CHAPTER1 : FUNDAMENTALS OF TELEVISION

EEF 418: TELEVISION SYSTEMS 4 Credits (40–20–0)

Chapter 1: Fundamentals of Television
Introduction
This chapter is concerned primarily with the fundamentals of domestic broadcast television systems
which now includes direct broadcast satellite systems. There are, of course, many specialized closed-
circuit television systems, but these are all based upon the same principles as the broadcast system and
will not therefore be considered separately.
Television has progressed over a period of about 70 years from John Logie Baird’s mechanical scan
system to the modern highly sophisticated colour systems that can transmit both entertainment
programmes and teledata information. During this period the quality of sound and visual image
reproduction has increased steadily and digital techniques, in particular, have made rapid inroads in what
has been basically an analogue technology. The basic principles governing the transmission of visual
information by electrical means have, however, remained unchanged. These principles rely upon a
property of the human eye/brain combination known as persistence of vision. This means that under
certain conditions, the brain is unable to differentiate between a moving image focused on the retina of
the eye and a rapid sequence of still images. Television is specifically designed for the human eye/brain
combination, and it is appropriate to begin by considering the subjective response of this combination
to incident light energy.
I- Ratio –Image Aspect
A television picture is made up from a number of horizontal lines on the television screen,
which are laid down, or scanned, from the top to the bottom of the television screen. There are
now only two standards for TV pictures in general use, 525 lines in the USA (EIA) and Japan
and 625 lines elsewhere (CCIR). The descriptions that follow are based on the 625-line system.
The number of lines describes how each still picture is created, but a television picture is made
up from a number of still pictures displayed every second.
There is a characteristic of the human eye known as ‘persistence of vision.’ The eye retains an
impression of an image for a fraction of a second after it has disappeared. If a series of still
images is presented at a rate of about 14 per second an impression of continuous movement
will be perceived. This, however, would give rise to a very distracting flicker. If the rate were
increased to 24 images per second, the flicker would be almost unnoticeable. Increasing this to
50 images per second would eliminate noticeable flicker.
To transmit 50 complete images per second would be needlessly complex and expensive to
produce. The solution is to adopt what is known as interlaced scanning. Instead of scanning the
full 625 lines 50 times a second, the scanning speed is effectively doubled and so is the vertical
spacing of the lines. Therefore, one scan produces 312 1/2 lines from the top to the bottom of
the picture. This is known as one field. The next scan is arranged to start at a precise position
exactly between the lines of the first scan, so that the lines of the second field interlace, like
fingers, between the lines of the first field. In this way, a complete frame of video is created
made up from two fields.
On a TV screen, the phosphor on the screen continues to glow from the first scan while the
second scan is being displayed. In this way, although only 25 complete pictures (frames) are
presented per second the screen is scanned 50 times (fields) per second. The result is to achieve
a flicker rate of 50 Hz (cycles per second) while only using a bandwidth for 25 frames per
second. Some broadcast televisions now use a technique called “100Hz technology” to further
reduce the flicker on the TV screen. However, this technique is not generally used in CCTV
monitors due to the extra cost involved.

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Figure 1.1 Interlaced Fields

The relationship between the length of the horizontal lines and the height of the picture is always
the same and is known as the aspect ratio. It is given by the following ratio.

II- The monochrome television waveform

In Europe broadcast television pictures are transmitted using the 625 line standard (if should be
noted however that vigorous efforts are being made to define a universal European high-
definition standard). The 625 line signal waveform will be considered as the means of
explaining the transmission of a three-dimensional vision signal (i.e one that is a function of
time and both horizontal and vertical position) over a one-dimensional channel (i.e a channel
in which voltage is a function of time). The three-dimensional visual image to be transmitted is
focused onto a photosensitive (in the electrical sense) surface by an optical lens system. The
photosensitive surface may be considered as a large number of separate photoelectric
transducers. Each of these transducers produces an electrical output proportional to the intensity
of the image that falls upon it. The original image is thus decomposed into a large number of
pictures elements known as pixels (or pels). The electrical output corresponding to each pixel
is one-dimensional since it is a function only of time. The three-dimensional signal, which is
the combined output of all pixels, is actually transmitted as a rapid sequence of one-dimensional
outputs. The original optical image is then reconstructed by displaying each pixel in its correct
spatial position.
This image is produced, in a domestic television receiver, by modulation the beam current of
a cathode ray tube (CRT). The screen of such a tube is covered with a photo-emissive layer and
will have the same number of pixels as the photosensitive plate in the image capture system.
The image is reproduced by effectively connecting each pixel in the image capture system to
the corresponding pixel in the CRT turn. This is achieved by scanning the photo-emissive
screen in CRT with an electronic beam synchronized to the scanning beam in the image capture
system.
II.1- Scanning Lines
Sequential scanning of the image capture system and CRT are shown diagrammatically in
figure 1.2.

