Lecture note on

Communication System I
(Section –B)

Prepared by

Professor Dr. Shaikh Enayet Ullah

 Section-B
Digital Communication:
Introduction: Baseband digital transmission, Limitations, Channels for digital
communication, AWGN channel model, bit error rate of a baseband transmission
system, channel capacity theorem, channel coding theorem.
Waveform Coding Techniques: Sampling- sampling theorem, Nyquist criterion,
aliasing, instantaneous and natural sampling, flat-topped sampling; message
reconstruction rom its samples, PAM, PCM, quantization noise, channel noise, SNR,
robust quantization, differential PCM, delta modulation (DM)- principle, adaptive
DM; line coding- formats and bandwidths.

TV System: Elements of TV system, principle of operation, TV signals generation,

composite video signal, TV transmitter and receiver, transmitting and receiving
antenna, picture tube; Introduction to color TV-compatibility, three color theory,
Grassman’s law, color display tube; VCR, CCTV, CATV, MATV, TV Booster
Digital Transmission is the transmission of signals that vary discretely with time between two
values of some physical quantity, one value representing the binary number 0 and the other
representing 1.

Baseband Ethernet
such as coaxial cable : 10Base5
twisted-pair copper wire:100BaseT

Baseband is a signal that has a near-zero frequency range. In telecommunications and signal
processing, baseband signals are transmitted without modulation, that is, without any shift
in the range of frequencies of the signal. Baseband has a low frequency—contained within
the band from close to zero hertz up to a higher cut-off frequency. Baseband can be
synonymous with low pass or non-modulated, and is differentiated from passband,
bandpass, carrier-modulated, intermediate frequency, or radio frequency (RF).

In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon.

In electronics and telecommunications, it refers to any time varying voltage, current or
electromagnetic wave that carries information. A signal may also be defined as an
observable change in a quality such as quantity
Baseband transmission systems transfer digital signals in the form of a train of pulses.
Signals transferred in baseband systems are not moved from their original frequency bands
as no sinusoidal carrier modulation is used.

limitations
A baseband signal can be transmitted over a pair of wires (like in a telephone), coaxial
cables, or optical fibers. But a baseband signal cannot be transmitted over a radio link
or a satellite because this would require a large antenna to radiate the low-frequency
spectrum of the signal. Baseband signal transmission covers limited distances and is
applicable to data and voice only

A communication channel refers either to a physical transmission medium such as a

wire, or to a logical connection over a multiplexed medium such as a radio channel in
telecommunications and computer networking. A channel is used to convey an
information signal, for example a digital bit stream, from one or several senders (or
transmitters) to one or several receivers. A channel has a certain capacity for
transmitting information, often measured by its bandwidth in Hz or its data rate in bits
per second.
AWGN is often used as a channel model in which the only impairment to communication is a
linear addition of wideband or white noise with a constant spectral density (expressed as watts
per hertz of bandwidth) and a Gaussian distribution of amplitude
 Additive means adding of any noise that might be intrinsic to the information system.
 White refers to the idea that it has uniform power across the frequency band for the information
system. It is an analogy to the color white which has uniform emissions at all frequencies in the
visible spectrum Gaussian has a normal distribution in the time domain with an average time
domain value of zero.
In probability theory, a normal (or Gaussian or Gauss or Laplace–Gauss) distribution is a type of
continuous probability distribution for a real-valued random variable
In probability theory and statistics, a probability distribution is the mathematical function that
gives the probabilities of occurrence of different possible outcomes for an experiment. It is a
mathematical description of a random phenomenon in terms of its sample space and the
probabilities of events
Bit error rate (BER) is defined as the percentage of bits that have errors relative to the total
number of bits received in a transmission. BER is usually expressed as 10 to a negative power.
For example, if a transmission has a BER of 10 to the minus 4, this means that of 10,000 bits
transmitted, 1 had an error.
The channel capacity, C, is defined to be the maximum rate at which information can be
transmitted through a channel. The fundamental theorem of information theory says that at any
rate below channel capacity, an error control code can be designed whose probability of error is
arbitrarily small.
According to channel capacity equation, C = B log(1 + S/N), C is the channel capacity, B is the
bandwidth of the channel, S is the signal power and N is the noise power
 Channel coding theorem
The noise present in a channel creates unwanted errors between the input and the output
sequences of a digital communication system. The error probability should be very low, nearly ≤
10-6 for a reliable communication. The channel coding in a communication system introduces
redundancy with a control, so as to improve the reliability of the system. The source coding
reduces redundancy to improve the efficiency of the system.
.
Source coding is a mapping from (a sequence of) symbols from an information source to a
sequence of alphabet symbols (usually bits) such that the source symbols can be exactly
recovered from the binary bits (lossless source coding) or recovered within some distortion
(lossy source coding)

