View source for PAL-M

{{Short description|Brazilian analog color television broadcast standard}}
[[Image:PAL-NTSC-SECAM.svg|thumb|400px|right|[[Color|Color]] encoding used in analog television, by nation in the 20th century.]]

'''PAL-M''' is the analogue [[Engineering:Color television|colour TV]] system used in {{wipe|Brazil}} since early 1972,<ref>{{Cite web |title=PAL-M |url=http://p2k.unhamzah.ac.id/IT/3073-2970/PAL-M_20712_p2k-unhamzah.html |website=Informatika & Komputer}}</ref><ref>Memória Globo. ''Jornal Nacional - A notícia faz história.'' Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar Editor, p. 51</ref> making it the first [[Earth:South America|South America]]n country to broadcast in colour. 

It is unique among analogue TV systems in that it combines the [[Engineering:480i|525-line]] 30 frames-per-second [[CCIR System M|System M]] with the [[Engineering:PAL|PAL]] colour encoding system (using very nearly the [[Engineering:NTSC|NTSC]] [[Color|colour]] subcarrier frequency), unlike all other countries which pair [[Engineering:PAL|PAL]] with 625-line systems and [[Engineering:NTSC|NTSC]] with [[Engineering:480i|525-line]] systems.

Colour broadcasts began on February 19, 1972, when the Globo and Bandeirantes networks transmitted the Caxias do Sul Grape Festival. Transition from black and white to colour on most programmes was not complete until 1978, <ref>{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=Anos 70 - História da Televisão no Brasil |url=http://www.tudosobretv.com.br/histortv/tv70.htm |website=Tudo Sobre TV}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=apyus |date=2008 |title=[FNDC] – Os números da TV digital / referências históricas |url=http://www.dtv.org.br/fndc-os-numeros-da-tv-digital-referencias-historicas/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405033622/http://www.dtv.org.br/fndc-os-numeros-da-tv-digital-referencias-historicas/ |archive-date=2014-04-05 |website=DTV - SITE OFICIAL DA TV DIGITAL BRASILEIRA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Meu Primeiro Baile |url=http://www.teledramaturgia.com.br/primbaile.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114095610/http://www.teledramaturgia.com.br/primbaile.htm |archive-date=2007-11-14  |website=Teledramaturgia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=O Bem Amado - Bastidores |url=http://teledramaturgia.com.br/tele/bemamadob.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731090553/http://teledramaturgia.com.br/tele/bemamadob.asp |archive-date=2010-07-31 |website=Teledramaturgia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Estúpido Cupido |url=http://teledramaturgia.com.br/estupido-cupido/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223083438/http://teledramaturgia.com.br/tele/estupido.asp |archive-date=2010-12-23 |url-status=live |website=Teledramaturgia}}</ref> and only became commonplace nationwide by 1980.

== Origins ==
NTSC being the "natural" choice for countries with monochrome standard M, the choice of a different [[Color|colour]] system poses problems of incompatibility with available hardware and the need to develop new television sets and production hardware. [[Biography:Walter Bruch|Walter Bruch]], inventor of PAL, explains Brazil's choice of PAL over NTSC against these odds by an advertising campaign [[Company:Telefunken|Telefunken]] and [[Company:Philips|Philips]] carried out across South America in 1972, which included colour test broadcasts of popular shows (done with TV Globo) and technical demonstrations with executives of television stations.<ref>[http://www.drm-berlin.de/uebersicht/publikation/publikation.html PAL Das Farbfernsehen] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071208011535/http://www.drm-berlin.de/uebersicht/publikation/publikation.html |date=2007-12-08 }}; Walter Bruch/Heide Riedel; Deutsches Rundfunk-Museum 1987</ref>

