Where does this come from, and can I check it?

NTSC ran 30 frames a second, split into two interlaced fields. The figure is taken from Federal Communications Commission, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a movies & tv fact?

Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The American TV standard used 525 lines

NTSC ran 30 frames a second, split into two interlaced fields The NTSC system, adopted in the United States in 1941, used 525 horizontal lines and roughly 30 frames per second, each frame sent as two interlaced fields. Interlacing halved the bandwidth needed for a smooth-looking picture. Japan and much of the Americas used the same standard, while Europe chose 625 lines. It sits in Mondo's movies & tv collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Federal Communications Commission

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Europe chose 625 lines and 25 framesThe European PAL system traded frame rate for sharper picture detail France developed its own colour TV systemSECAM encoded colour in a different way from the rival TV systems 16:9 was a compromise between film shapesEngineers picked a ratio roughly between old television and widescreen cinema Mechanical television used a spinning discA spinning perforated disc scanned the picture one line at a time The iconoscope was the first practical TV camera tubeVladimir Zworykin's tube stored a light image as electric charge Coaxial cable built the first TV networksAT&T linked stations by cable so programmes could reach many cities

Tags: television, standards, ntsc

The American TV standard used 525 lines: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: NTSC ran 30 frames a second, split into two interlaced fields. The figure is taken from Federal Communications Commission, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a movies & tv fact?: Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.