The noise present in a channel creates unwanted errors between the input and the output
sequences of a digital communication system. In information theory. Shannon's Noisy-Channel
Coding Theorem states that it is possible to communicate over a noisy channel with arbitrarily
small chance of error when the data rate of communication is kept below a maximum data rate
which is constant for a channel
Conditional probability is the probability of one event occurring with some relationship to one
or more other events

=1.66
 Waveform Coding Techniques

Waveform coding is the type of speech digitization used in the public switched telephony
network. Waveform coding techniques describe the waveform' s instantaneous behavior.
The Sampling Theorem states that a signal can be exactly reproduced if it is sampled at a
frequency F, where F is greater than twice the maximum frequency in the signal.

In dealing with continuous signals, information theory makes use of the sampling theorem.
This theorem states that a continuous wave can be represented by, and reconstructed perfectly
from, a set of measurements (samples) of its amplitude which are equally spaced in time.

Nyquist criterion requires that the sampling frequency be at least twice the highest
frequency contained in the signal, or information about the signal will be lost. If the
sampling frequency is less than twice the maximum analog signal frequency, a
phenomenon known as aliasing will occur.

Aliasing occurs whenever the use of discrete elements to capture or produce a continuous
signal causes frequency ambiguity

Sampling is the process of converting analog signal into a discrete signal or making an
analog or continuous signal to occur at a particular interval of time, this phenomena is
known as sampling
 Sampling Techniques
Their are basically three types of Sampling techniques, namely:
Natural Sampling, Flat top Sampling and Ideal Sampling

Natural sampling is mathematically equivalent to multiplying the original signal with a train
of unit-amplitude rectangular sampling pulses. Therefore, the spectrum of a naturally sampled
signal can be determined by convolving the original signal's spectrum with the spectrum of the
train of sampling pulses
 Flat Top Sampling
During transmission, noise is introduced at top of the transmission pulse which can be
easily removed if the pulse is in the form of flat top. Here, the top of the samples are flat i.e.
they have constant amplitude. Hence, it is called as flat top sampling or practical sampling.
Flat top sampling makes use of sample and hold circuit

Theoretically, the sampled signal can be obtained by convolution of rectangular pulse p(t)
with ideally sampled signal say yδ(t) as shown in the diagram:
 Ideal or Impulse Sampling

Impulse sampling can be performed by multiplying input signal x(t) with impulse train

of period 'T'. Here, the amplitude of impulse changes with respect

to amplitude of input signal x(t). The output of sampler is given by
 Pulse Amplitude Modulation
Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) is an analog modulating scheme in which the amplitude of the pulse
carrier varies proportional to the instantaneous amplitude of the message signal. The pulse amplitude
modulated signal, will follow the amplitude of the original signal, as the signal traces out the path of the
whole wave. In natural PAM, a signal sampled at the Nyquist rate is reconstructed, by passing it through
an efficient Low Pass Frequency (LPF) with exact cutoff frequency. The following figures explain the Pulse
Amplitude Modulation
Though the PAM signal is passed through an LPF, it cannot recover the signal without distortion.
Hence to avoid this noise, flat-top sampling is done as shown in the following figure
PAM is used in the Ethernet network which is used to connect two systems and used to
transfer data among these systems. So PAM is used in Ethernet communications. This
modulation technique is mostly used in digital data transmission

Pulse Code Modulation(PCM)

Modulation can be defined as the process of changing the carrier signal’s parameters by the instant values
of the message signal. The transmission of message signal can be done mainly for communication & the
high-frequency signal like a carrier signal doesn’t include data, however, it is used for lengthy-distance
communication. The classification of modulation techniques can be done based on the type of modulation
used. For instance, the digital modulation uses PCM or Pulse Code Modulation technique. In PCM, the
message signal can be signified through a series of coded pulses. So, this message signal can be attained
through signifying the signal in the form of discrete in both times as well as amplitude. This article
discusses an overview of pulse code modulation and demodulation
PCM is used in telephony. PCM is used in space communication; spacecraft transmits signals to earth
Pulse code modulation is a method that is used to convert an analog signal into a digital signal so that
a modified analog signal can be transmitted through the digital communication network. PCM is in
binary form, so there will be only two possible states high and low(0 and 1)
To get a pulse code modulated waveform from an analog waveform at the transmitter end (source) of
a communications circuit, the amplitude of the analog signal samples at regular time intervals. The
sampling rate or the number of samples per second is several times the maximum frequency. The
message signal converted into the binary form will be usually in the number of levels which is always
to a power of 2. This process is called quantization.
The PCM is used in the satellite transmission system. It is used in space communication. It is used in
telephony. The compact disc (CD) is a recent application of PCM

Basic Elements of Pulse Code Modulation System

At the receiver end, a pulse code demodulator decodes the binary signal back into pulses with the
same quantum levels as those in the modulator. By further processes, we can restore the original
analog waveform Quantization
In quantization, an analog sample with an amplitude
that converted into a digital sample with an amplitude
that takes one of a specifically defined set of
quantization values. Quantization is done by dividing
the range of possible values of the analog samples into
some different levels and assigning the center value of
each level to any sample in the quantization interval.
Quantization approximates the analog sample values
with the nearest quantization values.

