Video Standards

A video standard (or video system) describes the properties of a particular video signal used by a device (such as a camcorder). For example, the NTSC standard used for broadcasts and baseband video in the Americas, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, defines a frame rate of 29.97 fps (frames per second), 525 horizontal lines, and a color subcarrier at 3.58MHz. Camcorders sold in these regions must be able to generate a signal that complies with this standard.

This is not to be confused with a format, which defines how the video is encoded or recorded to a medium (this typically has regional standards of its own); and in the case of tape formats, what kind of tape to use, and cassette dimensions. Physical properties of a format are usually universal.

Tape formats used in camcorders usually have their own unique variants of their native standard.

Analog Standards
Analog standards vary significantly by region. Playing a tape on equipment meant for one region on a display in another region may result in anything from black-and-white video to a complete loss of picture. Similar issues can occur when playing tapes meant for one region in another region.

Analog video standards can be divided into baseband, tape, and tuning standards. When buying an analog camcorder, typically only the baseband and tape standards are considered.

Baseband Standards
Baseband standards can be divided into two categories, 525i59.94 (often referred to as 525i60), and 625i50 standards. These can be further divided by color encoding scheme, which gives a total of eight baseband analog standards. In their component video form (i.e. when color is a separate signal), they are distinguished only by resolution and frame rate (hence the terms 525i60 and 625i50). The following composite video standards exist worldwide.

Some hybrid standards were developed for convenience when playing recordings between territories.

Tape Standards
Videotapes of any format are physically universal (i.e. there is no change in the cassette's or tape's physical design in different territories), but their signals and speeds vary significantly by standard. In some cases, even the handling of audio (universal in baseband video) is different.

(S-)VHS(-C)
There are five possible recording standards for VHS and its compact counterpart. Audio and luminance (black-and-white) are the same for each, the most significant differences are in color encoding and tape speed. VHS tapes do not record a true composite signal, instead, the signal is modified such that the luminance is FM (with a deviation of 3.3MHz-4.4MHz ) and the color (chroma) is modulated at a different frequency and different phase behavior. Resolution and frame rate of any tape format standard are the same as those of its equivalent baseband standard. The MESECAM standard is created by running a SECAM signal through PAL conversion circuitry.

S-VHS only changes the luminance carrier frequency. Color encoding remains the same. S-VHS only has two of its own standards, NTSC and PAL (defined as above). S-VHS equipment sold in SECAM territories will record internally in PAL and may convert to SECAM during playback only (SECAM was already being phased out by the time the high-band tape formats were introduced).

The standard specifications are exactly the same for VHS-C and S-VHS-C. By the early 2000s, all VHS-C equipment was internally either NTSC or PAL.

(Hi)8mm
The 8mm format only has NTSC and PAL standards, as it was introduced as a camcorder format (unlike VHS). In SECAM territories, 8mm camcorders record internally in PAL and may convert to SECAM upon playback. This makes 8mm footage easier to edit in SECAM territories.

Like VHS, 8mm stores a modified composite signal. The luminance track is FM (4.2MHz-5.4MHz ), while the chroma is again modulated at a different frequency and exhibits different phase behavior. Analog audio on 8mm tape is always FM, but the handling of stereo differs between NTSC and PAL. Both standards modulate the original audio track at 1.5MHz and the stereo audio track at 1.7MHz, but computations differ (see below).

Digital Standards
Digital video is so diverse that entire books have been written on its implementation. The main standard differences shared with analog camcorders are regional differences, specifically, the video's resolution and frame rate. Except for on some very early formats (such as D3), color is almost always in component form, which is universal. With the advent of HD and 4k video, only frame rate changes between territories, and it is common for cameras to support a wide range of frame rates.
 * 525i59.94 (or 525i60): Used in countries that use the NTSC and PAL-M standards. One frame of video is 480 interlaced lines, and the frame rate is 29.97 fps.
 * 625i50: Used in countries that use the PAL, PAL-N, and SECAM standards. One frame of video is 576 interlaced lines, and the frame rate is 25 fps.

