Video Format Resolutions

The following table shows the resolutions for various different video formats. Notice that, unlike a computer display, the color resolution is lower than the luminance resolution for all of the standard video formats. Formats are listed in order from highest to lowest resolution.

Format Maximum Pixels Across Effective Lines of Resolution
Luminance Color Luminance Color
HorizVert HorizVert HorizVert HorizVert
HDTV 1080i 1920 1080 960 540 920 920 460 460
NTSC DVD 720 480 360 240¹ 460 408 230 204¹
NTSC Laser Disk 560 482 160 I, 53 Q 482 420 410 120 I, 40 Q 410
NTSC Composite Video 440 482 160 I, 53 Q 482 330 410 120 I, 40 Q 410
NTSC Broadcast Video 440 482 160 I, 53 Q 482 330 410 120 I, 40 Q 410
NTSC Super Video-CD 480 480 240 240¹ 306 408 153 204¹
NTSC VHS Video 320 482 53 (33 typ) 482 220 410 40 (25 typ) 410
NTSC Video-CD 352 240 176 120 224 204 112 102

Kell Factor:    Horizontal:      Vertical: 

Note: Values shown in brown are calculated. All other values were obtained from the references.

Effective Lines of Resolution is calculated in units of "lines per picture height". The effective horizontal resolution is calculated by multiplying the actual horizontal resolution by 3/4 (the NTSC aspect ratio). Lines of resolution is the maximum number of discernable adjacent black and white lines, and counts both the black and the white lines. For example, if the Effective Lines of Resolution is 330, then you will be able to see 165 black stripes and 165 white stripes. You will not be able to discern 330 stripes.

An "extended" Kell factor is used for all discrete resolutions (scan lines or pixels). The extended Kell factor is used to calculate the number of lines of resolution perceived by the human eye. You can use the drop down boxes to change the Kell factor for the table above to see how it affects the Effective Lines of Resolution. You should use about 0.7 for still images, and about 0.85 for moving images, but this is highly subjective. See the artical "Digital versus Analog -- The Kell Factor" for everything you'll ever need to know about the Kell factor.

¹  When used with interlaced video, the vertical resolution is effectively half the number specified because of 4:2:0 color subsampling on a per-field basis.

References

Author:  Chris LaRosa
Last Update:  February 6, 2001

Since 12/13/00