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Figure 1.2: Sequential scanning

The electron beam is deflected in both vertical and horizontal directions. The scan begins at the
point A in figure 1.3 and proceed to point B. During flyback, which occurs very rapidly, no
information is transmitted. The next line scan is scanned form C to D and the process is repeated
until point F is reached. At this point flyback occurs to point A and the scanning of the complete
picture is repeated.
The above explanation is based on the assumption that both image capture and display systems
are based on vacuum tubes with scanning electron beams. In many personal computer systems,
for example, the CRT has been replaced by a liquid crystal display in which the individual
pixels are addressed by a switching waveform generated from a digital circuit and such displays
are also employed in miniature TV receivers. It is also commonplace for image capture devices
to be based on solid state technology and in such cases the scanning electron beam is replaced
by a similar switching waveform. The scanning electron beams are thus replaced by
synchronized switching waveforms, but the scanning process illustrated in figure 1.2 is still
relevant to the production of televisions images.
It can be seen from figure 1.2 that each picture scan takes a finite time. If this time is longer
than the duration of persistence of vision the eye will perceive flicker on the picture. If the scan
time is very short the number of pixel/second and hence the signal bandwith will be large. The
optimum scan rate is therefore one that is just fast enough to avoid flicker. The picture frequency
at which flicker occurs is related to the luminance of the picture being viewed.
II.2 Interlaced Scanning
For television systems, flicker is avoided when the picture rate is as low as 25 complete
scans/second. This is made possible by use of interlaced scanning, which is shown in figure 1.3.

Figure 1.3: Interlaced scanning

The scan now occurs in two fields, the odd field starts at A and the line is scanned until point
B. Flyback then occurs from B to C and so on. It will be seen from figure 1.3 that the last line
is scanned from D to E, i.e. field flyback occurs from E to F (In fact this flyback takes the
equivalent of several line scan periods so will be straight line as shown in figure 1.3). The even
field starts half-way across the picture at F and the scan of the first line finishes at G, flyback
occurring from G to H. The last line of the even field is scanned from I to J, flyback then occurs
to point A, which is the start of the next odd field.
Interlaced scanning avoids flicker because although each complete picture is scanned 25
times/second, a localized area of the picture is scanned by both odd and even fields. Thus each

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such area is apparently scanned 50 times/second. This deception relies on the fact that the
variation in brightness in a vertical direction usually occurs gradually. If there is a significant
difference in the brightness between one line and the next, some localized flicker will be
observed. It should be noted that two field frequencies are in common use i.e. 50 fields/second
or 60 fields/second depending on the local power supply frequency.
It has been pointed out that it is necessary to synchronize the scans in the image capture system
and the display device. To achieve this, a line synchronizing pulse is transmitted at the end of
each field. The synchronizing pluses trigger the flyback circuits in the television receiver.
II.3 Picture signal transmission
The transmitted video signal this has distinct components, i.e. the picture signal that represents
the variation in brightness of each line and the synchronizing pulses that are transmitted below
black level. The composite waveform is shown in figure 1.4

Figure 1.4: Brightness and synchronization information

The 625 line transmissions in the UK use negative amplitude modulation of the vision carrier,
i.e. an increase in picture brightness produces a decrease in signal level.
II.4 Positive and Negative Modulation
A portion of the envelope of the modulated signal is shown in figure 1.5.

Figure 1.5: Transmitted carrier envelope

The advantage of negative modulation is considered to be that the black spots produced on the
screen by some forms of ignition interference are less objectionable than the white spots that
would be produced in the same circumstances if positive modulation were used. The ratio
WB/BS shown in figure 1.5 is known as the picture/sync ratio and has of 7/3. This is a
compromise figure that produces a reasonable picture quality and adequate synchronization in
poor SNR conditions. Figure 1.5 shows that a portion of each line before, and just after, each
synchronizing pulse is at black level. This allows the line flyback to be suppressed and hence
no visual output is produced during this interval. A similar provision is made at the end of each
field, but in this case the duration of blck level extends for 25 line periods. This means that in
one complete picture (two fields) there are 50 lines which are suppressed.
II.5 Monochrone video signal component
The signal used to carry the scanning pictures from one place to another is called the video
signal. A voltage is generated proportional to the brightness of the image at any point on a

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horizontal line. For the brightest parts, corresponding to a white area, a level of one volt is
produced; this is the white level.
For the darkest parts corresponding to a black image, a voltage of approximately 0.3 volts is
produced; this is the black level. Between these levels, the camera will produce a voltage
proportional to the shade of grey of the image.
However, the brightness signal is not the only part of the video signal normally produced by a
camera. Some method is required of synchronising the monitor on which the camera picture is
being displayed to the field and line scanning process.
This is to enable it to re-create the picture that the camera is viewing. The method used to
achieve this is to add pulses for the start of each field and the start of each line. The
synchronising, or sync, pulses for the start of each field are called Vertical Sync Pulses. These
vertical sync pulses reduce the voltage from the black level down to zero voltsand take up a
time space equivalent to 25 horizontal lins, i.e. 1.6 milliseconds. The sync pulses for the start
of each line are called Horizontal Sync Pulses. The horizontal sync pulses are also from the
black level down to zero volts and are 4.7 microseconds in long.
The type of video signal that contains both video and synchronising information is known as
composite video.

