Uploaded February 2012 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
If you use a camcorder which records interlaced video -- and most do -- then iMovie '06 is preferable to newer versions not just because of its more intuitive timeline editing layout, but also because iMovie '08 and higher use a trick known as "single field processing". This discards every other field from the video, causing half of the vertical resolution to be lost, and then interpolates the video back to its full resolution.
Allegedly this was done to help speed up processing and editing of 1080i AVCHD video, and truth be told, at that high of a resolution, most people wouldn't notice the difference anyway, especially when the final product is re-encoded by YouTube. But for standard definition video, the lost resolution definitely is noticeable, and often results in "jaggies" on diagonal lines and "rainbow streaking" on areas of sharp contrast.
If you disagree with this, Apple would be glad to sell you a copy of Final Cut Pro, which does not use single field processing, but of course it's cheaper and easier to stick with iMovie '06!
If you use a camcorder which records interlaced video -- and most do -- then iMovie '06 is preferable to newer versions not just because of its more intuitive timeline editing layout, but also because iMovie '08 and higher use a trick known as "single field processing". This discards every other field from the video, causing half of the vertical resolution to be lost, and then interpolates the video back to its full resolution.
Allegedly this was done to help speed up processing and editing of 1080i AVCHD video, and truth be told, at that high of a resolution, most people wouldn't notice the difference anyway, especially when the final product is re-encoded by YouTube. But for standard definition video, the lost resolution definitely is noticeable, and often results in "jaggies" on diagonal lines and "rainbow streaking" on areas of sharp contrast.
If you disagree with this, Apple would be glad to sell you a copy of Final Cut Pro, which does not use single field processing, but of course it's cheaper and easier to stick with iMovie '06!
