Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!uunet!stanford.edu!neon.Stanford.EDU!flamingo.Stanford.EDU!espie From: espie@flamingo.Stanford.EDU (Marc Espie) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc Subject: Re: Why? Message-ID: <1991Mar8.210436.11753@neon.Stanford.EDU> Date: 8 Mar 91 21:04:36 GMT References: <1991Mar7.135528.10099@ste.dyn.bae.co.uk> Sender: news@neon.Stanford.EDU (USENET News System) Organization: LIENS, ENS, 45 rue d'Ulm, Paris (France) Lines: 49 In article <1991Mar7.135528.10099@ste.dyn.bae.co.uk> goddard@ste.dyn.bae.co.uk (Steve Goddard) writes: >In message , >patrick_meloy@outbound.wimsey.bc.ca (Patrick Meloy) writes: >>The reason is VIDEO compatibility and international television standards. >>North America chose to go with 60hz and a shorter screen, Europe chose 50hz >>and a longer screen. They get a taller screen, but have you ever seen a PAL >>screen? Even non-interlace screens have a flicker of sorts. 60hz is fast >>enough that a non-interlace screen is refreshing faster than the eye can see, >>50hz is just below that threshold and is quite visible. You DON'T WANT PAL! ---------------- This is not an objective statement. > > IMHO, I would be inclined to disagree that 50Hz flicker is "quite visible". >While I have never seen a 60Hz video screen, and suspect that if an NTSC >and PAL screen were placed next to each other you would be able to see a >difference, I doubt very much it would be significant. Logically, not >even a _european_ :-) would design a TV system that had noticable flicker, >and if they did, europe would never get anything done, as most of the >population would be off sick with migraines after watching TV the previous >evening. In europe (well, my part at least) NTSC is a byword for how things >shouldn`t be done, as I am sure PAL is in the US. This is a religious issue, >and the truth lies somewhere between the two. > Getting back to the Amiga, it is a little disturbing to see the NTSC >black bar at the bottom of the screen, as you get a feeling that the machine >is not being used to its fullest extent. Good software checks for the machine >type, and adjusts accordingly, but this is not always possible with pre- >drawn screens, etc. J. Toebes wrote a good article in Transactor some time >ago about international aspects of Amiga programs. It`s worth checking out. > As a general rule, ``flicker'' depends on hardware AND on people. People accustomed to 60Hz NTSC screen are quite dependable to notice flicker on a 50Hz PAL screen, and accordingly label the stuff as junk. On the other hand, color separation is atrocious on a NTSC system compared to a PAL one, and european users don't fail to notice that. I myself have been submitted to the following experiment: migrate from Europe to the US, buy an amiga 3000 and use it for 6 months in NTSC mode. Then one day, try and switch to PAL. Lo and behold ! flicker, awfully noticeable. What is most interesting is that I had a PAL amiga in Europe for more than 2 years and never noticed any flicker !!! I'm sure if you were to do the reverse experiment, you would notice PAL flicker gradually fade away over a short period. Aside of that, I'm sure that people who work on 70Hz monitors notice flicker on these baaaaad NTSC screens :-) Well, maybe PAL has side effects, like headaches if you work too long in front of the same screen. In that case, I wouldn't assume NTSC to be free of it. -- Marc Espie (espie@flamingo.stanford.edu)