Editing PAL (section)

{{Short description|Color encoding system for analogue television}}
{{For-multi|the standard-definition digital video mode sometimes referred to as PAL or PAL/SECAM|576i|other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2019}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Analog television encoding systems by nation}}

'''Phase Alternating Line''' ('''PAL''') is a color encoding system for [[analog 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&nbsp;fields (25&nbsp;frames) per second, and associated with CCIR analogue [[broadcast television systems]] [[CCIR System B|B]], [[CCIR System D|D]], [[CCIR System G|G]], [[CCIR System H|H]], [[CCIR System I|I]] or [[CCIR System K|K]]. The articles on analog [[broadcast television systems]] further describe [[frame rate]]s, [[image resolution]], and audio modulation.

PAL video is [[composite video]] because [[Luma (video)|luminance]] (luma, monochrome image) and [[chrominance]] (chroma, colour applied to the monochrome image) are transmitted together as one signal. A latter evolution of the standard, [[PALplus]], added support for [[widescreen]] broadcasts with no loss of vertical [[image resolution]], while retaining compatibility with existing sets. Almost all of the countries using PAL are currently in the [[Digital television transition|process of conversion]], or have already converted transmission standards to [[DVB]], [[ISDB]] or [[Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcast|DTMB]]. The PAL designation continues to be used in some non-broadcast contexts, especially regarding [[Console video game|console video games]].