MiniDV and Digital8
Like 8mm, MiniDV and Digital8 have two defined regional standards (often colloquially referred to as NTSC and PAL).The tape speed (18.831mm/sec for MiniDV, 28.695mm/sec for Digital8 ), drum speed (9000rpm for MiniDV, 4500rpm for D8), and method of encoding are virtually identical between the two, but there are a few differences.

Digital camcorders sold in SECAM territories are internally PAL, and most do not support SECAM on their own.

Multistandard Camcorders
Tape-based camcorders are typically only designed to work as cameras in one standard (some HDV exceptions may exist). However, several models are capable of working in non-native baseband or tape standards in their playback/VCR modes. The most common feature of this type for NTSC units is the ability to work in PAL-60 or NTSC-4.43 to allow playback of NTSC tapes on PAL TVs (that support the 60Hz scanning frequency of NTSC). Some camcorders can also play tapes in their non-native standard, this is more common for native-PAL units.

Sony
Support for playback in the non-native standard is the most prevalent on Sony's MiniDV and Digital8 camcorders. Units made in 1998 or later (starting with the DCR-TRV900) can not only play back digital tapes of their non-native standard, but they can even record non-native tapes from a FireWire input (assuming the recording feature is not disabled as it is on some European units). The only limitations are with the analog video output, which works only with one color subcarrier; so an NTSC unit will play a PAL tape in NTSC-50, and a PAL unit will play an NTSC tape in NTSC-4.43 or PAL-60, whichever is selected by the user. The FireWire output is the same regardless of native standard.

The owners' manuals for PAL units mention this cross-compatibility, but the owners' manuals for most NTSC units do not. Some units' manuals (MiniDV from 2003 or later) mention the possibility of a "PAL" indicator on the screen during PAL tape playback.

A similar feature exists on Sony's analog PAL camcorders from approximately 1996 onward. However, they do not allow playback of NTSC tapes at the LP speed, due to the higher minimum speed of PAL 8mm (NTSC LP is the slowest of all 8mm, so the tracks are thinner than what the PAL heads can handle). NTSC Digital8 camcorders that play back analog 8mm tapes can play back PAL Digital8 recordings, but not analog PAL. PAL Digital8 camcorders will play digital PAL and NTSC, as well as analog PAL and NTSC (although an analog NTSC recording has to run for a few seconds to be identified as such).

These units will play NTSC Digital8 in LP, it is unknown whether they have the ability to play analog NTSC in LP. The manuals do not give the same warnings, and the Digital8 heads are the thinnest (and they are the same in both the NTSC and PAL units, unlike with most analog camcorders, according to the service manuals), so it can be assumed that they can.

Tested Units
The following Sony units have been tested to be multistandard:
 * DCR-TRV900
 * DCR-PC100
 * DCR-PC110
 * DCR-TRV20
 * DCR-PC5
 * DCR-TRV950
 * DCR-TRV520 (D8 only)
 * DCR-TRV520E (digital and analog)
 * DCR-TRV130
 * DCR-TRV140

Samsung
Some of Samsung's NTSC 8mm camcorders produced from approximately 2001 onward have the ability to play NTSC tapes in PAL-60. The manual for the SC-L907 hints that some newer and higher-end units have the ability to play back PAL tapes as well (presumably in NTSC-50). This has yet to be tested.

The NTSC MiniDV units do not have PAL-60 capability, it is unknown if they play PAL tapes.

Hitachi
Hitachi's NTSC 8mm camcorders produced from about 1999 have a button to enable playback of a tape in PAL-60. The VM-Hx65LA series, introduced later that year, added the ability to work in PAL-M, a very rare feature.

The Digital8 units do not seem to have these capabilities. It is unknown if they support playback of PAL Digital8.

Hitachi's PAL 8mm units from 1999 and later have the ability to play NTSC 8mm tapes at the SP speed only, in a similar manner to Sony's (albeit only in PAL-60, not NTSC-4.43). Strangely, according to the manual, this only works if the PAL-60 button (carried over from the NTSC counterparts) is pressed. This has not been tested.

Canon
Canon's MiniDV camcorders do not play non-native recordings. Their higher-end NTSC 8mm units, the ES8600 and ES8400V, can play back NTSC recordings in PAL-60.