physical locks implemented in it to permit playback of only specific region code. </ br> 2. Secondly, all newer operating systems, including Windows 2000 and Windows XP, have region control measurements built-in. </ br> 3. And finally, the DVD player software, such as WinDVD or PowerDVD, have region control measurements built-in.

Streaming

Streaming format can send live or on-demand video or audio broadcast over the Internet. Popular streaming video formats include Real Video, QuickTime (MOV) and WMV.

Related Posts

• No Related Post

Tags: DRM, Region codes, TV Norms