A system and method for bad weave detection for inverse telecine. To detect a bad weave artifact, the number of reversals of the difference polarity between successive lines within a column of samples is counted. The count of the number of reversals of the difference polarity is referred to as the polarity change count. In the execution phase, the polarity change count can be used by a bad weave detector to take a system out of lock. The polarity change count can also be used during the detection phase to detect a particular cadence.