MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, DESIGN, ART AND

TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER

ENGINEERING

BSc. TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

TEL4114: TELEVISION AND VIDEO ENGINEERING

GROUP 2: ASSIGNMENT 2

NAME REG. NO. COURSE

KAYONDE VANESSA 17/U/382 BSTE
JOHN ADOR AKOI 18/X/40698/PS BSTE
AKELLO MARY 18/U/121 BSTE
BIDALI HENRY 18/X/40427/PS BSTE
ODONGO JAMES 18/U/41720 BSTE
KALULU WAAKO ABAABU 18/U/114 BSTE
EITU JOHN 18/U/119 BSTE

LECTURER: DR. DOROTHY OKELLO

1. Justify the choice of rectangular frame with width to height ratio = 4/3 for television
transmission and reception.

 This is because in human affairs most of the motion occurs in the horizontal plane and so
a larger width desired as the eyes can easily view with ease and comfort when the width
of a picture is more than its height.
 It enables direct transmission of film programs without wasting of any film area.
 Film details would look too wide or thin with bigger heights. [1]

2. How is the illusion of continuity created in television pictures? Why has the frame
reception rate been chosen to be 25 and not 24 as in motion pictures?

1
The human eye stores light incident on its retina for seconds after light has been removed.
16
1
Therefore the scanning rate or number of pictures displayed per second is made greater than
16
seconds so that the eye is able to integrate the changing levels of brightness in the scene and thus
picture elements appear as a complete picture unit without visualizing individual elements
separately as long as the picture is scanned rapidly enough. The scene is scanned rapidly both in
the horizontal and vertical directions simultaneously to provide sufficient number of complete
pictures or frames per second to give the illusion of continuous motion. [1]

For half line separation between the two fields only the topmost and the extreme bottom lines are
then half lines whereas the remaining lines are all full lines. If there are x number of full lines per
field, where x may be even or odd, the total number of full lines per frame is then 2x, an even
number. To this, when the two half lines get added the total number of lines per frame becomes
odd. Thus for interlaced scanning the total number of lines in any TV system must be odd. [1]

3. What do you understand by interlaced scanning? Show that it reduces flicker and
conserve bandwidth.

Interlaced scanning is accomplished by increasing the downward rate of travel of the scanning
electron beam, so that every alternate line gets scanned instead of every successive line.

When the beam reaches the bottom of the picture frame, it quickly returns to the top to scan
those lines that were missed in the previous scanning. Thus the total numbers of lines are divided
into two groups called ‘fields where each field is scanned alternately.

It reduces flicker by increasing the blanking rate where by each picture is shown twice, so that 48
views of the scene are shown per second although there are still the same 24 picture frames per
second. [1]
In the 625 lines monochrome system, for successful interlaced scanning, the 625 lines of each
frame or picture are divided into sets of 312.5 lines and each set is scanned alternately to cover
the entire picture area. To achieve this the horizontal sweep oscillator is made to work at a
frequency of 15625 Hz (312.5 × 50 = 15625) to scan the same number of lines per frame
(15625/25 = 625 lines), but the vertical sweep circuit is run at a frequency of 50 instead of 25
Hz. Note that since the beam is now deflected from top to bottom in half the time and the
horizontal oscillator is still operating at 15625 Hz, only half the total lines, i.e., 312.5 (625/2 =
312.5) get scanned during each vertical sweep. Since the first field ends in a half line and the
second field commences at middle of the line on the top of the target plate or screen, the beam is
able to scan the remaining 312.5 alternate lines during its downward journey. In all then, the
beam scans 625 lines (312.5 × 2 = 625) per frame at the same rate of 15625 lines (312.5 × 50 =
15625) per second. Therefore, with interlaced scanning the flicker effect is eliminated without
increasing the speed of scanning, which in turn does not need any increase in the channel
bandwidth. [1]

4. What do you understand by active and blanking periods in horizontal and vertical
scanning? Give the periods of nominal, active and retrace intervals of horizontal and
vertical scanning as used in the 625 line system.

