Abstract: A high-resolution television system in which color fidelity is preserved while allowing the use of frame-store type noise elimination techniques, by inverting one of the color axes at a first rate, and the other color axis at a second, different rate. While reversal of the second axis at a frame rate is preferred because it permits effective use of noise reduction techniques, reversal at other rates such as the field rate is also beneficial because it allows the filtering of the color subcarrier pattern with less degradation in image quality. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the color subcarrier frequency is chosen as twice the standard NTSC frequency to reduce horizontal sweep harmonic interference and make the inventive equipment easily compatible with NTSC equipment. Apparatus for achieving such compatibility is described.