Analog and Sampled Signal

Quantization noise is a model of quantization error

introduced by quantization in the analog-to-digital
conversion (ADC). It is a rounding error between the
analog input voltage to the ADC and the output
digitized value. The noise is non-linear and signal-
dependent. It can be modelled in several different
ways
Uniformly Quantized Signal
In telecommunications, the term channel noise level is the ratio of the noise in the communication
channel at any point in a transmission system to an arbitrary level chosen as a reference.

SNR or signal-to-noise ratio is the ratio between the desired information or the power of a signal and the
undesired signal or the power of the background noise. its unit of expression is typically decibels (dB)

SNR decreases with decrease in input power level at the uniform quantizer but non-uniform
quantization maintains a constant SNR for wide range of input power levels. This type of
quantization is called as robust quantization.
Differential PCM
For the samples that are highly correlated, when encoded by PCM technique, leave redundant
information behind. To process this redundant information and to have a better output, it is a wise
decision to take a predicted sampled value, assumed from its previous output and summarize them with
the quantized values. Such a process is called as Differential PCM technique
DPCM Transmitter
The DPCM Transmitter consists of Quantizer and Predictor with two summer circuits. Following is the
block diagram of DPCM transmitter
The predictor produces the assumed samples from the previous outputs of the transmitter circuit.
The input to this predictor is the quantized versions of the input signal

DPCM Receiver
The block diagram of DPCM Receiver consists of a
decoder, a predictor, and a summer circuit. Following
is the diagram of DPCM Receiver

The same predictor circuit is used in the decoder

to reconstruct the original input
The DPCM technique mainly
used Speech, image and audio
signal compression. The
DPCM conducted on signals
The notation of the signals is the same as the previous ones. In the absence of
with the correlation between
noise, the encoded receiver input will be the same as the encoded transmitter
successive samples leads to
output. As mentioned before, the predictor assumes a value, based on the
good compression ratios.
previous outputs. The input given to the decoder is processed and that output is
summed up with the output of the predictor, to obtain a better output
 Delta modulation (DM)

A delta modulation (DM or Δ-modulation) is an analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog signal

conversion technique used for transmission of voice information where quality is not of primary
importance. DM is the simplest form of differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM) where the
difference between successive samples are encoded into n-bit data streams. In delta modulation, the
transmitted data are reduced to a 1-bit data stream. Its main features are:

 The analog signal is approximated with a series of segments.

 Each segment of the approximated signal is compared to the preceding bits and the successive bits
are determined by this comparison.
 Only the change of information is sent, that is, only an increase or decrease of the signal amplitude
from the previous sample is sent whereas a no-change condition causes the modulated signal to
remain at the same 0 or 1 state of the previous sample.
To achieve high signal-to-noise ratio, delta modulation must use oversampling techniques, that is, the
analog signal is sampled at a rate several times higher than the Nyquist rate

Delta Modulation is most useful in systems where timely data delivery at the receiver is more
important than the data quality. This modulation is applied to Electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform
for database reduction and real-time signal processing. For analog-to-PCM encoding, this Modulation
method is used
 The predictor circuit in DPCM is replaced by
a simple delay circuit in DM. From the above
diagram, we have the notations as

In signal processing, oversampling is the process

of sampling a signal at a sampling frequency

Basically a 1-bit quantizer will map the input set

into 2 values.
 Adaptive DM

In digital modulation, we have come across certain problem of determining the step-size, which influences
the quality of the output wave
A larger step-size is needed in the steep slope of modulating signal and a smaller step size is needed where
the message has a small slope. The minute details get missed in the process. So, it would be better if we can
control the adjustment of step-size, according to our requirement in order to obtain the sampling in a
desired fashion. This is the concept of Adaptive Delta Modulation

The gain of the voltage controlled amplifier is

adjusted by the output signal from the sampler.
The amplifier gain determines the step-size
and both are proportional. ADM quantizes the
difference between the value of the current
sample and the predicted value of the next
sample. It uses a variable step height to predict
the next values, for the faithful reproduction of
the fast varying values.