Figure 1. 6: composite video signal

The relationship in level between the video signal and sync pulses is normally given by the
following formula:

The complete horizontal line lasts 64 microseconds. There is a short period between the end of
the video signal for a line and the leading edge of the next horizontal sync pulse. This is known
as the front porch.
There is also a short period between the trailing edge of the horizontal sync pulse and the start
of the video signal of the next line. This is known as the back porch. Considering the times for
the horizontal sync and the front and back porches, the actual length of the video signal in a
horizontal line is 52 microseconds. In practice only 47 to 50 microseconds is visible due to
over-scanning at the monitor.
III. Band width and Picture Resolution
Scanning a scene or picture is a kind of sampling process. Consider the scene to be a continuous variation
of light intensities and colors. To capture this scene and transmit it electronically, the light intensity and

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color variations must be converted to electric signals. This conversion is accomplished through a process
called scanning, whereby the picture is divided into many fine horizontal lines next to one another.
III.1 Bandwidth Requirement
The resolution of the picture refers to the amount of detail that can be shown.
Pictures with high resolution have excellent definition, or distinction of detail, and the pictures appear
to be clearly focused. A picture lacking detail looks softer, or somewhat out of focus. The bandwidth of
a video system determines the resolution. The greater the bandwidth, the greater the definition and detail.
Resolution in a video system is measured in terms of the number of lines defined within the bounds of
the picture. For example, the horizontal resolution RH is given as the maximum number of alternating
black-and-white vertical lines that can be distinguished.
Assume closely spaced vertical black-and-white lines of the same width. When such lines are scanned,
they will be converted to a square wave (50 percent duty cycle). One cycle, or period, t of this square
wave is the time for one black line and one white line. If the lines are very thin, the resulting period will
be short and the frequency will be high. If the lines are wide, the period will be longer and the resulting
frequency lower.
𝐵𝑊 = 0.8𝐹𝑅 𝑁𝐿 𝑅𝐻
Where
BW= required bandwidth for a TV signal
FR = number of frames or complete pictures transmitted each second
NL = number of scanning lines
RH = horizontal resolution defined to be number of pixel in horizontal dimension within Y,
where Y is the picture height. (Note that H is not the picture width)
The 0.8 number is derived as follows:

AspectRatio = the ratio of the image width to its height, here it is 4/3 for conventional TV. The
AspectRatio of HDTV is 16/9.
- 0.5 is contributed by the interlaced scanning.
- 0.84 is the fraction of the horizontal scanning interval devote to signal transmission. (The
remainder is utilized for horizontal blanking).
The trade-off between BW, FR, NL, and RH is a big concern for original TV design.
III.2 Scanning Standards
The frame rate must be larger enough to reduce flicker to an acceptable level. It is also needed
to be multiple or submultiple of the primary power frequency so that the “humming” effect
resulting from imperfect filtering of the power source are minimum.

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Table1:U.S. and foreign scanning standards

III. 3 Bandwidth and Horizontal Resolution

The RH, horizontal limiting resolution of TV, the number of black and white vertical lines that
can be distinguished in a dimension equal to the picture height.

CH = fraction of time each scanning line devoted to the transmission of picture information after
subtracting the time required for horizontal blanking
Bw = system bandwidth
AR = aspect ratio
NL = total number of scanning lines per frame
FR = frame rate per second

III.4 Scanning lines and vertical resolution

The RV, vertical limiting resolution of TV, the number of vertical lines that can be distinguished
in a dimension equal to the picture height, is limited by the number of active (visible) scanning
lines but not equal to it, because the vertical detail in the image is randomly located w.r.t. the

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scanning line
RV= CVKfNL
CV = fraction of scanning line that are visible (after subtracting the lines that are removed by
vertical blanking)
Kf = Kell factor, the ratio of vertical resolution to the number of scanning lines
NL = total number of scanning lines.

