The Video CD format uses a progressive scan LDTV signal[citation needed] (352×240 or 352×288), which is half the vertical and horizontal resolution of full-bandwidth SDTV.
For the first few years of its existence, YouTube offered only one, low-definition resolution of 256x144 or 144p at 30~50 fps or less, later extending first to widescreen 426×240, then to gradually higher resolutions; once the video service had become well established and had been acquired by Google, it had access to Google's radically improved storage space and transmission bandwidth, and could rely on a good proportion of its users having high-speed internet connections,[1] giving an overall effect reminiscent of early online video streaming attempts using RealVideo or similar services, where 160×120 at single-figure framerates was deemed acceptable to cater to those whose network connections could not sufficiently deliver 240p content.
Older video game consoles and home computers often generated a technically compliant analog 525-line NTSC or 625-line PAL signal, but only sent one field type rather than alternating between the two.
With the introduction of 16-bit computers in the mid-1980s, such as the Atari ST and Amiga, followed by 16-bit consoles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, like the Sega Genesis and Super NES,[4] outputting the standard interlaced resolutions was supported for the first time, but rarely used due to heavy demands on processing power and memory.
Thus, progressive output with half the vertical remained the primary format on most games of the fourth and fifth generation consoles (including the Sega Saturn, the Sony PlayStation and the Nintendo 64).