THE VIDEO SHELF · ntsc video frame rates
Why is TV 29.97 frames per second?
Matt Parker explains the history behind NTSC television running at 29.97 frames per second rather than 30, tracing it to the backward-compatible addition of color. He walks through the arithmetic behind the odd ratio.
Why HN readers recommended it
Go-to explanation whenever the strange 29.97 frame rate comes up, praised for its clarity and presenter.
This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.
Video & recommendation details
- Creator / channel
- Stand-up Maths
- Topic
- ntsc video frame rates
- Format
- explainer
- Level
- general
- HN recommenders in dataset
- 4
- HN mentions in dataset
- 5
- Recommendation years in dataset
- 2016–2025
These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.
From the original HN conversations
Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.
Vaguely related, anyone who hasn't seen it, definitely go and watch Matt Parker's legendary explanation of why NTSC runs at 29.97fps: [VIDEO]
mikepurvis on Hacker News · 2020-10
In My Eight-Year Quest to Digitize 45 VideotapesIf anyone wonders where the odd NTSC frame-rate ratio originated from, Matt Parker (standupmaths) did a comprehensive video, with some original write-up on this recently: [VIDEO]
mxfh on Hacker News · 2016-10
In The “432 Hz vs. 440 Hz” conspiracy theoryCool video. I found another interesting one: Why is TV 29.97 frames per second? [0], which refers to NTSC's frame rate. [0]: [VIDEO]
santix on Hacker News · 2018-01
In Color Television: NTSC Tutorials
Summaries, classifications and recommendation records are from the HackerTube source dataset. Read about this library and its limitations.