Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdj!myers
From: myers@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Bob Myers)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Hues
Message-ID: <17660132@hpfcdj.HP.COM>
Date: 10 Dec 90 20:05:56 GMT
References: <2401@ecrc.de>
Organization: Hewlett Packard -- Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 28

>I think there are hue differences between the European and US TV colours.

Hell, there are differences between US TV colors and US TV colors!  (Remember,
NTSC = "Never Twice the Same Color!" :-))

>1. Am I right?

If the world were perfect and everything worked according to specs and theory,
the differences between the two systems would be very minor, assuming that
each started with the same info in RGB space.  (There are, I believe, some
differences between NTSC and either PAL or SECAM as far as color bandwidths,
but these don't exactly relate to the encoding scheme itself, and what their
independent contributions would be I knoweth not.)

>2. How were the different colour encoding schemes chosen?

I'd like to hear more about the history of PAL and SECAM myself.  The US
NTSC standard basically grew out of the requirement - imposed by the FCC -
that any color encoding standard would have to be completely compatible with 
the then-current monochrome standard (basically RS-170) in order to be
accepted for use in this country.  The amazing thing is that the NTSC
actually came up with such a thing, in 1950s technology; it's definitely a 
bizarre system at first glance.


Bob Myers  KC0EW   HP Graphics Tech. Div.|  Opinions expressed here are not
                   Ft. Collins, Colorado |  those of my employer or any other
myers@fc.hp.com                          |  sentient life-form on this planet.