Horizontal sync pulse detection for video signal decoding

Methods and systems are described for determining a slice level used for detecting an edge of a horizontal sync pulse of a horizontal line of a video signal, where the horizontal line has a plurality of samples. An exemplary method comprises low-pass filtering the video signal to generate a plurality of filtered samples; determining a first level, wherein a predetermined number of the plurality of filtered samples have levels above the first level; determining a second level, wherein the second level is a minimum level of levels for the plurality of filtered samples; and determining the slice level by adding the first level and the second level to generate a summed level, and dividing the summed level by two to determine the slice level.