An adaptive equalization method and system for reducing noise and distortion in a sampled video signal improves the quality of output video information in both consumer and professional applications. A multi-band equalizer applied to the sampled video information reduces noise and distortion artifacts in the sampled video information. The gains of each of the equalizer bands is adjusted dynamically by control outputs provided by a noise and distortion detector. The noise and distortion detector incorporates circuits for comparing the luminance of each plane on a per-pixel basis with neighboring pixels and also includes a pattern matching comparator that detects edge features by comparing each pixel and its neighbors with a set of predetermined patterns. The noise and distortion detection can be further confirmed by comparing the detection results across multiple frames and the equalizer gain values may be further selected by a result of a video motion type classification.