PAL stands for Phase Alternation Line, Picture Always Lousy, or Perfect At Last depending on your viewpoint. Technically, PAL is just a color modulation scheme--PAL is to Europe as NTSC is to North America. To fully specify the color video signal it should be referred to as (B, D, G, H, I, M, N, or CN) PAL. (B, D, G, H, I) PAL is the color video standard used in Europe and many other countries. (M, N, CN) PAL is also used in a few places, but not as popular.

(B, D, G, H, I) PAL uses 625 lines per frame while (M) NTSC has 525 lines. Therefore, (B, D, G, H, I) PAL has higher vertical resolution. The frame rate of (M) NTSC is about 30 frames per second while for (B, D, G, H, I) PAL it is 25. This means the update rate for (M) NTSC is higher and therefore there is more flicker with (B, D, G, H, I) PAL. (B, D, G, H, I) PAL uses the Y'UV color space while (M) NTSC uses Y'IQ or Y'UV. That's no big deal, just a little mathematical difference. It is becoming increasingly important for video systems suppliers to produce equipment that can be sold worldwide without many manufacturing difficulties. This implies that the equipment must be designed from the start to accommodate both standards.

"PAL" is also commonly (though incorrectly) used to refer to any 625/50 video system.