Composite video on the NES: why’s it so wobbly?

The Nintendo Entertainment System's composite video output has always looked a bit wobbly—and the Adafruit Blog reveals why. The system uses what's described as the world's laziest interlacing approach: scanlines alternate between three hundred forty-one and three hundred forty dots, missing one dot every other frame. That missing dot creates alternating alignments that produce the shimmer you see on older composite displays. It's a fascinating example of the creative engineering compromises built into eighties hardware.

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