The Nintendo Entertainment System shows a wobble in composite video output, which is visible in static title screens and scrolling graphics.

Composite video compresses color information, and timing differences between the PPU clock and the colorburst can create line‑to‑line variations.

Analysis indicates that interference is not the main cause, because the observed patterns follow the image content rather than random noise.

The colorburst frequency (about 3.57 MHz) is set as a half‑integer multiple of the line rate (15.734 kHz), a design intended to simplify filtering; this relationship produces a repeating pattern every three scanlines.

The NES uses a 21.47727 MHz oscillator divided by six for the colorburst and by four for the pixel clock, yielding roughly 227.33 colorburst cycles per scanline, which results in a three‑frame alignment pattern.

The console implements a minimal interlacing method: a missing dot on alternate scanlines creates two of the three possible alignments, alternating each frame to reduce visible wobble.

PAL versions use different timing and do not employ the missing‑dot technique.

When rendering is disabled, the PPU provides unrestricted access to video RAM, a technique used by Battletoads to maximize CHR‑RAM bandwidth.

Observations of three‑frame repetition in HUD elements confirm the missing‑dot effect.

The wobble is a technical artifact of the NTSC NES signal path, not a hardware defect.