Abstract: Color video recording apparatus is known wherein, for purposes of bandwidth compression, luminance information and chrominance information is alternately recorded for the transmitted lines of a television picture frame. Upon playback a video signal is reconstructed for each line by combining the signal recorded for that line (luminance or chrominance) with the signal recorded for the preceding line (chrominance or luminance). Rather than leave half of the lines of the recorded television picture frame void of luminance information, the present invention, through recognition and correction of an inefficiency in the alternating line recording scheme described above, enables the "gaps" in luminance information to be filled in with narrow bandwidth luminance information at no increase in the bandwidth handling requirements of the recording system.