PAL

Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television used in broadcast television systems in most countries broadcasting at 625-line / 50 field (25 frame) per second (576i). Other common colour encoding systems are NTSC and SECAM.

All the countries using PAL are currently in process of conversion or have already converted to DVB.

This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system. The articles on broadcast television systems and analogue television further describe frame rates, image resolution and audio modulation.

History

In the 1950s, the Western European countries commenced planning to introduce colour television, and were faced with the problem that the NTSC standard demonstrated several weaknesses, including colour tone shifting under poor transmission conditions, which became a major issue considering Europe's geographical and weather-related particularities. To overcome NTSC's shortcomings, alternative standards were devised, resulting in the development of the PAL and SECAM standards. The goal was to provide a colour TV standard for the European picture frequency of 50 fields per second (50 hertz), and finding a way to eliminate the problems with NTSC.

Physics Abstraction Layer

The Physics Abstraction Layer (PAL) is an open source cross-platform physical simulation API abstraction system. It is similar to a physics engine wrapper, however it is far more flexible providing extended abilities. PAL is free software, released under the BSD license.

PAL is a high-level interface for low-level physics engines used in games, simulation systems, and other 3D applications. It supports a number of dynamic simulation methodologies, including rigid body, liquids, soft body, ragdoll, and vehicle dynamics. PAL features a simple C++ API and intuitive objects (e.g. Solids, Joints, Actuators, Sensors, and Materials). It also features COLLADA, Scythe Physics Editor, and XML-based file storage.

The Physics Abstraction Layer provides a number of benefits over directly using a physics engine:

PAL (disambiguation)

PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is a colour encoding system for analogue television.

PAL or Pal may also refer to:

Organizations

Science and technology

Medicine, biology, and psychology

Computers