The signal to noise ratio of ADM is better than that of

DM because of the reduction in slope overload
distortion and idle noise
 Line coding
Line coding is the process of converting digital data to digital signals. On a
transmission link, the waveform pattern of voltage or current for a digital signal
is used to represent the 1s and 0s .At the sender side digital data are encoded into a
digital signal and at the receiver side the digital data are recreated by decoding the
digital signal. The common types of line encoding are unipolar, polar, bipolar and
Manchester encoding. Line codes are used commonly in computer communication
networks over short distances.
Properties of Line Coding

 As the coding is done to make more bits transmit on a single signal, the bandwidth
used is much reduced.
 For a given bandwidth, the power is efficiently used.
 The probability of error is much reduced.
 Error detection is done and the bipolar too has a correction capability.
 Power density is much favorable.
 The timing content is adequate.
 Long strings of 1s and 0s is avoided to maintain transparency.
 Non-return to zero inverted (NRZI)
The NRZ code sends the same signal during a long time if the data to be transmitted contain long
sequences of 0 or 1. To overcome this problem, other codes have been proposed such as NRZI
The NRZI code presents some similarities with NRZ code since only two amplitudes, A and −A,
are used to transmit the binary data during symbol period T. However, the value of the
transmitted bit is not indicated by the amplitude, but by the transitions: if there is a change of
state (A to −A or −A to A), then the transmitted bit is equal to 1; whereas if there is no change of
state, the transmitted bit is equal to 0. An example is given in Figure 2.14. Due to NRZI code, the
problem of the lack of transition when a long sequence of 1 is transmitted is avoided. However,
this issue is still present if we consider a long sequence of 0. The NRZI code is used in fiber
distributed data interface (FDDI) to connect local networks with optical fiber, with a data rate up
to 100 Mbits/s.
Alternate mark inversion code
 TV System
Television system is a telecommunication system that transmits images of objects (stationary or
moving) between distant points
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television audiovisual signals using digital
encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals.
Modern digital television is transmitted in high definition (HDTV) with greater resolution than
analog TV
Analog television is the original television technology that uses analog signals to transmit video
and audio. In an analog television broadcast, the brightness, colors and sound are represented by
amplitude, phase and frequency of an analog signal. Analog TVs receive and display broadcast
TV signals transmitted in a similar manner used for AM/FM radio transmissions. The video
transmitted in AM, while audio was in FM. Full power analog TV broadcasts officially ended on
June 12, 2009
In Bangladesh, two types of TV broadcasting are operated such as Terrestrial Television
Broadcasting and Satellite Television Broadcasting
Terrestrial Television Broadcasting
Only Bangladesh Television (BTV) is being transmitted using terrestrial television broadcasting
technology in VHF frequency band (174-230 MHz). As such, this spectrum has been allocated for
digital terrestrial broadcasting. BTV started Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) Test
transmission from 3 stations with 3.5 KW r.m.s transmitting power in the VHF Band-ΙΙΙ. Sangsad
Bangladesh Television has started its transmission on 25th January 2011 (both satellite and digital
terrestrial) by using the equipments of Bangladesh Television. It covers the Sangsad session and
Development activities of Government
 Satellite Television Broadcasting

The license of satellite television broadcasting is given from the Ministry of Information. Spectrum
is assigned from BTRC to those operators who have license to establish TV station. So far 28
(twenty eight) satellite television channels have been assigned spectrum from BTRC. These
television channels are using 6, 9 or 12MHz uplink frequency from 5.85-6.425 GHz band.
High-definition television (HD) describes a television system providing an image resolution of
substantially higher resolution than the previous generation of technologies

In HDTV transmission , various video formats are used

 720p (1280 vertical pixels × 720 horizontal lines): 921,600 pixels
 1080i (1920×1080) interlaced scan: 1,036,800 pixels (~1.04 MP).
 1080p (1920×1080) progressive scan: 2,073,600 pixels (~2.07 MP)

NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) is mostly found in North America, certain
countries in South America, the Philippines, Myanmar, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
PAL(Phase Alternating Line) is much more common, covering most of Western Europe, China,
India, Australia, most of Africa, and elsewhere.
SECAM(Sequential Color and Memory) This video format is used in many Eastern countries
such as the USSR, China, Pakistan, France, and a few others countries
A PAL/SECAM picture is displayed at a rate of exactly 25 video frames per second
The NTSC picture is displayed at nearly 30 frame per second —the actual number is 29.97
frame per second
 Elements of TV system

