Editing NTSC (section)

=== Frame rate conversion ===
{{See also|Telecine}}

There is a large difference in [[frame rate]] between film, which runs at 24 frames per second, and the NTSC standard, which runs at approximately 29.97 (10&nbsp;MHz&nbsp;× {{nowrap|63/88/455/525}}) frames per second.

In regions that use 25-fps television and video standards, this difference can be overcome by [[576i#PAL speed-up|speed-up]].

For 30-fps standards, a process called "[[Three-two pull down|3:2 pulldown]]" is used. One film frame is transmitted for three video fields (lasting {{frac|1|1|2}}&nbsp;video frames), and the next frame is transmitted for two video fields (lasting 1&nbsp;video frame). Two film frames are thus transmitted in five video fields, for an average of {{frac|2|1|2}}&nbsp;video fields per film frame. The average frame rate is thus 60&nbsp;÷ 2.5&nbsp;= 24 frames per second, so the average film speed is nominally exactly what it should be. (In reality, over the course of an hour of real time, 215,827.2 video fields are displayed, representing 86,330.88 frames of film, while in an hour of true 24-fps film projection, exactly 86,400 frames are shown: thus, 29.97-fps NTSC transmission of 24-fps film runs at 99.92% of the film's normal speed.) Still-framing on playback can display a video frame with fields from two different film frames, so any difference between the frames will appear as a rapid back-and-forth flicker. There can also be noticeable jitter/"stutter" during slow camera pans ([[Telecine#Telecine judder|telecine judder]]).

Film shot specifically for NTSC television is usually taken at 30 (instead of 24) frames per second to avoid 3:2 pulldown.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennel |first1=Glenn |last2=Pytlak |first2=John |last3=Sehlin |first3=Richard |last4=Uhlig |first4=Ronald |date=December 1988 |title=Major Motion-Picture Production Standards |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7258828 |url-status=dead |journal=SMPTE Journal |volume=97 |issue=12 |pages=985–990 |doi=10.5594/J02849 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180609012432/https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7258828/ |archive-date=June 9, 2018 |access-date=March 12, 2023}}</ref>

To show 25-fps material (such as European [[Television show|television series]] and some European movies) on NTSC equipment, every fifth frame is duplicated and then the resulting stream is interlaced.

Film shot for NTSC television at 24 frames per second has traditionally been accelerated by 1/24 (to about 104.17% of normal speed) for transmission in regions that use 25-fps television standards. This increase in picture speed has traditionally been accompanied by a similar increase in the pitch and tempo of the audio. More recently, frame-blending has been used to convert 24&nbsp;FPS video to 25&nbsp;FPS without altering its speed.

Film shot for television in regions that use 25-fps television standards can be handled in either of two ways:
* The film can be shot at 24 frames per second. In this case, when transmitted in its native region, the film may be accelerated to 25&nbsp;fps according to the analog technique described above, or kept at 24&nbsp;fps by the digital technique described above. When the same film is transmitted in regions that use a nominal 30-fps television standard, there is no noticeable change in speed, tempo, and pitch.
* The film can be shot at 25 frames per second. In this case, when transmitted in its native region, the film is shown at its normal speed, with no alteration of the accompanying soundtrack. When the same film is shown in regions that use a 30-fps nominal television standard, every fifth frame is duplicated, and there is still no noticeable change in speed, tempo, and pitch.

Because both film speeds have been used in 25-fps regions, viewers can face confusion about the true speed of video and audio, and the pitch of voices, sound effects, and musical performances, in television films from those regions. For example, they may wonder whether the [[Jeremy Brett]] series of [[Sherlock Holmes]] television films, made in the 1980s and early 1990s, was shot at 24&nbsp;fps and then transmitted at an artificially fast speed in 25-fps regions, or whether it was shot at 25&nbsp;fps natively and then slowed to 24&nbsp;fps for NTSC exhibition.

These discrepancies exist not only in television broadcasts over the air and through cable, but also in the home-video market, on both tape and disc, including [[LaserDisc]] and [[DVD]].

In digital television and video, which are replacing their analog predecessors, single standards that can accommodate a wider range of frame rates still show the limits of analog regional standards. The initial version of the [[ATSC standards|ATSC]] standard, for example, allowed frame rates of 23.976, 24, 29.97, 30, 59.94, 60, 119.88 and 120 frames per second, but not 25 and 50. Modern ATSC allows 25 and 50&nbsp;FPS.