PAL

PAL (an acronym for Phase Alternating Line) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 frames) per second, and associated with CCIR analogue broadcast television systems B, D, G, H, I and K. The articles on analogue broadcast television systems further describe frame rates, image resolution, and audio modulation. PAL was developed by Walter Bruch at Telefunken in Hanover, West Germany, with important input from Gerhard Mahler. The format was patented by Telefunken in December 1962, citing Bruch as inventor, and unveiled to members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on 3 January 1963. When asked why the system was named "PAL" and not "Bruch", the inventor answered that a "Bruch system" would probably not have sold very well ("Bruch" is the German word for "breakage").