A circuit for separating a luminance signal and a chrominance signal having the first, second, third, and fourth 1H delay lines each connected in series, a first comb filter including the first and second 1H delay lines, a second comb filter including the second and third 1H delay lines, a third comb filter including the third and fourth 1H delay lines, a first subtraction circuit for achieving a subtraction on an input signal to the first 1H delay line and an output signal from the second 1H delay line, a second subtraction circuit for achieving a subtraction on an input signal to the second 1H delay line and an output signal from the third 1H delay line, a third subtraction circuit for achieving a subtraction on an input signal to the third 1H delay line and an output signal from the fourth 1H delay line, and a minimum value detecting circuit connected to the first, second, and third subtraction circuits for detecting the minimum value from the subtraction results. This circuit selects by use of a switch an output signal from the comb filter for which the minimum subtraction result is detected by the minimum value detecting circuit and then outputs the selected signal. This circuit can appropriately separate the luminance and chrominance signals even in a case where the video signal includes a contour section.