Video Format Regions

Different countries have adopted different video formats. These formats dictate such things as how many frames-per-second will be displayed, etc. In the old days, this wasn’t a big problem because all of the TV’s, VCR’s, movies, camcorders, etc. that were available in your country would all use the same format. But now the internet is shrinking the world. If you live in the USA and like to watch British TV shows, you can’t just order a DVD from a company in the UK and play it on your American DVD player and TV because your gear uses the NTSC standard and the Brits use the PAL standard. So when buying something or downloading files, make sure to know the format in advance. Your computer will play just about anything, but if you want to play something in your living room, you need to be aware of the format.

Albania PAL
Argentina PAL-N
Australia PAL
Austria PAL
Azores (Portugal) PAL
Bahamas NTSC
Bahrain PAL
Barbados NTSC
Belgium PAL
Bermuda NTSC
Brazil PAL-M
Bulgaria SECAM
Canada NTSC
Canary Is PAL
China PAL
Colombia NTSC
Cyprus PAL
Czechsolvakia SECAM/PAL
Denmark PAL
Egypt SECAM
Faroe Islands (DK) PAL
Finland PAL
France SECAM
Gambia PAL
Germany PAL
Germany (East) SECAM/PAL
Gibraltar PAL
Greece SECAM
Hong Kong PAL
Hungary PAL (was SECAM)
Iceland PAL
India PAL
Indonesia PAL
Iran SECAM
Ireland PAL
Israel PAL
Italy PAL
Jamaica SECAM
Japan NTSC
Jordan PAL
Kenya PAL
Korea NTSC
Luxembourg PAL
Madeira PAL
Madagascar SECAM
Malaysia PAL
Malta PAL
Mauritius SECAM
Mexico NTSC
Monaco SECAM/PAL
Morocco SECAM
Netherlands PAL
New Zealand PAL
North Korea SECAM
Norway PAL
Pakistan PAL
Paraguay PAL
Peru NTSC
Philipines

NTSC
Poland PAL
Portugal PAL
Romania PAL
Russia SECAM
Saudi Arabia SECAM
Seychelles PAL
Singapore PAL
South Africa PAL
South Korea NTSC
Spain PAL
Sri Lanka PAL
Sweden PAL
Switzerland PAL
Tahiti SECAM
Taiwan NTSC
Thailand PAL
Trinidad NTSC
Tunisia SECAM
Turkey PAL
United Arab Emirates PAL
United Kingdom PAL
Uruguay PAL
USA NTSC
Venezuela NTSC
Yugoslavia PAL
Zimbabwe PAL