That's something I've always wondered about: NTSC (and PAL?) standard says
30 interlaced frames/second, but the 2600 (and the 800, and the commodores,
etc.) instead draw 60 frames, non-interlaced.. so why don't TV stations
switch into that mode during the weather section on the news? I haven't
Probably because broadcast TV equipment is designed around interlaced video,
and is very unforgiving. If I feed a 2600's composite or Y/C signal
directly into the video in on a BetaSP VCR, for instance, it will complain
that there is no proper sync signal.
Chris Wilkson probably has more to say on what makes a video signal
interlaced or not. But it has something to do with the trail end of the
last scanline being cut in half, which creates the timing to stagger the
frames, even/odd. In noninterlaced video all scanlines go straight to the
end. Now why there isn't more of a gap between the scanlines if it's really
only showing one field I don't know. I don't know if it's just bleedover on
the phosphors or the TV automatically knows to widen the scanline in that
mode, but when I watch regular interlaced TV the gaps between the scanlines
are far more visible.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
-
Archives (includes files) at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/archives/
Unsub & more at http://www.biglist.com/lists/stella/
