Interlaced Scan vs Progressive Scan

Tech QnA
1

What is the difference between Interlaced and Progressive scan?

2

Interlaced scan and progressive scan are two different methods that are used to display a video on a television or computer monitor.

The main difference between interlaced scans and progressive scans is the way they display the video image on the screen. Interlaced scan displays the image by drawing every other line, while progressive scan displays the image by drawing all of the lines in sequence. Progressive scan provides a smoother, more detailed image, while interlaced scan can cause flicker and a loss of detail.

Secondly, an Interlaced scan displays video by first drawing every other line on the screen, then going back and filling in the remaining lines. This creates a flicker effect and can cause a loss of detail, especially when the video is in motion. The interlaced scan is mostly used in older TVs and is not as common as it once was.

Progressive scan, on the other hand, displays video by drawing all of the lines on the screen in sequence. This results in a smoother, more detailed image, especially when the video is in motion. Progressive scan is the more common method used in modern TVs and computer monitors.

For more read: Interlaced Scan vs Progressive Scan

3

Thanks, really appretiate your time. What do you think which one is better?

4

In general, progressive scan is considered to be a better method of displaying video, as it produces a higher quality image with less flicker. However, the interlaced scan is still in use, especially in older TVs and some lower-end TVs and monitors.

5

How can I generate an interlaced video file using FFmpeg-python?

6

To generate an interlaced video file using FFmpeg and Python, you can use the following command:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf “yadif=1” -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mp4This command will take an input video file input.mp4, apply the yadif filter to deinterlace the video using the specified settings, and then encode the output using the libx264 codec with a constant rate factor of 18. The output will be saved as output.mp4.

You can also use the -vcodec and -acodec options to specify the video and audio codecs, respectively, if you want to use a different codec.

For example, to use the H.265 codec for the video and the AAC codec for the audio, you can use the following command:
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf “yadif=1” -c:v libx265 -crf 18 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -pix_fmt yuv420p output.mp4This will encode the video using the H.265 codec with a constant rate factor of 18, and the audio using the AAC codec with a bitrate of 128kbps.