 An image source. This is the electrical signal representing the visual image and may
be from a camera in the case of live images, a video tape recorder for playback of
recorded images, or a film chain-telecine-flying spot scanner for transmission of
motion pictures (films)
 A sound source. This is an electrical signal from a microphone or from the audio
output of a video tape recorder or motion picture film scanner.
 A transmitter, which generates radio signals (radio waves) and encodes them with
picture and sound information.
 An antenna coupled to the output of the transmitter for broadcasting the encoded
signals.
 An antenna to receive the broadcast signals.
 A receiver (also called a tuner), which decodes the picture and sound information
from the broadcast signals, and whose input is coupled to the antenna.
 A display device, which turns the electrical signals into visual images.
 An audio amplifier and loudspeaker, which turns electrical signals into sound waves
(speech, music, and other sounds) to accompany the images.

Telecine is the process of transferring motion picture film into video

A TV camera is used to convert the optical information into
a corresponding electrical signal, the amplitude of which
varies in accordance with the variations of brightness
The microphone converts the sound associated with the
picture being televised into proportionate electrical
signal, which is normally a voltage
The receiving antenna intercepts the radiated
picture and sound carrier signals and feeds them to
the RF tuner

Fig. 1.1 Simplified block diagram of a monochrome television broadcasting system

Composite video signal
Composite video signal consists of a camera signal corresponding to the desired picture information, blanking
pulses to make the retrace invisible, and synchronizing pulses to synchronize the transmitter and receiver
scanning. A horizontal synchronizing (sync) pulse is needed at the end of each active line period whereas a
vertical sync pulse is required after each field is scanned. The amplitude of both horizontal and vertical sync
pulses is kept the same to obtain higher efficiency of picture signal transmission but their duration (width) is
chosen to be different for separating them at the receiver. Since sync pulses are needed consecutively and not
simultaneously with the picture signal, these are sent on a time division basis and thus form a part of the
composite video signal.
Figure 3.1 shows the composite video signal details of three different lines each corresponding to a different
brightness level of the scene
The level of the video signal when the picture detail being transmitted corresponds to the maximum whiteness to
be handled, is referred to as peak-white level. This is fixed at 10 to 12.5 percent of the maximum value of the
signal while the black level corresponds to approximately 72 percent. The sync pulses are added at 75 percent
level called the blanking level. The difference between the black level and blanking level is known as the
‘Pedestal’. However, in actual practice, these two levels, being very close, tend to merge with each other as shown
in the figure. Thus the picture information may vary between 10 percent to about 75 percent of the composite
video signal depending on the relative brightness of the picture at any instant. The darker the picture the higher
will be the voltage within those limits.
Pedestal height. As noted in Fig. 3.1 the pedestal height is the distance between the pedestal level and the average
value (dc level) axis of the video signal. This indicates average brightness since it measures how much the average
value differs from the black level. Even when the signal loses its dc value when passed through a capacitor-
coupled circuit the distance between the pedestal and the dc level stays the same and thus it is convenient to use
the pedestal level as the reference level to indicate average brightness of the scene.
The blanking pulses. The composite video signal contains blanking pulses to make the retrace lines invisible by
raising the signal amplitude slightly above the black level (75 per cent) during the time the scanning circuits
produce retraces
.
In television, “blanking” means going to black. As part of the video signal, blanking voltage is at the black
level. Video voltage at the black level cuts off beam current in the picture tube to blank out light from the
screen. The purpose of the blanking pulses is to make invisible the re-traces required in scanning
Transmitting and receiving TV antenna
A television receive antenna (TV aerial) is an antenna specifically designed for use with a television receiver
(TV) to receive over-the-air broadcast television signals from a television station. Terrestrial television is
broadcast on frequencies from about 47 MHz to 250 MHz in the very high frequency (VHF) band, and 470
MHz to 960 MHz in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band in different countries

