Chapter 2

Fundamental Concepts in Video

1 Tadesse Beyene (MSc.) 03/22/2024

Objectives
 To Understand the basic concepts of Video
 To Identify types of Video signals

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Introduction
 Video is a combination of image and audio.
 It consists of a set of still images called frames displayed to the user one after another
at a specific speed, known as the frame rate measured in number of frames per second
(fps),
 If displayed fast enough our eye cannot distinguish the individual frames,
 but because of persistence of vision merges the individual frames with each other
thereby creating an illusion of motion Audio is added and synchronized with the
apparent movement of images.

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How video works?
 When light reflected from an object passes through a video camera lens, that light is
converted into an electronic signal by a special sensor called a charge-coupled device
(CCD).
 Top-quality broadcast cameras and even camcorders may have as many as three CCDs
(one for each colour of red, green, and blue) to enhance the resolution of the camera
and the quality of the image.
 It’s important to understand the difference between analogue and digital video.

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Cont. …
 Analogue video has a resolution measured in the number of horizontal scan lines (due
to the nature of early cathode-tube cameras),
 but each of those lines represents continuous measurements of the colour and
brightness along the horizontal axis, in a linear signal that is analogous to an audio
signal.
 Digital video signals consist of a discrete colour and brightness (RGB) value for each
pixel.
 Digitizing analogue video involves reading the analogue signal and breaking it into
separate data packets.

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Types of Video Signals
 There are three types of video signals as follows:
 Component Video.
 Composite Video.
 S-Video.
 Component video:
 Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more components. In
popular use, it refers to a type of analog video information that is transmitted or stored
as three separate signals.
 Component analog video signals do not use R, G, and B components but rather a
colorless component, termed luma, which provides brightness information (as in
black-and-white video).

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Cont. …
 This combines with one or more color-carrying components, termed chroma, that give
only color information.
 In component video, the luminance (Y) and two color difference signals (U and V or I
and Q) are separated into three separate analog signals that can be transmitted over
three separate wires.
 Component video is used in professional video production and provides the best
quality and the most accurate reproduction of colors.
 Component Video gives the best color reproduction since there is no crosstalk
between the three channels. Component video requires more bandwidth and good
synchronization of the three components.

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Cont. …
 Component video cables come in three-wire sets shown below.

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Cont. …
Composite video:
 The original TV standard combined (Y) and both color signals (U) and (V) into one
channel, which uses one cable and is known as "composite video."
 Composite video was created when color was added to black & white TV in 1954.
Two color signals (U and V) were multiplexed with the original monochrome signal
(Y) and transmitted in the same TV channel.
 Composite Video Is Yellow
 The yellow RCA jack is the composite video socket found on video devices.
 In composite video, three source signals are combined with sync pulses to form a
composite video signal. The three source signals are referred as YUV in which Y
represents the brightness of the picture and it also includes the synchronizing pulses.

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Cont. …
 The color information is carried between U and V. However, two orthogonal phases of
a color carrier signal are mixed with them in the first place to form a signal called as
chrominance. The Y signal and the UV signal are then combined together.
 The signals are compressed and then channeled through a single wire.
 The chrominance and luminance components can be separated at the receiver end and
then the two color components can be further recovered.
 When connecting to TVs or VCRs, Composite Video uses only one wire and video
color signals are mixed, not sent separately.
 The audio and sync signals are additions to this one signal.
 Since color and intensity are wrapped into the same signal Some interference between
the luminance and chrominance signals is inevitable (unavoidable).

