This page was written by Steven J. DeRose around 1998, and was last updated on 2003-04-23.
With all the new video formats coming out, it's getting really confusing. So I decided to try and track the important ones down, and get some simple comparison information.
Tracking this information down turned out to be fairly hard. There are lots of sites that mention a few of them, always phrased as if they's absolutely no doubt they're right; but many contradict each other. Anyway, here's what I've been able to gather so far:
| Format name | Horizontal lines/pixels | Vertical lines/pixels | Frames per second | Aspect ratio h:v | Notes and descriptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composite video formats | |||||
| NTSC (tv) | 525? | 30 | |||
| VHS | 240? 250? | ||||
| VHS-C | 240 250? | Tape thin and fragile | |||
| 8mm | 260 250/280? | ||||
| 3/4" Umatic | 280 | Basically obsolete | |||
| 3/4" SP Umatic | 330 | Sony version of Umatic | |||
| 3/4" D-2 | 440 | ||||
| 1/2" D-3 | 440 | Panasonic version of D-2 | |||
| 1" type C | Obsolete | ||||
| S-video formats (color + brightness) | |||||
| SVHS | 410 | ||||
| SVHS-C | |||||
| HI-8 | 410/440 | Sensitive to dust | |||
| Component video formats (three color channels) | |||||
| 1/2" Betacam | 300 | Sony | |||
| 1/2" BetaSP | 360 | ||||
| 1/2" MII | 440 | Panasonic; never caught on | |||
| 3/4" D-1 | 460 | 4 CD-quality audio channels | |||
| Miscellaneous video formats | |||||
| HDTV | <=1920 | <=1080 | 18 formats | ||
| LaserDisc | 425 | ||||
| LD-XR | 480 | <=480 | 16:9 | ||
| PAL | 720 | 576 | |||
| PAL-M | 525 | 30 | Brazil only | ||
| BetaMax | |||||
| DVD | 720 | 480/576 | |||
| VCD | 352 | 240/288 | |||
| SVCD | 480 | 480/576 | |||
| miniDVD | 720 | 480/576 | |||
| Digital8 | ~500 | Sony, uses 8mm or Hi-8 cartridge | |||
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