Horizontal blanking period refers to the time period allocated for retrace of the signal from the
right edge of the display back to the left edge to start another scan line. Vertical blanking period
is the time period allocated for retrace of the signal from the bottom back to the top to start
another field or frame.
6
10
Nominal duration for the horizontal trace is =64 μs
15625
1
Nominal duration for the vertical trace is; = 20ms
50
Active duration for the horizontal scanning is 64-12 = 52 μs
Active duration for the vertical scanning is 18.720 ms (Time spent in bringing the beam from top
to the bottom).
Horizontal retrace duration =64-52 = 12 μs
Vertical retrace duration 20 – 18.720 = 1.280ms (Duration taken by the beam to return back to
the top to commence the next cycle). [1]

5. How many horizontal lines get traced during each vertical retrace?

Vertical retrace duration 1.280 ms

= =¿20 lines
Nominal duration for the horizontal trace 64 μs
What is the active number of lines that are actually used for picture information pick up
and reception?

Since the horizontal and vertical sweep oscillators operate continuously to achieve the fast
sequence of interlaced scanning, 20 horizontal lines get traced during each vertical retrace
interval. 40 scanning lines are lost per frame, as blanked lines during the retrace interval of two
fields.

So, 625 - 40 = 585 active lines

6.Draw a picture frame chart showing the total number of active and inactive lines during
each field and establish the need for terminating the first field in a half line and the
beginning the second at the middle of a line at the top.

This picture appears to human eye as a better picture. The lines are all sloping so, if you use full
lines then for a full line scan the area at the top right and bottom left have no data in for a wider
area than with half line second frame scan. The missing data area remains the same but is now
split into two parts, immediately before the half line starts and at the end of the first half line.
7. Justify the choice of 625 lines for TV transmission. Why the total number of lines is kept
odd in all television systems?

If an even number of lines is used then all lines must start at the beginning of the frame. If an odd
number of lines is used then you will achieve the same resolution on the screen but the half line
(the odd line), split in half with half at the start of the second frame and half at the end of the
second frame which allows for an extra line period in order to fly back vertically.

What is the significance of choosing the number of lines as 625 and not 623 or 627?

Tests conducted with many observers have shown that though the human eye can detect the
effective sharpness provided by 800 scanning lines but the improvement is not very significant
with line numbers greater than 500 white viewing pictures having motion. Also channel
bandwidth increase in number of lines and this not only adds to cost of system but also reduces
the number of television channels that can be provided in a given VHF or UHF transmission
band thus, as a compromise between quality and cost, the total number of lines inclusive of those
lost during vertical retrace has been chosen to be 625 not 623 or 627. [1]

8. What do you understand by resolution or Kell-factor? How does it affect the vertical
resolution of a television picture? Show that the vertical resolution increases with increase
in number of scanning lines.

Resolution is the ability of the image reproducing system to represent the fine structure of an
object.

Kell-factor or resolution factor is the ratio perceived number of lines of resolution to the number
of scan lines or active number lines covering the same distance.

A high Kell-factor increases the vertical resolution and when the kell-factor decreases the
vertical resolution also decreases. The closer Kell-factor is to unity the better is the vertical
resolution.

𝑉𝑟=𝑁𝑎+𝑘
Where, 𝑘 is a resolution factor or Kell-factor and 𝑁𝑎 is the active number of lines.
𝑉𝑟 is the vertical resolution
𝑉𝑟=𝑁𝑎+𝑘
From the about equation, increasing 𝑁𝑎 which is the number of lines increases the vertical
resolution 𝑉𝑟.
9. What is meant by equal vertical and horizontal ‘resolution?’ Derive an expression for
the highest modulating frequency in a television system and show that it is nearly 5 MHz in
the 625 B monochrome system.

The ability of the image reproducing system to represent the fine structure of an object is known
as its resolving power or resolution.

 Vertical resolution is the extent to which the scanning system is capable of

resolving picture details in the vertical direction.
 Horizontal resolution. The capability of the system to resolve maximum number
of picture elements along the scanning lines determines horizontal resolution.

