Content: Progressive or Interlaced video?

LCD panels are a progressive display technology and even though LCD TV’s may accept interlaced video the electronics inside the display have to convert this to progressive. Interlaced originated in the the dark ages of the CRT and low bandwidth. Today bandwidth is available and the display technology is progressive scan. Rather than explain the differences here very good explanations can be found on Wikipedia: Progressive, Interlaced.

The Digital View recommendation is that when creating or encoding video, eg for digital signage, choose progressive. So choose 720p rather than 720i, 1080p rather than 1080i. As mentioned above, interlaced can be used if necessary and Digital View products all do a really excellent job with interlaced video but it is legacy technology support.

As a final note there are considerations for filming in progressive mode that require an understanding of the appropriate techniques, for example panning needs to be either very slow or fast otherwise jerking or image shear can appear. Alternatively tracking an object while panning can be fine as any artifacts in the background will be less noticeable. Filming at 50 or 60fps will likely be better than at lower frame rates. A bit of trial and error quickly illustrates the point.

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