Appendix 1

Appendix 1
Understanding the
NTSC Video Format
and Digital Video
Analog Video
Before current workfl ows can be understood, it is necessary to fully understand video systems and
the time code formats used with video. There are several video systems being used in the world;
many are in a state of change with new high-defi nition systems replacing the older formats. In most
of the world, the PAL and SECAM formats are standard. In the United States and Japan, the NTSC
format has been standard, but is being replaced by HD. Even though the NTSC format is archaic,
the newest digital formats follow some NTSC standards. Although it is often said that video plays
at 30 FPS, more often than not, this is a misnomer. The speed is being rounded off to keep the math
simple. While there are 30 FPS video formats, they are quite rare; virtually all standard defi nition
video in the United States plays at 29.97 FPS.
The System
“The System” was invented by Philo T. Farnsworth, seen in Figure A1.1, from Beaver County, Utah.
He claimed that the idea came to him one day while plowing a fi eld. He envisioned how an image
could be scanned from lines just as his fi eld was plowed into lines. Being an avid electronics enthusiast,
he came up with a way to electronically split up an image and rebuild it on a cathode ray tube.
Later, he dashed out a pencil drawing of a camera image tube for one of his instructors at school, a
drawing that was used years later to defend his patent for what was dubbed “Television.” He was
fourteen years old.
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