== Technical specifications ==
PAL-M signals are in general identical to North American NTSC signals, except for the encoding of the [[Color|colour]] carrier.<ref name="vcolor.com.br">{{Cite web |last=Bueno |first=Osvaldo Ademir |date=2002 |title=Sistemas e padrões de vídeo. |url=http://www.vcolor.com.br/nova/sistemas.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171123052456/http://www.vcolor.com.br/nova/sistemas.htm |archive-date=23 November 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Both systems are based on the monochrome [[CCIR System M]] standard, therefore, PAL-M will display in monochrome with sound on an NTSC set and vice versa. Nevertheless, due to the different [[Physics:Gamma correction|gamma correction]] values (2.2 for NTSC, 2.8 for PAL-M), gray tones will be incorrect.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.470-6-199811-S!!PDF-E.pdf#page=9 |title=Rec. ITU-R BT.470-6 - CONVENTIONAL TELEVISION SYSTEMS |publisher=ITU-R |year=1998 |pages=9}}</ref>

PAL-M is incompatible with [[576i|625-line based versions of PAL]], because its frame rate, scan line, [[Color|colour]] subcarrier and sound carrier specifications are different. It will therefore usually give a rolling and/or squashed monochrome picture with no sound on a native European PAL television, as do NTSC signals.

{| class="wikitable" 
|+ PAL-M Details<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |url=https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/bt/R-REC-BT.470-6-199811-S!!PDF-E.pdf#page=16 |title=Rec. ITU-R BT.470-6 - CONVENTIONAL TELEVISION SYSTEMS |publisher=ITU-R |year=1998 |pages=16}}</ref><ref name="vcolor.com.br"/><ref name=":0" />
|- style="font-weight:bold;"
! style="font-weight:normal;" |
! | PAL M
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | [[Physics:Radio spectrum#ITU|Transmission band]]
| VHF/UHF
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | [[Engineering:Field (video)|Fields]]
| 60
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Scan lines
| 525
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | [[Raster scan|Active lines]]
| 480
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | [[Bandwidth (signal processing)|Channel bandwidth]]
| 6&nbsp;MHz
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Video bandwidth
| 4.2&nbsp;MHz
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Vision/Sound carrier spacing
| 4.5&nbsp;MHz
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Colour [[Engineering:Subcarrier|Subcarrier]]
| 3.575611&nbsp;MHz
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | Assumed Receiver<br /> [[Physics:Gamma correction|Gamma correction]]
| 2.8
|-
| style="font-weight:bold;" | [[Color model]]
| [[YUV]]
|}

Colorimetry is similar to the original 1953 color NTSC specification:<ref>47 CFR § 73.682 (20) (iv)</ref><ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable"
|+ PAL-M Colorimetry<ref name=":0" />
|-
! rowspan="3" | Color space !! rowspan="3" | Standard !! rowspan="3" | Year
! rowspan="3" | [[Physics:Standard illuminant#White points of standard illuminants|White point]]
! colspan="6" | Primaries
|-
! colspan="2" | Red !! colspan="2" | Green !! colspan="2" | Blue
|-
! xʀ !! yʀ !! xɢ !! yɢ !! xʙ !! yʙ
|-
! PAL-M
| BT.470-6<ref name="auto" />
| 1972
| [[Physics:Standard illuminant#Illuminants B and C|C]]
| 0.67
| 0.33
| 0.21
| 0.71
| 0.14
| 0.08
|}

=== PAL-M systems conversion issues ===
PAL-M being a standard unique to one country, the need to convert it to/from other standards often arises.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mota |first=Amanda |date=December 2007 |title=Pólo Industrial de Manaus fabrica mais de 9,5 milhões de televisores em dez meses |work=Agência Brasil |url=http://memoria.ebc.com.br/agenciabrasil/noticia/2007-12-29/polo-industrial-de-manaus-fabrica-mais-de-95-milhoes-de-televisores-em-dez-meses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 2011 |title=Como funciona a Transcodificação (ART505) |url=https://www.newtoncbraga.com.br/index.php/como-funciona/3672-art505 |website=Instituto Newton C. Braga}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=February 26, 1982 |title=SHARP LANÇA O PRIMEIRO VIDEOCASSETE DOMÉSTICO |work=Folha de São Paulo |url=http://almanaque.folha.uol.com.br/dinheiro_26fev1982.htm}}</ref><ref name="paradiso-design.net">{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Worldwide TV Systems (NTSC, PAL, and SECAM) |url=http://www.paradiso-design.net/TVsystems_worldwide.html |website=PAL-NTSC-FILM-Converter}}</ref>

