Games Hardware: PAL versus NTSC (and SECAM)

Game Territories

The PAL video game territory includes: most of Asia, Australia, South America, Africa and most of Western Europe.

NTSC is used in US, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Burma. Japan uses a modification called NTSC-J. NTSC = National Television System Committee. NTSC-C was a "region" created by Sony in 2003 for the release of its PS2 console in China.

Region lockout can make a game intended for one region unplayable in another region. Nintendo was the originator of region lockout in the video game industry.

Short History of Video Broadcast Standards

France still uses the SECAM standard which will be phased out in 2011. SECAM was introduced in 1967 in France to broadcast colour television, on "la deuxieme chaine". The PAL (Phase Alternating Line, 625 lines per frame) standard was introduced in the early 60's and implemented in most European countries (except France). A wider channel bandwidth than NTSC which allows for better picture quality.