Television fundamentals

Television is a three-part invention:

• the TV camera that turns a picture and sound
into a signal
• The TV transmitter that sends the signal
through the air
• The TV receiver (the TV set in your home) that
captures the signal and turns it back into picture
and sound.
TV Camera
• Converts optical information into a
corresponding electrical signal the amplitude of
which varies in accordance with variations of
brightness
• The strength of light impacting the
photoconductive media varies in resistance in
the various parts of the frame.
• An electron beam (generated by an electron
gun) is used to take the picture information as it
is modulated by variations in conductivity of
the light sensitive plate.
• As the beam moves from element to element, it
encounters different resistances across the
target plate.
• The result is a flow of current which varies in
magnitude as the elements are scanned.
• The voltage generated corresponds to the
optical information of the picture
Scanning
Need for scanning
• To transmit all the variations of light present in
the space of a picture, at a single instance of
time, thousands of channels would be required.
• The first requirement for transmitting the
variations of light in a picture is to convert them
into signals varying with time so that there is
only a single variation at any one instant.
Horizontal and vertical scanning
• Accomplished by deflecting the spot beam of
electrons horizontally from left to right and
vertically from top to bottom.
• Horizontal deflection typically takes 64µs for
one scanning line
Sawtooth for current for horizontal deflection
Vertical deflection
• Takes about 20,000µs in deflecting the beam
from top to bottom
Progressive scan
• When one cycle of vertical saw-tooth completes
scanning of one frame and the next cycle starts
scanning of a new frame, it is called
progressive scanning
Progressive scanning
• Progressive scan starts from A and proceeds to
B the flies back to C and again proceeds to D
until it reaches the bottom line RS.
• The scanning the restarts at again at A
• Each sequence of scanning is called a picture
frame
• The number of lines per frame depends on the
country of use i.e.
• 525 for the American system NTSC) and
European 625 (PAL)
Disadvantage of progressive scanning
• In scanning 25 frames per second as the beam
flips from top to bottom of each picture frame,
it takes about 1280 µs.
• This retrace time of 1280 µs. Is blanked on the
screen of the picture tube so the screen appears
black.
• These dark interruptions of blanking appear 25
times per second becomes visible flicker
• If speed of progressive scanning is increased
i.e.( 50 frames per second) flicker would be
removed but bandwidth would increase
• Progressive scanning is not used in TV
broadcasting
Interlace Scanning
• The problems of reducing flicker without
increasing the bandwidth is solved by scanning
the frame twice
• This is called interlace scanning
• There are two sequences of scanning for each
frame .i.e. for odd and even frames
Dimensions of a TV screen
• Specified by the diagonal length of the screen.
Example: When the width is 4X and height is
3x, the diagonal would be 5x
Example: Determine height and width of TV
screen of 30cm size
Sol. 5X=30cm therefore x=6cm
hence, height = 6×3 =18m and width
6×4=24cm
Monochrome TV Transmitter
The word television is derived from a Greek
word ‘Tele’ meaning far and vision from a Latin
word ‘see’
Video Stages
• The output of the camera is fed to a video
switcher which may receive outside broadcast
video
• It is at this point that mixing or switching of
various inputs, such as fading in a signal and
fading out another may take place
• The output of this mixing and switching
amplifiers goes to more amplifiers to raise the
signal level until it is sufficient for modulation
• Vertical and horizontal blanking and
synchronization pulses are required by
receivers to control their scanning processes
• The final video amplifier is the power amplifier
which grid modulates the output RF amplifier
• As certain amplitude level in the composite
video signal must correspond to specific
percentage modulation this amplifier uses
clamping to establish the precise values of the
various levels of the signal which it receives
RF and sound circuitry
• The sound transmitter is a frequency modulated
transmitter with the only difference being that
the maximum deviation is limited to 25khz
instead of the 75khz for FM broadcast
transmission
Composite video
• There are three parts in a composite video
I. The camera signal corresponding to the
variations of light from a scene
II. The synchronizing pulses to synchronize
the scanning
III.The blanking pulses to make the retraces
invisible
Blanking
• The composite video signal contains blanking
pulses to make retrace lines invincible by
changing the signal amplitude to black when
the scanning circuits produce retraces
• All picture information is cut off during
blanking time. Normally, the retraces are
produced during blanking time
Frequency spread
• The television transmission bandwidth is 6Mhz.
