SIGMA SD1 - Manual (Page 122)

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NTSC
National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) video format is primarily used
in the United States, Japan, Canada etc. The NTSC is a standard for television
and videos, which defines a composite video signal with a refresh rate of 60
half-frames (interlaced) per second. Each frame contains 525 lines and can
contain 16 million different colors.
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL), video format primarily used in Europe, excluding
France, as well as Australia and parts of the Far East. PAL delivers 625 lines at
50 half-frames per second.
RAW
The RAW image format is the data as it comes directly from the image sensor of
the camera. No in-camera processing is performed before transferring the image
to computer.
Shutter Speed
The camera’s shutter opens for a length of time to control the amount of light that
reaches the imaging element. The length of time that shutter blinds are open
allowing light to strike the image sensor is called as shutter speed.
White Balance
The human eye and brain adapt to changes in lighting conditions, not only to
intensity, but also to the color characteristic of the light source, so that colors of
the objects look normal or accurate. For example, a white object will appear white
whether it is viewed under sunlight, tungsten or fluorescent illumination. However,
color film or digital camera must be adjusted, so that colors will be represented
accurately, under different types of illumination. This adjustment is called white
balance. The function to adjust a white balance automatically is called automatic
white balance.