Difference between 3:2 pulldown and IVTC

[ToxIk]

correct me if i'm wrong (because i'm really not sure here) but is 3:2 pulldown a way of encoding a video file so that a progressive 24fps video file is played properly (@ 29.97fps) on a NTSC display? And is IVTC converting an actual 29.97fps video file back to the 24fps progressive video?

[t0nito]

Yes that's it. If you have a movie (all film movies are 24 fps) encoded on a 29.97 fps file you should to a IVTC to eliminate the extra interlaced frame that "fills up" the frame rate to 29.97fps so that you get the original 24 progressive fps but when you do this you should encode the file with the 3:2 pulldown flag active so that your DVD player knows that is has to add those extra interlaced frames from the progressive frames automatically so that the tv can display them properly. You only have to use this if your system is NTSC because all PAL movies and DVDs are displayed with at fps progressive.