[I was looking around in the meantime and the situation still seems confused for broadcast TV, which I assume one would want to watch. When in doubt, buy locally.]

http://hometheater.about.com/od/tele...cpalframes.htm

Why NTSC and PAL Still Matter With HDTV
How Digital TV and HDTV Are Linked to Analog Television Standards

"A lot consumers around the World assume that, with the introduction of Digital TV and HDTV, the old barriers to a universal video standard have been removed. However, this is an incorrect assumption. Despite the fact that video is going digital, the fundamental difference between video standards that exist currently, Frame Rate, is still the foundation of the new Digital TV and HDTV standards...

"With the implementation of the Digital TV and HDTV, the foundation of how frames are displayed still have their roots in the original NTSC and PAL analog video formats. In soon-to-be former NTSC-based countries, Digital and HDTV are implementing the 30 Frame-per-second frame rate, while soon-to-be PAL-based countries are implementing a 25 Frame-per-second Frame rate...

"In the final analysis, Digital TV and HDTV, although a leap forward in technology implementation, in terms of what you actually see on the screen, with reference to increased resolution and detail, still has roots in 50-plus year-old analog video standards. As a result, there are, and will be, for the foreseeable future, differences in Digital TV and HDTV standards in use throughout the World, which reinforces the barrier to true Worldwide video standards for both the professional and the consumer."