Three main standards for broadcasting and recording television signals are
used throughout the world: National Television Standards Committee (NTSC),
Phase Alternation by Line (PAL), and Systeme Couleur Avec Memoire
(SECAM). These standards are not compatible with one
another. In other words, an NTSC videocassette cannot be played in a PAL VCR,
a PAL video cannot be played in a SECAM VCR, and so forth.
Unless you have a multi-standard VCR (one which can play two or all
three of the standards) you need to know which video standard is used in your
country so you will be able to order tapes in the standard your VCR can play.
The following is a list of countries and the video standards they use.