Hi Bevan,
In addition to Adrian's outstanding explanation of video formats and the multitude of options etc. may I share my experience in relation to your second question ...
what is the best value to select as TV format PAL(25fps) or NTSC(30fps)?
I have a Panasonic SD9 which is a high definition NTSC camera and produces AVCHD format files. As I live in Australia, I tried to convert this footage from NTSC to PAL as part of my workflow to create a DVD.
PD could not create a smooth picture and after trying many different software, I gave up. The results were sub-standard - every 6th frame seemed to be dropped (to reduce 30 frames per second to 25 frames) and the video appeared jerky.
Eventually I decided to happily accept NTSC and get the benefit of smoother motion, given the larger number of frames per second. Most modern DVD players can easily display both NTSC and PAL, so there should be no issue there.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Con
Windows 7 - i7 860, 8Gb RAM, 2 x 1 TB HDD, GTS 250 1Gb Video