Re: 333
tom2000 said:
why do those english have to be so different from the rest of us
Because we did it first :lol:
The UK had the worlds first TV system, well before the USA. As a result of this we ended up with 405 lines on VHF band I and band III. Later on the USA used 525 lines, again on VHF (as far as I know).
Now while the USA were stuck with the crappy NTSC colour system (because they did commercial colour TV first), the UK were stuck with B/W 405 line TV.
The solution was to move to the modern UHF band, which gives a great deal more bandwidth - this was done in stages, with the first programme being the new BBC2 - which appeared early/mid-60's. All programmes on UHF have always been 625 line, getting ready for colour to start. In 1969 the other two channels BBC1 and ITV joined BBC2 on UHF, and three programme colour started in the UK. The early colour sets were dual-standard, you watched BBC1 and ITV in 405 line, black and white, and BBC2 in 625 line colour (at least the few programmes that were available in colour).
The two services ran in parallel for many years, and eventually the old VHF service was shut down.
So in the UK we have:
1) A modern all UHF TV system (now also with the worlds first digital terrestrial service as well).
2) We have high quality PAL colour, instead of crap NTSC.
3) High quality digital stereo NICAM sound.
4) Teletext.