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Cont. …

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Cont. …
 S-Video:
 S-video is a technology for transmitting video signals over a cable by dividing the
video information into two separate signals: one for color (chrominance), and the
other for brightness (luminance).
 When sent to a television, this produces sharper images than Composite Video, where
the video information is transmitted as a single signal over one wire. This is because
televisions are designed to display separate Luminance (Y) and Chrominance (C)
signals.
 Computer monitors are designed for RGB (short for Red, Green, Blue monitor)
signals. Most digital video devices such as digital cameras and game players produce
video in RGB format. The images are clearer when displayed on a computer monitor.
When displayed on a standard television, however, they look better in S-Video format
than in Composite Video format.
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Cont. …
 To use S-Video, the device sending the signals must support S-Video output and the
device receiving the signals must have an S-Video input jack. Then you need an S-
Video cable to connect the two devices.
 S-Video cable doesn't always come standard with a TV, and usually must be
purchased separately.
 S-Video cables carry four or more wires wrapped together in an insulated sleeve, with
S-Video connectors at either end. It is only for video and requires separate audio
cables, but it provides a slightly better picture than a composite video cable.
 Like composite video, S-video connectors are widely used on VCRs, DVD players
and receivers. The audio for both composite video and S-video uses common left/right
stereo connections.
 As a result, there is less crosstalk between the color information and the crucial gray-
scale information.
 S-Video
13 cables are used for computer-to-TV outputBeyene
By Tadesse for business or home use.
(MSc.) 03/22/2024
Cont. …

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Analog Video
 An analog signal f(t) samples a time-varying image. So-called “progressive” scanning
traces through a complete picture (a frame) row-wise for each time interval.
 In TV, and in some monitors and multimedia standards as well, another system, called
“interlaced” scanning is used:
A. The odd-numbered lines are traced first, and then the even-numbered lines are
traced. This results in “odd” and “even” fields two fields make up one frame.
B. b) In fact, the odd lines (starting from 1) end up at the middle of a line at the end
of the odd field, and the even scan starts at a half-way point.

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Cont. …
 Since it is sometimes necessary to change the frame rate, resize, or even produce stills
from an interlaced source video, various schemes are used to “de-interlace” it.
A. The simplest de-interlacing method consists of discarding one field and
duplicating the scan lines of the other field.
 The information in one field is lost completely using this simple technique.

B. Other more complicated methods that retain information from both fields are also
possible.
 Analog video use a small voltage offset from zero to indicate “black”, and another
value such as zero to indicate the start of a line.
 For example, we could use a “blacker-than-black” zero signal to indicate the
beginning of a line.

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PAL Video
 PAL (Phase Alternating Line) is a TV standard widely used in Western Europe,
China, India, and many other parts of the world.
 PAL uses 625 scan lines per frame, at 25 frames/second, with a 4:3 aspect ratio and
interlaced fields.

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SECAM Video
 SECAM stands for Système Electronique Couleur Avec Mémoire, the third
major broadcast TV standard.
 SECAM also uses 625 scan lines per frame, at 25 frames per second, with a
4:3 aspect ratio and interlaced fields.
 SECAM and PAL are very similar. They differ slightly in their color coding
scheme:
A. In SECAM, U and V signals are modulated using separate color subcarriers at
4.25 MHz and 4.41 MHz respectively.
B. They are sent in alternate lines, i.e., only one of the U or V signals will be sent on
each scan line.

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Digital Video
 The advantages of digital representation for video are many.
 For example:

A. Video can be stored on digital devices or in memory, ready to be processed (noise

removal, cut and paste, etc.), and integrated to various multimedia applications;
B. Direct access is possible, which makes nonlinear video editing achievable as a
simple, rather than a complex, task;
C. Repeated recording does not degrade image quality;
D. Ease of encryption and better tolerance to channel noise.

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Digital Television (DTV)
 Digital Television (DTV) is an advanced broadcasting technology that has
transformed your television viewing experience.
 DTV has enabled broadcasters to offer television with better picture and sound
quality.
 It also offers multiple programming choices, called multi-casting, and interactive
capabilities.

