We come across all sorts of technical gripes and compatibility issues when it comes to our videos on tkArena. Sure, there are fabulous products and services out there for consumer and prosumer video wannabees but the list of little tricks and tib-bits of knowledge that pop up out of the blue is just endless. So I’d thought I’d start sharing.

I was hoarding it all so that I could become the all-time font of knowledge of the digital video online world but now I realize that I’d have to live, eat and breath it for that to happen. So here’s lesson number one from a digital video grunt with a bit of experience up her sleeve.

I didn’t know but apparently PAL and NTSC are still relevant to HD content. I would have thought they would go the way of the dodo, but apparently not. Digital video cameras are manufactured to record in a video signal which is either NTSC or PAL.

NTSC is 480 lines, a lesser quality than PAL which is 576 lines. You would think that the industry would have just standardized on the better quality and for the life of me, I don’t know why they didn’t, nor why the distinction is even still there. HD TVs are no longer either PAL or NTSC and neither are Blu-ray players. So all in all I am confused as hell!

But apparently if you record in PAL and then edit in NTSC you screw up the video quality. Since these settings are buried in the back of camera manuals and video editing software configurations, it’s easy to get caught out.

Mmm … didn’t I promise knowledge? Looks like I just delivered more questions. Chime in with comments if you have any feedback …