pal@crystal.ARPA (01/03/84)
In reply to Han Nguyen's query about being unable to play French-recorded tapes on his video. The French tapes will be recorded in the SECAM video format. I was also hit by the incompatibility between the U.S. NTSC standard and the rest of the world (in my case, PAL). As to what can be done, the video signals can be transformed, but as far as I know only the big studios (BBC,CBS,etc.) have the equipment necessary. The alternative is to get a TV set and video player that conform to the SECAM standard. I have not seen them in the US, but folks at home (India) have systems that play/record/display all formats (PAL/SECAM/NTSC(2 types)). As far as I know, these are sold only in Asian/MiddleEastern markets, manufactured by, among others, Hitachi and National Panasonic (I can probably get you model numbers from my parents, but it will take a month at least (they aren't on the net :-)), so you may be better off looking at alternative sources. incidentally, I asked a friend in Britain to check into availability, apparently the dealers in London will special-order, but do not have them in stock. Oh yes, one final warning. I seem to recall the multi-system recorders as saying something like "special middle-eastern SECAM", thereby implying that they may not work for "normal"(French?) SECAM. There may be other models, though. Anil Pal U. of Wisconsin-Madison
davew@shark.UUCP (Dave Williams) (01/04/84)
_______________________________________________
Another problem faced by the person wishing to
playback tapes recorded in France (SECAM) on
US vcr's (NTSC) is the fact that most European
countries have a 50 Hertz electric supply
system while North America uses 60 Hertz.
As a result NTSC systems use a 30 frame per second
format (60 fields). Both PAL and SECAM use 25
frames per second (50 fields) as the television
set is locked to the line frequency. This is why
when the SECAM tapes were played back on an
NTSC machine the sound sounded speeded up. The
phase lock loop in the vcr was trying to sync
the tape up to the 30 fps format and was causing
the tape to run approx 17% faster.
I believe there is a company in New York City
that will duplicate tapes from various formats.
This is the only method I know of for playing
foreign tapes without expensive equipment.
Dave Williams
Tektronix, Inc.
ECSmsc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (01/05/84)
I sent a personal reply to the originator of the query but in view
of this other response there are some things I'd like to repeat.
First I am surprised how many people seem to be unaware of the
different TV standards used around the world. Here's a short list:
NTSC (National Television Standards Committee or Never The Same Colour)
USA, Canada, Japan
PAL (Phase Alternating Line or Please All Lobbies)
Europe (except France), Scandinavia, Israel + a few others
SECAM (Sequential something...)
France (just had to be different), Russia (I think)
with more to follow for DBS signals. Hopefully a single world
standard will be chosen.
Second some video production studios have the necessary conversion
equipment. One local studio (Breene Kerr Productions, Palo Alto, CA)
charges $120 for a 30 minute tape, $180 for a 60 minute tape.
They can handle Beta, U-Matic and VHS format cassettes and 1/2 inch
tape. I think they charge more for tape. The cost reflects the
high capital cost of the conversion equipment. I'm not sure if
they can handle SECAM. I was inquiring about PAL.
Third I have heard rumours (in this newsgroup) that the Japanese are going
to introduce low cost standards converters but I have seen absolutely
nothing about them anywhere else.
Fourth the new generation almost-digital TV's just starting to appear
use multi-standard chip sets. To make the TV set multi-standard would
only add a small increment to the cost of the set. Multi-standard sets
should become more common. Multi-standard VCR's should also become
more common. Note that these do not convert signals from one standard
to another.
--
From the Tardis of Mark Callow
msc@qubix.UUCP, decwrl!qubix!msc@Berkeley.ARPA
...{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!qubix!msc, ...{ittvax,amd70}!qubix!msccfh@cca.UUCP (Christopher Herot) (01/05/84)
SECAM == Sequential Encoding(?) Colour Avec Memoire. The "avec memoire" is because the two axes of color information are transmitted in alternate scan lines, so the receiving set must have a one line color memory. Also known as "Something Essentially Contrary to the American Method."