720p - Comparison With 1080i

Comparison With 1080i

Progressive scanning reduces the need to prevent twitter (flicker) by anti-aliasing single high contrast horizontal lines. It is also easier to perform high-quality 50↔60 Hz conversion and slow-motion clips with progressive video.

One main advantage for 720p60 over 480i and 1080i60 (29.97/30 frame/s, 59.94/60 Hz) is the reduction of 3:2 artifacts introduced during transfer from 24 frame/s film. However, 576i and 1080i50 (25 frame/s, 50 Hz), which are common in Europe, generally do not suffer from pull down artifacts as film frames are simply played at 25 frames and the audio pitch corrected by 25/24ths. As a result, 720p60 is used for US broadcasts while European HD broadcasts often use 1080i50 (25 frame/s, 50 Hz), with a horizontal resolution of 1920 or 1440 depending on bandwidth constraints. However, some European broadcasters do use the 720p50 format, such as German broadcasters ARD and ZDF, the Flemish Broadcasting Company (VRT) in Belgium, and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK). Arte, a dual-language French-German channel produced in collaboration by ARD, ZDF and France Télévisions, broadcasts in German at 720p50 but in French at 1080i50.