Editing PAL (section)

== History ==
In the 1950s, Western European countries began plans to introduce colour television and were faced with the fact that the [[NTSC]] standard demonstrated several weaknesses, including colour tone shifting under poor transmission conditions, which became a major issue considering Europe's geographical and weather-related particularities. To overcome NTSC's shortcomings, alternative standards were devised, resulting in the development of the PAL and SECAM standards. The goal was to provide a colour TV standard for the European picture frequency of 50&nbsp;[[field (video)|fields]] per second (50&nbsp;[[hertz]]), and finding a way to eliminate the problems with NTSC.

PAL was developed by [[Walter Bruch]] at [[Telefunken]] in [[Hanover]], [[West Germany]], with important input from {{Interlanguage link|Gerhard Mahler|de|3=Gerhard Mahler (Fernsehtechniker)|lt=Gerhard Mahler}}.<ref>{{cite web |date=2 March 2020 |title=Walter Bruch and the PAL Color Television System |url=http://scihi.org/walter-bruch/ |access-date=6 July 2021 |quote=In 1963, when he gave a public presentation of the Phase Alternation Line to a group of experts from the European Broadcasting Union in Hannover}}</ref> The format was patented by [[Telefunken]] in December 1962, citing Bruch as inventor,<ref>{{cite web |date=7 December 2019 |title=Walter Bruch; PAL Television |url=https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/walter-bruch-pal-television/ |access-date=14 July 2021 |quote=In 1950s, when Telefunken commissioned Bruch to invent an automated differential phase correction for color television. That's why he was awarded. |archive-date=6 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241006175833/https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/walter-bruch-pal-television/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> and unveiled to members of the [[European Broadcasting Union]] (EBU) on 3 January 1963.<ref name=":0" /> 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"<ref>{{cite web |title=English translation of 'Bruch' |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/german-english/bruch |website=Collins German to English Dictionary}}</ref>).

The first broadcasts began in the [[United Kingdom]] in July 1967, followed by [[West Germany]] at the [[IFA Berlin|Berlin IFA]] on August 25.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=45 Years Anniversary of Walter Bruch's PAL Color Television |url=https://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/45_years_anniversary_of_walter_bruchs_pal_color_television.html |website=radiomuseum.org |access-date=15 March 2022 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407083759/https://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/45_years_anniversary_of_walter_bruchs_pal_color_television.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ITU">The standard that defines the PAL system was last published by the [[International Telecommunication Union]] in 1998 and has the title [https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BT.470/en ''Recommendation ITU-R BT.470, Conventional Television Systems''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920080738/https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-BT.470/en |date=20 September 2019}}</ref> The BBC channel initially using the broadcast standard was [[BBC Two|BBC2]], which had been the first UK TV service to introduce "625-lines" during 1964. The [[Netherlands]] and [[Switzerland]] started PAL broadcasts by 1968, with [[Austria]] following the next year.<ref name=":0" />

''Telefunken PALcolour 708T''<ref>{{cite web |title=Telefunken PALcolour 708 TV advert |url=https://www.radiomuseum.org/forumdata/users/4144/40_years_PAL/D_Telefunken_1967_708SM_advert.jpg |website=www.radiomuseum.org |access-date=15 March 2022 |archive-date=15 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315085342/https://www.radiomuseum.org/forumdata/users/4144/40_years_PAL/D_Telefunken_1967_708SM_advert.jpg |url-status=live}}</ref> was the first PAL commercial TV set. It was followed by ''[[Loewe (electronics)|Loewe]]-Farbfernseher S 920'' and ''F 900''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Loewe-Farbfernseher S 920 & F 900 PAL TV advert |url=https://buizenradioclub.nl/media/kunena/attachments/111/Loewe2_1967.jpg |website=buizenradioclub.nl |access-date=15 March 2022 |archive-date=6 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241006175830/https://buizenradioclub.nl/media/kunena/attachments/111/Loewe2_1967.jpg |url-status=live}}</ref>

Telefunken was later bought by the French electronics manufacturer [[Vantiva|Thomson]]. Thomson also bought the ''Compagnie Générale de Télévision'' where [[Henri de France]] developed SECAM, the first [[European Committee for Standardization|European Standard]] for colour television. Thomson, now called Technicolour SA, also owns the [[RCA (trademark)|RCA brand]] and licences it to other companies; [[RCA|Radio Corporation of America]], the originator of that brand, created the NTSC colour TV standard before Thomson became involved.

In [[Italy]], at first [[Indesit]] in co-operation with SEIMART tried to develop its own standard, ISA (''[[:it:Identificazione_a_soppressione_alternata|Identificazione a Soppressione Alternata]]''). However, while it presented very interesting technical and qualitative characteristics, it arrived too late and its eventual adoption would have resulted in heavy political and economic consequences, therefore the system was abandoned in favor of PAL in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |date=2017-02-08 |title=La guerra della tv a colori |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170208192004/http://www.firenzemedia.com/tvacolori.html |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2012-02-29 |title=La tv a colori in Italia - Televisione anni 70 |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229212545/http://www.pagine70.com/vmnews/wmview.php?ArtID=650 |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref>

The [[Soviet Union]] developed two further systems, mixing concepts from PAL and SECAM, known as TRIPAL and NIIR, that never went beyond tests.<ref name=":0" />

In 1993,<ref>{{cite web |date=5 August 1993 |title=EUR-Lex – 31993D0424 – EN |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31993D0424:EN:HTML |website=Official Journal L 196 |pages=48–54}}</ref> an evolution of PAL aimed to improve and enhance format by allowing [[16:9 aspect ratio|16:9]] [[aspect ratio]] broadcasts, while remaining compatible with existing television receivers,<ref>{{cite web |title=Fluke PM5420 Application Note PALplus |url=https://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/it_products/B0291A-16U9509_NL_EN.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303224309/https://assets.fluke.com/appnotes/it_products/B0291A-16U9509_NL_EN.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=assets.fluke.com}}</ref> was introduced. Named [[PALplus]], it was defined by [[International Telecommunication Union|ITU]] recommendation BT.1197-1. It was developed at the [[Technical University of Dortmund|University of Dortmund]] in [[Germany]], in cooperation with German terrestrial broadcasters and European and Japanese manufacturers. Adoption was limited to European countries.

With the introduction of [[Digital terrestrial television|digital broadcasts]] and signal sources (ex: [[DVD-Video|DVDs]], game consoles), the term PAL was used imprecisely to refer to the [[625 lines|625-line]]/50&nbsp;Hz television system in general, to differentiate from the [[525 lines|525-line]]/60&nbsp;Hz system generally used with NTSC. For example, DVDs were labelled as PAL or NTSC (referring to the line count and frame rate)<ref>{{cite web |title=What Is a NTSC Format DVD? How Can I Play a NTSC DVD in the UK Without Restriction? |url=https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/tips/ntsc-format-dvd.html |website=videoconverterfactory.com |access-date=15 March 2022 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407083821/https://www.videoconverterfactory.com/tips/ntsc-format-dvd.html |url-status=live}}</ref> even though technically the discs carry neither PAL nor NTSC encoded signal. These devices would still have analog outputs (ex; [[composite video]] output), and would convert the digital signals ([[576i]] or [[480i]]) to the analog standards to assure compatibility. CCIR 625/50 and EIA 525/60 are the proper names for these (line count and field rate) standards; PAL and NTSC on the other hand are methods of encoding colour information in the signal.