TV VHF YAGI receive antenna

 Picture tube

The picture tube serves as the screen for a television

receiver is a specialized from of cathode-ray tube. It
consists of an evacuated glass bulb or envelope, inside
the neck of which is rigidly supported an electron gun
that supplies the electron beam. A luminescent
phosphor coating provided on the inner surface of its
face plate produces light when hit by the electrons of
the fast moving beam. A monochrome picture tube has
one electron gun and a continuous phosphor coating
that produces a picture in black and white. For color
picture tubes the screen is formed of three different
phosphors and there are three electron beams, one for
each color phosphor. The three colors—red, green and
blue produced by three phosphors combine to produce
different colors. More details of color picture tubes are
given in chapters devoted to color television.
 Electron Gun
The various electrodes that constitute the electron gun are shown in Fig. 5.2. The cathode is
indirectly heated and consists of a cylinder of nickel that is coated at its end with thoriated
tungsten or barium and strontium oxides. These emitting materials have low work-function and
when heated permit release of sufficient electrons to form the necessary stream of electrons
within the tube. The control grid (Grid No. 1) is maintained at a negative potential with respect
to cathode and controls the flow of electrons from the cathode. However, instead of a wiremesh
structure, as in a conventional amplifier tube, it is a cylinder with a small circular opening to
confine the electron stream to a small area. The grids that follow the control grid are the
accelerating or screen grid (Grid No. 2) and the focusing grid (Grid No. 3). These are
maintained at different positive potentials with respect to the cathode that vary between + 200 V
to + 600 V. All the elements of the electron gun are connected to the base pins and receive their
rated voltages from the tube socket that is wired to the various sections of the receiver.
Electrostatic Focusing
The electric field due to the positive potential at the accelerating grid (also known as 1st anode)
extends through the opening of the control grid right to the cathode surface. The orientation of
this field is such that besides accelerating the electrons down the tube, it also brings all the
electrons in the stream into a tiny spot called the crossover. This is known as the first electrostatic
lens action. The resultant convergence of the beam is shown in Fig. 5.2. The second lens system
that consists of the screen grid and focus electrode draws electrons from the crossover point and
brings them to a focus at the viewing screen. The focus anode is larger
in diameter and is operated at a higher potential than the first anode. The resulting field
configuration between the two anodes is such that the electrons leaving the crossover point at
various angles are subjected to both convergent and divergent forces as they more along the
axis of the tube. This in turn alters the path of the electrons in such a way that they meet at
another point on the axis. The electrode voltages are so chosen or the electric field is so varied
that the second point where all the electrons get focused is the screen of the picture tube.
Electrostatic focusing is preferred over magnetic focusing because it is not affected very much
by changes in the line voltage and needs no ion-spot correction.
Beam Velocity
In order to give the electron stream sufficient velocity to reach the screen material with proper
energy to cause it to fluoresce, a second anode is included within the tube.This is a conductive
coating with colloidal graphite on the inside of the wide bell of the tube. This coating, called
aquadag, usually extends from almost half-way into the narrow neck to within 3 cm of the
fluorescent screen as shown in Fig. 5.2. It is connected through a specially provided pin at the
top or side of the glass bell to a very high potential of over 15 kV. The exact voltage depends on
the tube size and is about 18 kV for a 48 cm monochrome tube.
Beam Deflection
Both electric and magnetic fields can be employed for deflecting the electron beam. However, in
television picture tubes electromagnetic deflection is preferred for the following reasons:
 Electron beam must attain a very high velocity to deliver enough energy to the atoms of the
phosphor coating. Because of this the electrons of the beam remain under the influence of
the deflecting field for a very short time. This necessitates application of high deflecting
fields to achieve the desired deflection.

 With electrostatic deflection the beam electrons gain energy. Thus larger deflection angles
tend to defocus the beam. Further, the deflection plates need to be placed further apart as
the deflection angle is made larger, thus requiring higher voltages to produce the same
deflection field. Magnetic deflection is free from both these shortcomings and much larger
deflection angles can be achieved without defocusing or nonlinearities with consequent
saving in tube length and cabinet size.

 For electrostatic deflection two delicate pairs of deflecting plates, are needed inside
the picture tube, whereas for magnetic deflection two pairs of deflecting coils are mounted
outside and close to the neck of the tube.
 Introduction to color TV-compatibility

Regular color TV broadcast could not be started till 1954 because of the stringent
requirement of making color TV compatible with the existing monochrome system.
Compatibility implies that
(i) the color television signal must produce a normal black and white picture on a
monochrome receiver without any modification of the receiver circuitry and
(ii) a color receiver must be able to produce a black and white picture from a normal
monochrome signal. This is referred to as reverse compatibility.
To achieve this, that is to make the system fully compatible the composite color signal
must meet the following requirements:

(i) It should occupy the same bandwidth as the corresponding monochrome signal.
(ii) The location and spacing of picture and sound carrier frequencies should remain the same.
(iii) The color signal should have the same luminance (brightness) information as would
a monochrome signal, transmitting the same scene.
(iv) The composite color signal should contain color information together with the
ancillary signals needed to allow this to be decoded.
(v)The color information should be carried in such a way that it does not affect the picture
reproduced on the screen of a monochrome receiver.
(vi) The system must employ the same deflection frequencies and sync signals as used for
monochrome transmission and reception.

