(n.) One of three standards for television signals used for both broadcast and videotape playback applications. The three formats are PAL, NTSC, and SECAM, and they have significant differences. One feature they all share is that each frame consists of two fields. PAL moves at 25 frames per second (fps) with 625 scan lines. It uses amplitude modulation (AM) at a channel bandwidth of 8 MHz. NTSC moves at 29.97 fps with 525 scan lines and uses AM at a channel bandwidth of 6 MHz. SECAM has the same frame rate and number of scan lines as PAL but uses frequency modulated (FM) subcarriers at a bandwidth of 8 MHz. In a few South American countries, hybrid formats known as PAL-M and PAL-N combine features of both NTSC and PAL. NTSC is the standard in most of Central America, whereas PAL is the standard in most western European countries. Here is a breakdown of which standards are used in various countries:
NTSC: United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines
PAL: Great Britain, Germany, Spain, India, China, Australia
SECAM: France, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt