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Hi mhardy6647,
You inquired:
"What do people in France do with NTSC TVs? :-)"
Well, if you want to collect TVs of any era, France does not offer too much choice! The country used first 30/60/120/180/240 lines but no sets survive except very, very few in museums or private collections. 441 line TVs are rare but can be found, then 819 lines with Positive video RF and AM sound, then 625 with the same RF scheme no one else uses, then color with SECAM. So either you limit yourself to an all-French collection, or you widen your choice by accepting the Euro-standard used by most other countries (625, B/G and I, UK) and of course NTSC sets.
By the sheer luck of birth, i have family in the US and first saw color TV in 1957 or 1958, which decided of my future career right there and then.
Thanks to modern wizardry such as the Aurora products (Darryl, how can we ever thank you enough!) and affordable digital standards conversion, it becomes possible to operate all the major TV standards anywhere on the planet.
Also, a TV is more fun when it works. All modern Western nations will be shutting down analogue transmissions between 2009 (USA) and 2012. Even if dual illumination is prolonged a bit because of political agendas, the global shutdown will take place fairly soon*, so i'm ready with a full array of LPTV transmitters + spares to face the great blackout.
I've chosen NTSC/M, PAL B/G + I in UHF and SECAM L
Vintage standards are 819/E and 405/A (modulators only, not broadcast)
*Interestingly, France and England faced the same problem 30 years ago when the 819 line (Fr) and 405 line (UK) services were due for closure. Both countries maintained dual illumination of the old + new standard for a full 15 years before ending the service. I can't see that happening in today's fast-paced world.
Final closedown of 819 took place in 1983, yes, it was that late!
Best Regards
jhalphen
Paris/France
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