The counting direction is always up (incrementing), and no counter clear is performed. The counter simply overruns when it passes its maximum 8-bit value (MAX = 0xFF) and then restarts from the bottom (0x00). In normal operation the Timer/Counter Overflow Flag (TOV0) will be set in the same timer clock cycle as the TCNT0 becomes zero. The TOV0 Flag in this case behaves like a ninth bit, except that it is only set, not cleared. However, combined with the timer overflow interrupt that automatically clears the TOV0 Flag, the timer resolution can be increased by software. A new counter value can be written anytime.