Progressive, Progressive Scan

Television pictures in the PAL system are displayed at 25 frames per second with each frame containing 2 fields. All the odd numbered horizontal lines are drawn in sequence to form one field with the even numbered lines drawn to form a separate field. These 2 fields are then combined or interlaced to create a single frame. This is known as interlaced scan and may be seen written as 50i indicating 50 interlaced fields per second. Progressive scan draws all the odd and even numbered horizontal lines in sequence, progressively, to create a whole frame at a time rather than combining 2 separate fields. This is often written as 25p indicating 25 progressive frames per second.

Progressive scan is more akin to the way film looks because film is shot at 25 whole frames per second (standard sync speed for PAL TV standard) and therefore progressive scan is sometimes known as "film mode".

Most of the latest High Definition and Standard Definition video cameras have the option to shoot progressive scan