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Once upon a time when television was the dominant visual medium,
you had to negotiate the maze of world-wide television standards
to have your tapes seen overseas. You'd be constantly asked,
"What's the standard in Germany? (PAL) The standard in
France? (SECAM) Brazil? (PAL-M)" An extra hassle and
expense, not to mention loss of resolution.
Jokes
used to be made about them. NTSC
meant "Never Twice the Same Color," SECAM
"Something Contrary to American Methods," PAL
was "Pay A Lot," and PAL-M
stood for "Pay A Lot More." You had to be a professional
to understand what they all really meant!
But
now that's all changed. The computer revolution has brought
along with it a change in how people overseas can now exchange
video material. The computer has its own video standards
that are becoming universally available without the need
for standard conversion.
You've
probably heard of the computer term "plug-in"
that refers to media players like RealPlayer, QuickTime,
etc. As long as your video has been converted to one of
these new standards and you have a plug-in player, you can
see videos from around the world.
For
example, you can watch a
video feed from the Czech Republic or a live
broadcast from Germany. [Internet Explorer
only]
With
the advent of these new changes, just about any desktop
or laptop can now handle the conversions necessary to view
any video from any standard anywhere in the world! Here's
how.
Any
DV tape from a digital NTSC or PAL camera can be input into
a computer installed with a media recorder using a Firewire
cable. And then that computer can re-digitize the program
into a region's domestic television standard or into a digital
video file. The computer becomes the great equalizer between
the two standards!
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| The
new computer video standards enable the world community
to share video ideas with everyone easily, quickly,
and inexpensively. |
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| Where
to learn more, including which particular countries
support which standard:
NTSC
PAL
SECAM
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