Monochrome signal spectrum
• The lower visual sideband extends only 1.25
MHz below its carrier with the remainder
filtered out, but the upper sideband is
transmitted in full. The audio carrier is 4.5 Mhz
above the picture carrier with FM sidebands as
created by its ± 25 Khz deviation
• The LSB is mostly removed by filters in the
transmitter chain.
• While only one sideband is necessary, it would
be impossible to filter the entire lower sideband
without affecting the amplitude and phase of
the lower frequencies of the upper sideband and
the carrier
• The 6 Mhz bandwidth is therefore occupied by
a ‘vestige’ of the lower sideband (about 0.75
Mhz out to 4 Mhz)
• It offers the advantage of carrier re-insertion at
the receiver being easier
• Monochrome TV receptioin
Common Video and audio circuitry
• VHF tuner
 Must cover the frequency range from 54-216 Mhz band
 Antenna most frequently used for reception is the Yagi
UHF tuner
• Must cover the frequency range 470 Mhz-890
Mhz
• Antenna used most likely to be log-periodic
• Active stages are a diode mixer and bipolar or
FET local oscillator
• Tuned mostly by the use of variable capacitors
Three things happen when the VHF tuner is set
to the UHF tuner position:
• The UHF local oscillator is enabled
• The VHF local oscillator is disabled
• The VHF tuner RF and mixer tuned circuits are
switched to 45.75 MHz
IF amplifiers
• Provides the majority of the sensitivity and gain
before demodulation
• Three or four stages provide amplification for
luminance, chrominance and sound information
Video stages
• IF amplifier is followed by the video detector
and two video amplifiers, whose output drives
the picture tube
• Signals are taken off for sound IF, AGC and
SYNC separation
• Provide the sound IF takeoff point
• The second video amplifier drives the picture
tube, adjusting the instantaneous voltage
between its cathode and grid in proportion to
the video voltage modulating the beam current
to give the correct amount of brightness on the
screen. This position is determined by the
deflection coils
• The blanking pulses of the composite video
signal drive the picture tube beyond cutoff
cutting out the retraces
• The contrast and brightness controls are located
in the circuitry of the output video amplifier
• The brightness control varies the grid-cathode
DC bias on the picture tube compensating for
average room brightness
Sound section
• The sound section of a television receiver is
identical to an FM receiver
• The peak frequency deviation in the FM
modulated signal is selected as 25 khz and the
whole FM signal needs a bandwidth of 70 khz
Synchronizing circuits
• The task of the synchronizing circuits in a
television received information is to ensure that
the vertical and horizontal oscillators in the
receiver work at the correct frequencies.
• Three functions of synchronizing circuits are;
1. Extraction of sync information from its composite
waveform
2. Provision of vertical sync pulses
3. Provision of horizontal sync pulses
• Vertical sync pulses are fed to the vertical
deflection circuits who function is as follows:
To develop a TV picture on the screen, it is necessary to drive
the electron beam horizontally across the face of the tube
15,750 times per second and at the same time move down the
screen relatively slowly and then back up rapidly 60 times a
second
• Horizontal sync pulses are fed to horizontal
deflection circuits whose function is to generate
a 15,750 Hz saw tooth current that sweeps the
beam across the screen
• The same voltage that accomplishes the
horizontal sweep is also stepped up and
rectified to produce the required high aquadug
voltages.
• A small portion of the horizontal fly aback
voltage is used to key automatic gain control
(AGC) or automatic frequency control (AFC)
circuits in operation
Color TV
• Any color can be made by combining a mixture
of the three primary colors, red, green, and
blue.
• Color TV entails the development cameras that
could capture separate red, green, and blue
signals
• Transmission systems that could beam color
signals through the air, and TV sets that could
turn them back into a moving, multicolored
image.