The highest approximate modulating frequency ‘ f h’ that the 625 line television system must be
capable of handling for successful transmission and reception of picture details is;

No. of active line × aspect ratio ×resolution factor

f h=
2× time duration of one active line

4
585× ×0.69
3
f h=
2× 52× 10−6

f h ≈ 5 Mhz

10. Show that if the number of lines employed in a TV system is increased then the highest
video frequency must increase as the square of the increase in number of lines for equal
improvement in vertical and horizontal resolution.

As the number of lines employed in a television picture is increased, the bandwidth also
increases because increasing the number of lines per picture decreases the time duration of each
line. This means that the spot travels across the screen at a higher velocity and results in increase
of the highest modulating frequency.

If the number of lines employed in a television system is increased, it is necessary to increase the
video frequency bandwidth in direct proportion to the increase in number of lines to maintain the
same degree of vertical definition (as before), and in order to increase horizontal definition in the
same proportion as the increase in vertical resolution the video frequency bandwidth must
increase as the square of the increase in number of lines.
14. Explain the need for providing very good low frequency response and phase
characteristics in amplifiers used in any TV link, for proper reproduction of brightness
variations.

It is important to have very good low frequency response and phase characteristics in amplifiers
to ensure that the amplifiers filter out the low frequencies that are important for Television
proper reproduction of brightness variations.

15. The relevant data for a closed circuit TV system is given below. Calculate the highest
modulating frequency that will be generated while scanning the most stringent case of
alternate black and white dots for equal vertical and horizontal resolution.

No. of lines = 250 Interlace

Ratio = 1: 1
Picture repetition rate = 50/sec
Aspect ratio = 4/3
Vertical retrace time = 10% of the picture frame time
Horizontal retrace time = 20% of the total line time
Assume resolution factor = 0.8
Ans ≈ 2 MHz
Number of active lines∗aspect ratio∗Resolution factor
F=
2∗time duration of one active line

F=
()4
250∗ ∗0.8
3
2∗66.75 μ s
F = 1.99MHz

F = 2MHz

16. Explain the meaning of terms-tonal gradation, contrast, contrast ratio and gamma of
the picture.

When a TV receiver is off, no electron beam strikes the picture tube screen and the screen
face looks a dull white. With the set on and a black and white picture showing on the
screen, no electron beam impinges on the darker area of the reproduced picture. But these
areas now appear quite black instead of the dull white of the switched-off set. Explain the
reason for this difference in appearance.

Tonal gradation

The picture tube at the receiving end, the signal-transmission system should have proper transfer
characteristics to preserve same brightness gradation as the eye would perceive when viewing
the scene directly. [2]
Contrast

This is the difference in intensity between black and white parts of the picture over and above the
brightness level. [2]

Contrast ratio

The ratio of maximum to minimum brightness relative to the original picture is called contrast
ratio. [2]

Gamma of the picture

Ratio of brightness variations in the reproduced picture on the screen of the picture tube, to the
brightness variations in the original scene is known as Gamma of the picture. [2]

When a TV receiver is off, there is no beam impinging on the fluorescent screen of the picture
tube and no light gets emitted. Then with normal light in the room the screen appears as dull
white. But when the receiver is on, and a TV programme is being received the bright portions of
the scene appear quite bright because the corresponding amplitude of the video signal makes the
control-grid of the picture tube much less negative and the consequent increased beam current
causes more light on the screen. However, for a very dark portion of the scene the corresponding
video signal makes the grid highly negative with respect to the cathode and thus cuts-off the
beam current and no light is emitted on the corresponding portions on the screen. These areas
appear to the eye as dark in comparison with the high light areas of the screen, whereas the same
area in the absence of beam current when the set was off appeared close to a white shade. It’s
due to the logarithmic response of the human eye and its inability to accommodate light intensity
variations greater than 10: 1.

[1] New age, “Monochrome and Colour Television” By R.R. Gulati (Revised edition), Published
by New Age International Ltd., 2005, pp 8-14.

[2] Faadoo Engineers. India’s No.1 website for engineer! “Elements of a television system”
[Online] [available] on: http://www.faadooengineers.com/online-study/post/ece/tv-engineering/
331/tonal-gradation [Accessed on 18th Feb 2022].