NTSC and PAL video standards

NTSC and PAL video broadcasting standards

There are currently two types of analog format used to broadcast video signals throughout the world. Certain parts of world use NTSC, which stands for National Television System Committee, while other parts of the world use PAL, which is short for Phase Alternating Line. There are several important differences between PAL and NTSC signals which are good to know about since they affect how certain technologies (such as DVDs) work in different countries. This Bamboo AV Advice article will help you to understand the differences between NTSC and PAL video standards, and will give you a good overview of what will happen to television systems and broadcasting standards in the future. NTSC will be the first video standard examined, followed by PAL.

NTSC format

NTSC stands for National Television System Committee, and is the analog format used by the majority of television American broadcasters. NTSC was developed in 1940 to establish a common broadcasting standard following the popularity of television and the introduction of analog television signals. NTSC images conform to a standard of an interlaced image made up of 525 horizontal lines with a refresh rate of 30 frames per second. Any standard definition picture with a maximum horizontal resolution of 720 lines and a 480 vertical resolution limit with a frame rate of 30 frames per second can be defined as NTSC and will play on a device designed for NTSC television. Numerous amounts of consumer video products, such as DVDs have been tailored to work to this standard and thus output in a resolution of 720 x 480. If a DVD uses an unsupported digital standard, many manufacturers of DVD players have implemented the ability to convert the signal to analogue and “squeeze” the image frame to fit the video.

Countries using NTSC

NTSC signals are used predominately in the Western hemisphere. The territories and some of the more notable countries that use NTSC broadcasts are listed below.

North America

Canada
Mexico
United States
Central America and the Caribbean

Costa Rica
Cuba
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
South America

Bolivia
Columbia
Peru
Asia

Burma
Japan*
Philippines
South Korea
*Japan uses a variant known as NTSC-J that has a slightly lower level of darkness.

PAL format

PAL, which stands for Phase Alternating Line, is the video standard used primarily in Europe and Africa for displaying television, DVD, and VHS pictures. The system was primarily introduced because of the inability of the 50 Hz power grids in European countries to accept the existing 60 Hz NTSC standard, and because of the colour shift that can occur during poor transmission weather. As a result, in 1963 Walter Bruch of Germany unveiled a television standard with a frequency of 50 Hz and a better quality picture than NTSC.

The PAL format outputs interlaced images at a resolution of 720 x 576 (86 more vertical lines than NTSC) with a refresh rate of 25 frames per second (5 less than NTSC). This means that while PAL broadcasts have a superior picture quality, NTSC images appear smoother, especially during high motion footage such as action films or sports.

Countries using PAL

PAL signals are most common in Europe and Africa. The territories and some of the more notable countries that use PAL broadcasts are listed below.

Africa

Nigeria
Ghana
Cameroon
South Africa
Asia

China
India
Philippines
Vietnam
Europe

Czech Republic
Denmark
Ireland
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Ukraine
United  Kingdom
South America

Argentina
Brazil
Paraguay
Uruguay
Oceania

Australia
New Zealand
A map showing the parts of the world that broadcast in PAL and NTSC

The image above shows a world map of the distribution of PAL and NTSC video standards usage.

The future of NTSC and PAL

In the last few years the penetration of High Definition televisions into homes has been consistently on the rise. As a result there has been an increased amount of demand for digital signals that can contain 5.1 audio and High Definition broadcasts. Both NTSC and PAL are analog formats, which means that they have a limited bandwidth incapable of broadcasting Dolby Digital sound or High Definition images. In the near future there will be little need for these analog signals.

Numerous countries around the world have set mandates to phase out and stop any further analog broadcasts and replace them with digital high definition broadcasts. For America, on February 8th 2006 George W. Bush signed the “Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005” into law. This set February 17th 2009 as the date when all NTSC transmissions will be turned off permanently. NTSC broadcasts will be replaced with ATSC (which stands for Advanced Television Systems Committee), a standard that will broadcast digital High Definition images.

In Europe there are already countries that have fully converted to digital signals. The countries currently using the new digital format DVB – T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) are listed below:

Andorra
Finland
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Sweden
Switzerland
The remainder of the European countries have all set deadlines similar to those of the United States for when PAL broadcasts will be permanently stopped.

