Sterling Times <2@slewis.biz> said:
Which produces the best definition:

[a] a modern digital 720 line set; or

[b] an 819 line analogue (SECAM) set from the 1960's (my granmother used
to watch Montecarlo TV at her home near to Nice on VHF). The quality
then was outstanding.

How long is a piece of string....

I work with Hi Definition telly which has 1080 lines but is only transmitted on HD sat and possibly cable. TV people have convinced themselves that cheap handy cams like the Sony Z1 "Hi Def Digital Video" are the gift from heaven. The technology inside them is fantastic, but all they do is produce cheap TV sh**te.

The yanks have always produced better quality viewing, the content maybe crap, but the pictures are always great.

I bought my old mum a Sony flat screenTV recently , the first thing I saw was an old movie 'The Bridge on the River Kwai ' nearly 50 years old, shot either on 35mm or 70mm film. The picture quality was stunning after all these years.

So back to the question , SECAM OR PAL are probably equal technically, but it's the content that really counts.....