Is PAL and NTSC and SECAM still an issue with high definition televisions?

PAL, NTSC and SECAM are color encoding systems and are used for composite or S-video standard definition signals. Component signals do not rely on any of the color encoding systems. As HD signals are component, they do not use the color encoding methods.

However, this doesn't mean that signals are universally compatible. The regions that use NTSC also use a field rate of 59.94Hz while PAL regions operate at 50Hz. The move to high definition has not changed the frequencies in use in these regions. High definition has at least standardized the resolutions to 720 line and 1080 line.

Many HD televisions will now handle either field rate so many of the problems of PAL - NTSC compatibility have faded away in recent years. Despite this, most commercial content on DVD is coded to prevent them being used outside their own region. North American DVDs for example generally cannot be played on a European DVD player.

It is safe to say that although the technical issues of color encoding have largely been overcome, commercial issues have created new but similar difficulties in transfer of video content around the world.