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HDTV (High Definition TV)
 Themain thrust of HDTV (High Definition TV) is not to increase the “definition” in
each unit area, but rather to increase the visual field especially in its width.
A. The first generation of HDTV was based on an analog technology developed by
Sony and NHK in Japan in the late 1970s.
B. MUSE (MUltiple sub-Nyquist Sampling Encoding) was an improved NHK HDTV
with hybrid analog/digital technologies that was put in use in the 1990s. It has
1,125 scan lines, interlaced (60 fields per second), and 16:9 aspect ratio.
C. Since uncompressed HDTV will easily demand more than 20 MHz bandwidth,
which will not fit in the current 6 MHz or 8 MHz channels, various compression
techniques are being investigated.
D. It is also anticipated that high quality HDTV signals will be transmitted using
more than one channel even after compression.

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Cont. …
A brief history of HDTV evolution:
A. In 1987, the FCC decided that HDTV standards must be compatible with the
existing NTSC standard and be confined to the existing VHF (Very High
Frequency) and UHF (Ultra High Frequency) bands.
B. In 1990, the FCC announced a very different initiative, i.e., its preference for a
full-resolution HDTV, and it was decided that HDTV would be simultaneously
broadcast with the existing NTSC TV and eventually replace it.
C. Witnessing a boom of proposals for digital HDTV, the FCC made a key decision
to go all-digital in 1993. A “grand alliance” was formed that included four main
proposals, by General Instruments, MIT, Zenith, and AT&T, and by Thomson,
Philips, Sarnoff and others.

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Cont. …
D. This eventually led to the formation of the ATSC (Advanced Television Systems
Committee) responsible for the standard for TV broadcasting of HDTV.
E. In 1995 the U.S. FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service
recommended that the ATSC Digital Television Standard be adopted.

 For video, MPEG-2 is chosen as the compression standard. For audio, AC-3 is the
standard. It supports the so-called 5.1 channel Dolby surround sound, i.e., five
surround channels plus a subwoofer channel.
 The salient difference between conventional TV and HDTV:

A. HDTV has a much wider aspect ratio of 16:9 instead of 4:3.

B. HDTV moves toward progressive (non-interlaced) scan. The rationale is that
interlacing introduces serrated edges to moving objects and flickers along
horizontal edges.
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Cont. …
 The FCC has planned to replace all analog broadcast services with digital TV
broadcasting by the year 2009. The services provided will include:

 SDTV (Standard Definition TV): the current NTSC TV or higher.

 EDTV (Enhanced Definition TV): 480 active lines or higher, i.e., the third and
fourth rows in Table 5.4.
 HDTV (High Definition TV): 720 active lines or higher.

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Cont. …
Parameters Analog Video Digital Video
Signal Analog signal is a continuous signal, which Digital signals are discrete time signals
represents physical measurements. generated by digital modulation.
Waves Denoted by sine waves Denoted by square waves
Representation Uses continuous range of values to represent Uses discrete or discontinuous values to
information represent information

Example Human voice in air, analog electronic devices. Computers, CDs, DVDs, and other digital
electronic devices.

Technology Analog technology records waveforms as they are. Samples analog waveforms into a limited set
of numbers and records them.

Data Subjected to deterioration by noise during Can be noise-immune without deterioration

transmissions transmission and write/read cycle. during transmission and write/read cycle.

Response to More likely to get affected reducing accuracy Less affected since noise response are
Noise analog in nature
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Cont. …
Parameters Analog Video Digital Video
Uses Can be used in analog devices only. Best suited for Computing and digital
Best suited for audio and video electronics.
transmission.
Applications Thermometer PCs, PDAs
Bandwidth Analog signal processing can be done There is no guarantee that digital signal
in real time and consumes less processing can be done in real time and
bandwidth. consumes more bandwidth to carry out the
same information.
Memory Stored in the form of wave signal Stored in the form of binary bit
Power Analog instrument draws large power Digital instrument draws only negligible
power
Cost Low cost and portable Cost is high and not easily portable

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Cont. … Chapter-Three
Basics of Digital Audio