A method (300) of converting interlaced Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video signals to progressive video signals can include receiving an interlaced video signal representing a luma component specifying luma lines and a chroma component specifying chroma lines (310) wherein the chroma component can specify approximately one-half the number of lines of the luma component. The interlaced video signal can be decoded and the number of the chroma lines can be increased to approximately the same as the number of the luma lines (320). The number of chroma lines of the interlaced video signal then can be decreased (340), to substantially reverse the previous increase. The interlaced video signal then can be deinterlaced to produce a progressive video signal (350), which can be processed further (360) as needed.