In order to meet up the above requirements it becomes necessary to encode the color
information of the scene in such a way that it can be transmitted within the same channel
bandwidth of 7 MHz and without disturbing the brightness signal. Similarly at the receiving end
a decoder must be used to recover the color signal back in its original form for feeding it to the
tricolor picture tube.
Three color theory
All light sensations to the eye are divided (provided there is an adequate brightness stimulus on the
operative cones) into three main groups. The optic nerve system then integrates the different color
impressions in accordance with the curve shown in Fig. 25.2 to perceive the actual color of the object
being seen. This is known as additive mixing and forms the basis of any color television system. A
yellow color, for example, can be distinctly seen by the eye when the red and green groups of the cones
are excited at the same time with corresponding intensity ratio. Similarly and color other than red,
green and blue will excite different sets of cones to generate the cumulative sensation of that color. A
white color is then perceived by the additive mixing of the sensations from all the three sets of cones.
From Fig. 25.2, it is seen from the plot that the sensitivity of the human eye is greatest for
green light, decreasing towards both the red and blue ends of the spectrum. In fact the
maximum is located at about 550 nm, a yellow green, where the spectral energy maximum
of sunlight is also located.
 Mixing of Colors
Mixing of colors can take place in two ways—subtractive mixing and additive mixing. In
subtractive mixing, reflecting properties of pigments are used, which absorb all wavelengths
but for their characteristic color wavelengths. When pigments of two or more colors are mixed,
they reflect wavelengths which are common to both. Since the pigments are not quite saturated
(pure in color) they reflect a fairly wide band of wavelengths. This type of mixing takes place in
painting and color printing. In additive mixing which forms the basis of color television, light
from two or more colors obtained either from independent sources or through filters can create
a combined sensation of a different color. Thus different colors are created by mixing pure
colors and not by subtracting parts from white. The additive mixing of three primary colors—
red, green and blue in adjustable intensities can create most of the colors encountered in
everyday life. The impression of white light can also be created by choosing suitable intensities
of these colors.

Red, green and blue are called primary colors. These are used as basic colors in
television. By pairwise additive mixing of the primary colors the following complementary
colors are produced:
Red + Green = Yellow
Red + Blue = Magenta (purplish red shade)
Blue + Green = Cyan (greenish blue shade)
Color plate 1 depicts the location of primary and complementary colors on the color
circle.
If a complementary is added in appropriate proportion to the primary which it itself does
not contain, white is produced. This is illustrated in Fig. 25.3 (a) where each circle
corresponds to one primary color. Color plate 2 shows the effect of color mixing. Similarly
Fig. 25.3 (b) illustrates the process of subtractive mixing. Note that as additive mixing of the
three primary colors produces white, their subtractive mixing results in black.
 Grassman’s Law
The eye is not able to distinguish each of the colors that mix to form a new color but instead
perceives only the resultant color. Thus the eye behaves as though the output of the three types of
cones are additive. The subjective impression which is gained when green, blue and red lights reach
the eye simultaneously, may be matched by a single light source having the same color. In addition
to this, the brightness (luminance) impression created by the combined light source is numerically
equal to the sum of the brightnesses (luminance) of the three primaries that constitute the single
light. This property of the eye of producing a response which depends on the algebraic sum of the
red, green and blue inputs is known as Grassman’s Law. White has been seen to be reproduced by
adding red, green and blue lights. The intensity of each color may be varied. This enables simple
rules of addition and subtraction.
Luminance, Hue and Saturation
Any color has three characteristics to specify its visual information. These are (i) luminance,
(ii) hue or tint, and (iii) saturation. These are defined as follows:

(i)Luminance or Brightness

This is the amount of light intensity as perceived by the eye regardless of the color. In black and
white pictures, better lighted parts have more luminance than the dark areas. Different colors
also have shades of luminance in the sense that though equally illuminated appear more or less
bright as indicated by the relative brightness response curve of Fig. 25.2. Thus on a onochrome
TV screen, dark red color will appear as black, yellow as white and a light blue color as grey.
(ii) Hue
This is the predominant spectral color of the received light. Thus the color of any object
is distinguished by its hue or tint. The green leaves have green hue and red tomatoes
have red hue. Different hues result from different wavelengths of spectral radiation and
are perceived as such by the sets of cones in the retina.
(iii) Saturation
This is the spectral purity of the color light. Since single hue colors occur rarely alone,
this indicates the amounts of other colors present. Thus saturation may be taken as an
indication of how little the color is diluted by white. A fully saturated color has no white.
As an example vivid green is fully saturated and when diluted by white it becomes light
green. The hue and saturation of a color put together is known as chrominance. It is
noted that it does not contain the brightness information. Chrominance is also called
Chroma.
Color TV picture tube
In color television picture tube, the electron
guns generate beams corresponding to the
values of red, green, and blue light in the
televised image. At left is the aperture grille,
through which the beams are focused on the
phosphor coating of the screen, forming tiny
spots of red, green, and blue that appear to
the eye as a single color. The beam is
directed line by line across and down the
screen by deflection coils at the neck of the
picture tube.
 VCR
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that
records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a
removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. Use of a VCR
to record a television program to play back at a more convenient time is commonly
referred to as timeshifting. VCRs can also play back prerecorded tapes. In the 1980s and
1990s, prerecorded videotapes were widely available for purchase and rental and blank
tapes were sold to make recordings. Most domestic VCRs are equipped with a television
broadcast receiver (tuner) for TV reception and a programmable clock (timer) for
unattended recording of a television channel from a start time to an end time specified
by the user.