• The TV transmission starts with a camera
incorporating three separate guns for three
colors
• The output of the guns are connected through a
matrix system to give the required signals
• In color TV picture transmission the signals
sent are:-
• Y, B-Y and R-Y video signals
• Where Y is the luminance signal whilst B-Y
and R-Y give information regarding color of
given pictures
• Note: In monochrome TV, only the signal Y is
sent as only information relating to luminance
is required to be sent
Color TV Reception
• The display is a specialized cathode ray tube
made of three separate guns for three colors
• Guns are equally spaced at 120 degrees tilted
towards the axis
• The screen is coated with three different
phosphors for R,B and G in a configuration
called a Triad (of three dots)
• A triad contains one dot for each color
• Typically, there are 333,000 triads on one
display
• The light reaching the triads is controlled by a
shadow mask arranged in a configuration of
one hole per triad
• The shadow mask arrangement results in
efficiency as only 20% of electrons reach
phosphor display
• The electron gun circuit splits the video part of
the signal into separate red, blue, and green
signals to drive the three electron guns.
• The circuit fires three electron guns (one red,
one blue, and one green) down a cathode-ray
tube
G-Y Matrix
• (R-Y) +Y - R
• (B-Y) +Y - B
• (G-Y) + Y - G
• The electron beams pass through a ring of
electromagnets. Electrons can be steered by
magnets because they have a negative electrical
charge. The electromagnets steer the electron
beams so they sweep back and forth across the
screen, line by line.
• The electron beams pass through a grid of holes
called a mask, which directs them so they hit
exact places on the TV screen.
• Shadow mask grid is pierced with small round
holes in a triangular pattern.
• The deflection system of the CRT operates on
all 3 electron beams simultaneously
• Shadow mask grid is pierced with small round
holes in a triangular pattern.
• The 3 electron beams are deflected and focused
as a group onto the shadow mask, which
contains a sequence of holes aligned with the
phosphor- dot patterns.
• When the three beams pass through a hole in
the shadow mask, they activate a dotted
triangle, which occurs as a small color spot on
the screen.
• The phosphor dots in the triangles are organized
so that each electron beam can activate only its
corresponding color dot when it passes through
the shadow mask.
• The beams hit the phosphors (colored
chemicals) on the screen, they make red, blue,
or green dots.
• Elsewhere, the screen remains dark. The pattern
of red, blue, and green dots builds up a colored
picture.
Emerging Display technologies
LCD, plasma, or OLED.
• LCD (liquid-crystal display) televisions have
millions of tiny picture elements called pixels
that can be switched on or off electronically to
make a picture. Each pixel is made up of three
smaller red, green, and blue sub-pixels.
• These can be individually turned on and off by
liquid crystals—effectively microscopic light
switches that turn the sub-pixels on or off.
• Since there is no cumbersome cathode-ray tube
and phosphor screen, LCDs screens are much
more compact and energy efficient than older
TV receivers.
Plasma
• A plasma screen is similar to an LCD, but each
pixel is effectively a microscopic fluorescent
lamp glowing with plasma.
• A plasma is a very hot form of gas in which the
atoms have blown apart to make negatively
charged electrons and positively charged ions
(atoms minus their electrons).
• These move about freely, producing a fuzzy
glow of light whenever they collide.
• Plasma screens can be made much bigger than
ordinary cathode-ray tube televisions, but they
are also much more expensive.
• A really flat TV, one would probably opt for
one that uses OLED (organic LED) technology.
• OLEDs work a bit like normal LEDs, but
they're made from organic (carbon-based)
plastics instead of conventional
semiconductors.
• An OLED display is very thin (just a few
millimeters thick), very bright, and uses much
less power than an equivalent LCD.
• Modern TV cameras don't "scan" pictures this
way anymore. Instead, just as in camcorders
and webcams, their lenses focus the scene being
filmed onto small, image-sensing microchips
(either CCD or CMOS sensors), which convert
the pattern of colors into digital, electrical
signals.
• While traditional scanning cameras used only
525 or 625 lines, the image sensing chips in
today's HDTV (high-definition television)
cameras generally have either 720 or 1080 lines
for capturing much more detail.
• Some cameras have a single image sensor
capturing all colors at once; others have three
separate ones, capturing separate red, blue, and
green signals—the primary colors from which
any color on your TV can be made.
The End