Converting World Video Formats

Affordable studio technology has now reached the home market and it is now possible to convert any world standard to another.

How?

You will need a playing device that can cope with the format of your disc or tape plus a recording device of the format you wish to record in.

i.e. NTSC DVD Player or NTSC Camcorder then you can output the signal from your playing device passing through a world standards converter and play or record it on your PAL device.

Or vice versa

PAL Camera, PAL VCR/DVD - through a standards converter and record it in NTSC format.

A great way of keeping in touch when you have family abroad!

Another example:

You want to receive French programmes here in the UK.

You will require a SECAM satellite Receiver and by feeding the signal from the Receiver through a standards converter you can receive these broadcasts in PAL on your UK Television Set.

There are two types of Standards Converters - Analogue & Digital, both types are available from www.lektropacks.co.uk.

Which One for Me?

Analogue

Analogue World Standards Converters generally just change the colour frequency of the signal for viewing purposes only.

An NTSC analogue converter will change the colour frequency of the NTSC signal to PAL, which is enough for viewing on most UK Televisions.

Analogue converters dealing with Secam only, again the converter will change the colour frequency but as Secam is the same as the UK 50Hz, not only will you be able to view the picture in colour on your UK Television, but you will also be able to record too.

Lekropacks supply both Analogue & Digital models - see World Formats.

Digital

A Digital World Standards Converter will not only change the colour frequency but also changes the frame rate 50/60 and line rate 625 lines to 525 lines per frame. Digital converters also have a built-in memory, as each frame has to be memorised and reproduced at (25/30 frames per second according to which standard you are converting to).

The memory can range from as small as 2Mbytes to 12Mbytes. The larger the memory the smoother the viewing picture will appear, especially on fast moving action pictures. Memory is important when using a standards converter in conjunction with a large screen.

See our chart of Digital World Standards Converters, which offer different inputs and outputs incorporating a range of different world standards and memory sizes.

To find out which format signal a country uses see Television Standards  by Country.

For more information on World Standards & Converters see our Standards Converters FAQ's