videocassette recorder (VCR)

 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV)
Closed circuit television is a special application in which camera signals are made available
only to a limited number of monitors or receivers. The particular type of link used depends on
distance between the two locations, the number and dispersion of receivers and mobility of
either camera or receiver. Figure 10.3 illustrates various link arrangements which are often
used. The simplest link is a cable where video signal from the camera is connected directly
through a cable to the receiver. A television monitor, which is a receiver, without RF and IF
circuits, is only required for reception in such a link arrangement. About one volt peak-to-
peak signal is required by the monitor. Since the video signal is normally delivered via cables
and even when transmitted, it is over a limited region and for restricted use, CCTV needed
not follow television broadcast standards.
CCTV Applications
There are numerous applications of CCTV and a few are briefly described here.
(i) Education. One instructor may lecture to a large number of students sitting at different
locations. Similarly close-ups of demonstration experiments and other aids can be shown on
monitors during these lectures.
(ii) Medicine. Several monitors and camera units can be installed to observe seriously ill patients
in intensive care units. In medical institutions, operations when performed can be shown to
medical students without their actually gathering around the operation table.
(iii) Business. Television cameras can be installed at different locations in big departmental
stores to keep an eye over customers and sales personnel.
(iv) Surveillance. In banks, railway yards ports, traffic points and several other similar
locations, closed circuit TV can be effectively used for surveillance.
(v) Industry. In industry CCTV has applications in remote inspection of materials. Observance of
nuclear reactions and other such phenomena would have been impossible without television.
Similarly television has played a great role in the scanning of earth’s surface and probing of other
planets.
(vi) Home. In homes a CCTV monitor finds its application in seeing the caller before opening the
door.
(vii) Aerospace and Oceanography. Here a wireless link is used between the transmitter
and receiver. In some applications camera is remotely controlled over a microwave radio link. As
shown in Fig. 10.3 (c), for aerospace and oceanography a carrier is used for transmitting the
signal and a complete receiver is then necessary for reception.
 Community Antenna Television (CATV)

Cable television, generally, any system that distributes television signals by means of coaxial or
fiber-optic cables. The term also includes systems that distribute signals solely via satellite. Cable-
television systems originated in the United States in the late 1940s and were designed to improve
reception of commercial network broadcasts in remote and hilly areas. During the 1960s they were
introduced in many large metropolitan areas where local television reception is degraded by the
reflection of signals from tall buildings. Commonly known as community antenna television
(CATV), these cable systems use a “community antenna” to receive broadcast signals (often from
communications satellites), which they then retransmit via cables to homes and establishments in
the local area subscribing to the service. Subscribers pay a specified monthly service charge in
addition to an initial installation fee
 MATV

MATV stands for Master Antenna Television. The system comprises the reception
and distribution of VHF Broadcast signals through one Master Head Antenna
through suitable cable network, to each individual outlet. The equipment shall be:
Master Antenna, Master Head Antenna Pre-Amplifier (if required), Broad Band
(VHF-UHF) Amplifier/ Mixer, Splitters and Directional Coupler, Wall
Connectors/Terminations of Antenna Cables and Interconnecting low-loss MATV co-
axial cables. To achieve good quality reception, MATV system must be planned,
designed and installed through high quality materials and equipments along with
appropriate technologies. Master Antenna Television or MATV means many TV
connection outlets from one Master antenna control system. Usually high-rise
apartment houses, hotels, schools and cluster based residential area utilizes this kind
of TV distribution network. It may or may not include FM radio so that one outlet
can receive both TV and FM reception.

In such Master antenna television system, a building or zone is fed from a common
set of antennas. The MATV system processes and amplifies TV and FM signals and
distributes them from one central location.
Antenna over the roof of a building Building connected to MATV system
connected to MATV system

TV Booster
A TV signal booster kit consists of a HDTV antenna
plus signal booster that extends TV station broadcast
coverage into your home or apartment building by
boosting or amplifying existing TV channel signals
for clearer audio and video reception.