How to Switch Between NTSC & PAL on the GoPro HERO9 Black

If you need to switch between NTSC and PAL video shooting modes on the HERO9 Black, it’s not quite as obvious how to do that as it could be. Here’s how to do it.

GoPro HERO9 Black Anti-Filcker Menu Setting
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Switching between NTSC and PAL isn’t something that many GoPro users will need to do very often. The reality is that most users will have it set on one or the other and happily shoot away on that all the time without ever changing it. If you’re in the United States, that’s likely to be NTSC. If you live in the UK or Europe, it’s probably PAL.

But maybe you’re traveling and need to shoot for an international audience or playback on a local television. Or maybe you need to match a clip to some previously shot footage at a specific framerate or are collaborating with someone else (mixing and matching can cause problems). So here’s how to switch between NTSC and PAL on the HERO9 Black.

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) and PAL (Phase Alternating Line) refer to different broadcast formats used in various regions of the world. NTSC is the standard in the Americas and Japan, while PAL is used in the UK, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. There are technically others, but NTSC and PAL are the two major ones still used today. 1 For NTSC, the underlying power system for broadcast television is based on 60 hertz. For PAL, it’s 50 hertz. 2 They’re primarily relevant to broadcast signals and are much less relevant if you’re shooting footage that will be shared on the web.

The practical difference between them when it comes to shooting video with your GoPro is that they have different refresh rates. When shooting video with a GoPro—or any camera, for that matter, that impacts the frames per second that are available in each mode. In NTSC, they’re multiples of 30 (eg. 30fps, 60fps, 120fps, 240fps). In PAL, they’re multiples of 25 (eg. 25fps, 50fps, 100fps, 200fps). 3

Toggling these will open up new framerate options when you set the video options. If you set it to 60Hz, you’ll get framerate options that are multiples of 30. If you set it to 50Hz, you’ll get framerate options that are multiples of 25.

Put another way: if you need to match some footage with some that was previously shot at 100fps, you’ll first need to set the anti-flicker setting to 50Hz before you can choose the 100fps framerate.

How to Switch Between NTSC and PAL on the GoPro HERO9 Black’s On-Camera Menu

The reason I’m going to the effort of writing this quick guide isn’t that it’s particularly hard to change between NTSC and PAL on the HERO9 Black, but because it’s not as obvious how to do it as it could be. That’s because you won’t find “NTSC” or “PAL” anywhere in the settings or menus, not even in the setting help description.

GoPro has done away with those since the HERO8 Black, now instead referring only to frequency. The menu item is called Anti-Flicker. And it’s not under the regional settings, which is one logical place for it (and where it is on the HERO7 Black, for instance, under Preferences > Regional > Video Format > NTSC or PAL).

To find this setting on the camera, go to:

Preferences > General > Anti-Flicker

From there, you can choose between 60Hz (which is NTSC) and 50Hz (which is PAL).

How to Switch Between NTSC and PAL on the GoPro HERO9 Black’s On-Camera Menu

GoPro doesn’t always have the wording on the camera menu system matching exactly what’s in the GoPro mobile app, but in this case, it does. So it’s straightforward.

In the mobile app, go into the camera’s settings by hitting the wrench (spanner) icon at the top right. Then in the first, large batch of settings under the Setup heading, scroll down to Anti-Flicker. You can then toggle between 60Hz (for NTSC) and 50Hz (for PAL).

GoPro HERO9 Black Anti Flicker Setting GoPro Mobile App

Price & Availability of the GoPro HERO9 Black

Check the current price and availability at:

GoPro HERO9 Black 4K Action Camera
  • 5K Video - Shoot stunning video with up to 5K resolution, perfect for maintaining detail even when...
  • 20MP Photo with SuperPhoto - Capture crisp, pro-quality photos with 20MP clarity. And with SuperPhoto,...
  1. The other big regional standard was SECAM, which originated in France. But it has been mostly phased out, and the countries that were using it have migrated to PAL, NTSC, or DVB-T (a European digital TV standard).[]
  2. There are other differences, such as the number of lines, which in turn affects image resolution and pixel aspect ratio.[]
  3. More precisely, it’s a fractional framerate of 29.97, but it’s nearly always rounded up to 30fps in settings menus and when talking about it. That is, when talking about NTSC video, 29.97 and 30 are referring to the same thing.[]

Images and product information from Amazon PA-API were last updated on 2023-09-27 at 01:21. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

New Model: GoPro HERO12 Black

Released in September 2023, the HERO12 Black is GoPro's newest model.

GoPro HERO12 Black
  • 5.3K60 / 4K120 / 2.7K240 Video
  • 27MP Photos
  • Waterproof to 33ft/10m
  • HyperSmooth 6.0 Stabilization
  • Shoot 5.3K60 & 4K120 video at up to 120Mbps bitrate
  • HDR video up to 5.3K30
  • Horizon Lock keeps level even during movement
  • Take 27MP photos (5568 x 4872 pixels)
  • 1/1.9" CMOS sensor
  • Waterproof to 33ft / 10m, so you can take it swimming, paddling, surfing, or snorkeling without a separate housing
  • Built-in mount point
  • HyperSmooth 6.0 In-camera Video Stabilization creates smooth video without a gimbal
  • Shoot up to 8x slow motion
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David Coleman / Photographer

David Coleman

I'm a freelance travel photographer based in Washington DC. Seven continents, up mountains, underwater, and a bunch of places in between. My images have appeared in numerous publications, and you can check out some of my travel photography here. I've been shooting with GoPros for years, starting with the HD HERO, and have owned and used every model since. More »

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