Posted by tony on 09/16/05 18:58

On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 19:28:09 +0100, "Dr Zoidberg"
<AlexNOOOOO!!!!!!@drzoidberg.co.uk> wrote:

>Niall Leonard wrote:
>> My nephew asked me.
>>
>> Oh, yes I said.
>>
>> Actually I think it will... I'll find out...
>>
>> Can anyone advise?
>>
>Aus uses PAL same as the UK.
>France uses SECAM so normally it wouldn't (grey picture , no sound IIRC) but
>dual standard TVs are quite common across the channel so you shouldn't rule
>it out completely

it isn't just the TV that has to be compatible. The signals recorded
on the tape are radically different between SECAM and PAL - instead of
hetrodyning the subcarrier down to its lower frequency for recording,
the FM subcarrier is divided by four and then multiplied back up in
playback on a SECAM machine. I suspect that a modern machine would
handle PAL as the home entertainment side of the industry is dropping
SECAM. There is no such thing as a SECAM DVD for instance.

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