For some media formats there were legitimate issues.
For instance, American NTSC encoding’s 30fps (29.97 actually, but not diving into color encoding right now) refresh rates were due to the 60Hz American electrical grid, whereas PAL encoding’s 25fps was due to a 50Hz electrical grid.
It’s also why American tvs showing a panning shot of a film (24fps) or a European TV program will sometimes look choppy. They added filler frames when re-encoding for NTSC.
For some media formats there were legitimate issues.
For instance, American NTSC encoding’s 30fps (29.97 actually, but not diving into color encoding right now) refresh rates were due to the 60Hz American electrical grid, whereas PAL encoding’s 25fps was due to a 50Hz electrical grid.
It’s also why American tvs showing a panning shot of a film (24fps) or a European TV program will sometimes look choppy. They added filler frames when re-encoding for NTSC.