How good was broadcast NTSC/PAL in practice?

[Colly0410]

I was used to 625 lines PAL here in England & after having it drilled into me in technical books how much better 625/PAL was than 525/NTSC I was expecting imperfect pictures when I got to our rented apt in Miami in 1989. Got there & turned on the TV & a perfectly good colour picture appeared that looked just as good as I was used to in England. My wife who has epilepsy preferred the NTSC pictures on CRT TV's as they flickered less than PAL. When I went to Orlando last year the pictures seemed identical to here...