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How to open OXPS file in Windows 7

You cannot open an .oxps file on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. More specifically, a program that can open the .oxps file is not installed on the computer.

Note The .oxps format is the default XPS document format in Windows 8. Typically, .oxps files are created when users print to a Microsoft XPS Document Writer (MXDW) printer on a computer that is running Windows 8.

ith Windows 8, Microsoft introduced the Oxps (Open XML Paper Specification) file format, which is similar to the default XPS format that gets created when you send a document to the Microsoft XPS Document Writer (MXDW) printer.

Windows 7 supports only the previous XPS file format and doesn’t allow you to open the Oxps file format. While in windows 8, .oxps format is the default XPS document format. Microsoft has released and OXPS to XPS File Converter that would convert the .oxps files to the .xps file format.

Note :

You must be running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for this update to work.

To start the download from microsoft website, you need to pass the genuine windows validation test as its available as an update for windows 7 systems.

If you’ve turned on Automatic Updates in Windows 7, you might have already installed this tool as an update (KB2732059).

Solution :

1.Online Convert in PDF file 

2.Download OXPS to XPS Converter for Winodows 7 (32-Bit)

3.Download OXPS to XPS Converter for Winodows 7 (64 Bit)

4.Download OXPS to XPS Converter for Windows Server 2008 R2

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Dell : Restoring Your Computer on Factory Default Setting

Restoring Your Dell Computer on Factory Default Setting

1. Backup important files & data store in secure place.
2. Remove non-essential peripherals
3. Restore the computer’s software to original condition
4. Restore your personal file and data from backup.

Backup Important files & Data

• Click Star and then Control Panel
• In the control Panel windows, Click ‘System & Maintenance’ and then click ‘Backup and Restore Center’
• Under Backup Up file or your entire computer, Click ‘Backup file’ If the User Account Control window appears, and you are prompted for an administrator password or a confirmation, type your password, or click ‘ Continue’
• On the Where do you want to save your backup? Page, choose the location in which to save the backup. To do this, click either  on a hard disk, CD, or DVD or  On a network, and then specify the location, if you select a hard disk, be sure to save the backup to external drive such as a USB key or hard drive.
• Click ‘Next’
• On the which file types do you want to backup? page, click to select the check boxes next to the types of files that you want to back up, and then click  ‘Next’
• On the How often do you want to create a backup? page, leave the defaults as they are and click ‘ Save setting and Start Backup’ to Backup the file to the specified location.
• Backup will save the files in the background and may take several minutes to complete. If you specified a removable drive, Backup may prompt you to enter an additional blank disc if more than one is necessary to hold all your files. Be sure to label your discs thoroughly (such as "My Files Disc 1" etc.) so you can quickly restore them later Once the Backup Complete message appears, you are ready to proceed with the next step.

Remove non-essential peripherals

• Scanner
• Printer
• Modem or Network cables
• Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)
• USB flash drive or other external Hard Drive
• Any other external devices (e.g., USB-attached devices)
• Remove the computer from the docking station, if you are using one.

Restore the computer’s software to original conditio

1.  Turn on your Computer
2.  As the computer starts, press <F8> on the keyboard until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.
3.  Press the <Down Arrow> on the keyboard to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press <Enter>.
4. Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.
5. Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK.
6. Click Dell Factory Image Restore.
7. In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.
8. Click to select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition check box.
9. Click Next. 
10. Computer is restored to the default factory configuration.
11. When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer. 
12. The software is now installed as it was when the computer was first received.

Restore your personal file and data from backup.

1          Click then click Control Panel.

2          In the Control Panel Windows, Click ‘System & Maintenance’ and then click ‘Backup & Restore Centre’

3          Under Restore files or your entire computer, click ‘Advance Restore’

4          On the What do you want to restore?  Page, click  Files from a backup made on a different computer and click  ‘Next’

5          Locate the backup you created earlier by browsing to it now. If you saved the backup to CD(s) or DVD, insert that disc now. Once the backup is located and selected, click ‘Next’

6          On the Select the files and folders to restore page, click  Restore everything in this backup then click ‘Next’

7          Backup will restore the files to your computer. If you are restoring from a removable drive and used more than one blank disc, Backup will prompt you to enter the next disc in the set as necessary. Depending on the number of files and their sizes, this process may take several minutes.

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