Martin_H wrote:
cbmeeks wrote:
In fact, it's easier to understand than NTSC.
This is so true. A few years ago I decided to really understand both VGA and NTSC. After reading the VGA specification, and Propeller code that generates it, my reaction was it was really straight forward. I could even envision implementing it in hardware using RAM, some counters, and some resistor DAC's.
I then read the NTSC specification and while the monochrome part is easy to understand, the color burst signal is a bit mind bending. Kudos to the engineers for being able to make NTSC backwards compatible, but I can't imagine how analog hardware implementations of it work.
NTSC dates from the mid-1930s (NTSC =
National
Television
Standards
Committee) and reflects the electronic technology of the times, which was totally analog, and not anywhere near what it is now. That is why the addition of color to the picture engendered so much compexity. Also, as NTSC was an American product, a certain amount of jingoism got into the picture, and the NTSC members were positive nothing better would be developed.
The desire to stick with a standard whose strengths and weaknesses were well-understood by the time color TV became a reality perpetuated something that should have been retired. I'm amazed that NTSC has persisted all these years, given its many weaknesses, especially the lock-in to the 525 line, 30 frames per second display rate long after electronics had progressed to support much better video. PAL, of course, is best described as an adaptation of NTSC to the 50 Hz power frequency common in many parts of the world outside North America. PAL has slightly better quality than NTSC, but to some people, subtle flicker is visible due to the slower frame rate.
Fortunately, things have greatly improved, although I still prefer the picture of a CRT monitor over that of an LCD panel. I guess I'm just an out-of-touch curmudgeon.