television standards

Television standards are technical specifications that define how video and audio signals are encoded, transmitted, and displayed.

Different regions adopted different systems: NTSC dominated North America and Japan, PAL covered most of Europe, and SECAM was used in France and the Soviet bloc.

These analog standards governed frame rates, resolution, and color encoding.

Digital broadcasting has largely unified global television under standards like ATSC and DVB, though regional differences persist.

The old VHS wouldn't play because it was recorded in PAL, not NTSC.