* Conversion to/from NTSC is easy, as only the [[Color|colour]] carrier needs to be changed. Frame rate and scan lines can remain untouched.
* Conversion to/from PAL/625 lines/25 frame/s and SECAM/625/25 signals involves changing the frame rates as well as the scan lines. This is achieved using complicated circuitry involving a digital frame store, the same method used for converting between NTSC and the 625/25 standards. The fact that the colour encoding of PAL-M and PAL/625/25 is the same does not help, as the entire signal goes through an [[Analog-to-digital converter|A/D-D/A conversion]] process anyway.

However some special VHS video recorders are available which can allow viewers the flexibility of enjoying PAL-M recordings using a standard PAL (625/50&nbsp;Hz) colour TV, or even through multi-system TV sets. [[Engineering:Videocassette recorder|Video recorders]] like [[Company:Panasonic|Panasonic]] NV-W1E (AG-W1 for the USA), AG-W2, AG-W3, NV-J700AM, [[Company:Aiwa|Aiwa]] HV-MX100, HV-MX1U, [[Company:Samsung|Samsung]] SV-4000W and SV-7000W feature a digital TV system conversion circuitry. Some recorders support the other way around, being able to playback standard PAL (625/50&nbsp;Hz) in 50&nbsp;Hz-compatible PAL-M TV sets, such as the Panasonic NV-FJ605.

=== PAL 60 ===
The PAL [[Color|colour]] system (either baseband or with any RF system, with the normal 4.43&nbsp;MHz subcarrier unlike PAL-M) can also be applied to an NTSC-like [[Engineering:525 lines|525-line]] picture to form what is often known as "PAL-60" (sometimes "PAL-60/525," "Pseudo-PAL," or "Quasi-PAL"). This non-standard signal is a method used in European domestic VCRs and [[Engineering:DVD player|DVD player]]s for playback of NTSC material on PAL televisions. It's not identical to PAL-M and incompatible with it, because the colour subcarrier is at a different frequency; it will therefore display in monochrome on PAL-M and NTSC television sets.

== Technological obsolescence ==

=== SBTVD and ABERT/SET tests ===

The analog PAL-M was scheduled to be supplanted by a digital [[Engineering:High-definition television|high-definition]] system named [[Engineering:ISDB-T International#Expansion of ISDB-T International/SBTVD/ISDB-Tb around the world|Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital]] (SBTVD) by 2015, and finishing in 2018. From 1999 to 2000, the ABERT/SET group in Brazil did system comparison tests of [[ATSC standards|ATSC]], [[DVB-T]] and [[Company:ISDB#ISDB-T|ISDB-T]] under the supervision of the CPqD foundation. 

Originally, Brazil including Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay planned to adopt the DVB-T standard. However, the ABERT/SET group selected ISDB-T, after field-tests results showed that it was the most robust system under Brazilian reception conditions. Therefore, SBTVD was replaced by the Brazilian variant of the ISDB standard, [[Engineering:ISDB-T International|ISDB-Tb]], which features SBTVD's characteristics into the originally-Japanese digital norm.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== See also ==
* [[Engineering:Broadcast television systems|Broadcast television systems]]
{{TV resolution}}
{{Video formats}}
{{Analogue TV transmitter topics}}

[[Category:Television technology]]
[[Category:Television transmission standards]]
[[Category:Video formats]]

{{Sourceattribution|PAL-M}}