III.5 Picture elements (pixels)

Np, is the number of pixel is broadcast TV system

C = fraction of time occupied by active scanning (after subtracting vertical and horizontal
blanking periods).
- NSTC TV system has 148000 pixels
- HDTV system has 743000 pixels.
IV. Camera Tube Image
Image capture systems are the electronic components of the television camera which transform
incident light energy into electric signals. The television camera also consists of complex
optical systems which are outside the scope of this chapter and will not therefore be covered.
There are essentially two forms of image capture systems in widespread use. One is based on a
photoconductive vacuum tube, known as the vidicon, and the other form is based on charged-
coupled solid-state electronic devices.
IV.1 The vidicon tube
The construction of the basic vidicon tube is shown in figure 1.6. Incident light is focused on
to a target disc of continuous the photoconductive semiconductor material. The resistance of
this material is inversely proportional to the intensity of incident illumination. The photo
conductive target is scanned by a low-velocity electron beam, emitted from the cathode, which
results in the rear surface of the target being stabilized at approximately cathode potential.

Figure 1.6 The vidicon tube

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The vidicom has electrostatic focusing supplemented by a magnetic focusing coil which is
coaxial with the tube. The effect of these two focusing arrangements is to cause individual
electrons in the scanning beam to move in a spiral path which coincides with the paths of other
electrons at regular distances from the cathode. The focusing arrangements are adjusted so that
one of these points of convergence coincides with the target and this produces a scanning spot
size diameter in the region of 20 micron.
The front surface, or signal plate, is held at a potential of about 20V, which produces a current
flow through the resistance RL. When there is no illumination this current is of the order of 20
nA and is known as the dark current. When an image is focused onto the target dics the
conductivity of the disc rises in proportion to the intensity of illumination. This allows an
electric charge to build up on the rear surface of the target disc and, between scans, the target
disc gradually acquires a positive voltage relative to the cathode. The scanning beam deposits
sufficient electrons to neutralize this charge and, in so doing, generates a varying current in R L
(typically 200nA). Since charge is conducted to the rear surface of the target disc over the whole
of the interval between scans the vidicon is very sensitive.
However, the vidicon suffers from the two problems of dark current and long persistence (or
lag). The dark current tends to produce shading and noise on the low intensity parts of
reproduced images. Image persistence arises from the fact that the scanning electron beam does
not fully discharge the target plate and this problem is particularly noticeable when levels of
Illumination are low. A number of techniques are available to reduce these problems, one of which is
the excitation of the face plate by low-level red light generated within the camera assembly.
The vidicon tube described is essentially a monochrone device and will produce a luminance signal.
For colour transmission it is necessary to generate the individual RGB signals. This is archived by using
a matrixed face plate in which the front glass surfece is covered with thin vertical strips of RGB colour
filter. The vidicon target is similarly divided into vertical strips each one precisely aligned with the
corresponding to a primary colour are connected together and brought out to separate load resistor.
Hence by this means it is possible to derive the individual RGB signals from a single tube. These signals
are fed to a matrix unit which can produce the gamma-corrected luminance and chrominance signals.
IV.2 Solid-state image capture device
Solid-state devices for image capture first appeared in mateur and professional equipement
around about 1985. In such devices the photosensitive surface is not continuous but arranged
as many thousands of separate silicon photodiodes arranged in horizontal rows equivalent to
one pixel and during the 20 ms field period builds up a charge proportional to the light falling
on it. Each photodiode is connected to the input of one cell of an analogue shift register, known
as a charge-coupled (or bucket brigade) device, by a MOSFET which is normally OFF.
Analogue voltages may be shifted through these devices in the form of the charge on a capacitor.
The shift registers are arranged so that adjacent parallel inputs are connected to adjacent photo-
diodes in a vertical direction as shown in figure 1.7.

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Figure 1.7: Charge-coupled analogue shift registers in a solid-state image capture device
IV.3 Display devices
Display devices in colour television systems are largely based on cathode ray tubes, but intense
research is ongoing to perfect a large screen solid-state equivalent. This section will be confined
to current practice and the basic construction of the colour display tube is as shown in figure
1.8.

Figure 1.8: Precision in-line display tube: a) plan view of tube layout; b) front view of mask
The colour display is required to produce three separate images in the primary colours. The
formation of a single colour image is then dependent on the averaging effect to the eye. The
electron gun in the colour display tube contains three separate cathodes in line abreast
formation. Each cathode produces an electron beam and the three beams are deflected
magnetically to form the usual scanning action, but each beam is arranged to strike only the
screen phosphor corresponding to its colour. These phosphors are arranged in vertical strips on
the screen of the tube each strip producing either red, green or blue light when excited by the
electron beam. To ensure that the output from each cathode strikes only ist own colour phosphor
a mask is placed about 12 mm in front of the screen. This mask is composed of clongated slots
which allow the passage of electrons in the scanning beams. The slots are positioned so that

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elecrons passing through strike only the appropriate phosphor and a colour picture is therefore
produced.

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