lampers in v ideo Transmission

insertion is nothing more than a sampling

process, that is, the wave is sampled
periodically and any deviation from zero
is corrected. In common with all sam-
S. DOBA, JR. J. W. RIEKE pling processes the highest frequency com-
NONMEMBER AIEE ASSOCIATE AIEE ponent which may be regenerated by this
means is limited to a frequency of one-
NE of the major problems con- ponents. These new components are the half the sampling or line frequency. For
nected with the transmiission of harmonics of the line scanning frequency practical reasons, the maximum fre-
television signals is the exceptionally modulated by the frequency components quency which may be regenerated is
wide video band of frequencies involved. of the signal. In addition to these, the limited to a considerably lower value.
For the present black-and-white stand- original components also are present as a
ards this amounts to about 4 megacycles. result of the modulation of the average Low-Frequency Transmission
In the transmission of the television signal or d-c value of the carrier by the signal. Problems
at video frequencies, that is, nonearrier Therefore the original low frequencies
transmission, the problem is further com- which are present in the blanked video In order to study the low-frequency
plicated because the lower limit of the signal are redundant, that is, they also transmission effects, the wave form of
frequency range extends literally to zero exist as modulation products of the line Figure 2(A) will be used, since it has the
frequency. frequency component and its harmonics. maxmtum field frequency (60-cycle)com-
It is fortunate that the d-c and other Hence they need not be transmitted as ponent. The analysisean be consider-
low-frequency components need not be long as they are reconstructed (by a ably clarnfied, however, if we separate
transmitted. However, they must be proper demodulation process) at the re-
reconstructed at the receiving end for a ceiving end. In this case, the tips of the
this signal into two Components as shown
in Figures 2(B) and 2(C). The former
satisfactory picture. The possibility for blanking pulses of the transmitted wave of these contains the high frequency com-
this reconstruction exists because of the form will describe as their "envelope" ponents and virtually none of the lows,
scanning and blanking process normally those low frequencies which have been while the latter contains the low-fre-
used in generating the television signal. lost in transmission. quency components and virtually none of
The effect of these processes is illustrated To the blanked video wave form, a ghe ymplince and 75
per cent of the
in Figures 1(A) and 1(B). Figure 1(A) synchronizing pulse is usually added. vtideo amplitude and 85 per cent of the
time are used for pieture information,
shows a video signal as it might be gen- Since this is an additive process, it does
erated by a scanning process having zero not modify the discussion above. the amplitude of the low-frequency signal
retrace time. This signal has an average To indicate how low frequencies are
value which corresponds to the average lost in transmission, consider the wave
of Fignre 2(C) (in terms of a 1-volt video
signal) is: 0.75 X 0.85 0.64.
By the separation of the high-and low-
t

brightness of the scene. Insofar as this form due to a half-white half-black field
average value will change, the signal con- with a horizontal line of demarcation as frequency components, the problem of
tains low-frequency components which indicated in Figure 2(A). This is a video investigating transmission deviations in
extend in frequency upwards from zero. signal complete with horizontal syn- the low-frequency region is considerably
Figure 1(B) shows the same signal chronizing pulses, though for simplicity simplified. For this purposeit issufficient
after the blanking process. Here it may the vertical synchronizing pulses are not to consider the wave of Figure 2(C) only,
be seen that the effect of blanking is to shown. If the average value of this signal on the assumption that the wave of
multiply the original signal by a blanking is removed, due to lack of d-c transmis- Figure 2(B) will be transmitted faith-
wave form which is unity at all times ex- sion, the tips of the synchronizing pulses fully.
cept in the blanking interval, when it is will extend below the zero voltage line, Consider the effect of a single low-fre-
zero. This multiplication will be recog- in a negative direction. If the average quency cut-off consisting of a series capac-
nized as a modulation, where the blank- value of the signal changes, the extension itor and shunt resistance, of time-con-
ing wave form, shown in Figure 1(C), of the synchronizing pulses in a negative stant T. For a value of T moderately
plays the part of the carrier. By straight- direction also will change. This effect has
forward Fourier analysis it may be shown been called the "zero wander."
to consist of a d-c or average term plus It may be seen that any process which Papr 50-72,nrecomtmended rby tthe AiEE Televisio
the fundamental and harmonics of the lines up the tips of the synchronizing by the AIEE Technical Program Committee for
presentation at the AIEE Winter General Meeting,
line scanning frequency. -pulses at the zero, or any other fixed, New York, N. Y., January 30-February 3, 1950.
The result then of modulating the levrel reintroduces these low frequency Manuscript submitted November 16, 1948; made
original signal with this nonsinusoidlal components lOSt in transmission. aalbefrpitn eebr5 99
carrier is to obtain new frequency com- Moreover, it is evident that this re- Bell Tele'phoneLarLboratWoriesInc, aNew York,tN.he

1950, VOLUME 69 Doba, Rieke-Clainpers 'in Video Transmission 477

 Figure 1 (left). The video IF F F F T fF T 1 f
blanking process
A. Unbianked signal 0
B. Blanked signal (A)
C. Blanking signal 0.1

5 1 1 \1 I9]
0 S Figure 2 (right). Waveform for J II H
> (B)
< IIA. The complete video '"0.85
0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~waveform c

'J' ~~ ~ ~ ~~(B)B.
The high-frequency com- 0.2i
ponent °c
C. The low-frequency com-
ponent 0.32
D. Low-frequency cut-off dis- 0
o "
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~tortion of the low-freauency -0.32
(C) TIME component (D) TIME

large compared to the field (60-cycle)
frequency, the effect of applying the
wave of Figure 2(C) will appear as shown
in Figure 2(D), that is, the main charac-
teristic of such distortion is to produce a
slope, or tilt, in the wave form.
As the number of low-frequency cut-off
circuits in the transmission system is in-
creased, the resultant distortion remains
essentially the same provided the time
constant of each is increased in proportion
to the number of circuits. When viewed
on a picture monitor, this type of distor-
tion results in a shading which is most
noticeable in the darker portions of the
picture. It is evidenced by a decrease in
brightness in the region immediately
following the white portion of the picture,
which decrease in brightness shades to an
increase in brightness in the region im-
mediately preceding the white portion of
the figure.
A change in brightness corresponding
to a slope in the low-frequency wave,
Figure 2(D), of 1 per cent, for example,
would be produced by a single low-fre-
quency cut-off element having a time con-
stant of 0.4 second. In terms of the
steady-state transmission characteristic,
the 3-decibel loss point occurs at 0.4
cycle and the phase shift at 60 cycles
amounts to 0.38 degree. For large
numbers of cut-off circuits in tandem, the
60-cycle phase shift adequately describes
the resulting wave form slope.
The extremely low frequencies which
must be transmitted, as indicated before
causes considerable diffculties particu-
larly when coupled with the 4-mega-
cycle band width required for the trans-
mission of fine detail. This is a serious
practical matter, since to obtain wide
band widths and reasonable gain from
vacuum tube interstage circuits the para-
sitic capacitances must be made small.
To pass the low frequencies, however,
requires large coupling capacitors with a
resultant high parasitic capacitance.
Furthermore, under these conditions,
the use of transformers as coupling ele-
ments has been impossible due to the
difficulty of incorporating the extended
low frequency cut-off and wide band
width into one design.
One method of reducing the low-fre-
quency range is to utilize a circuit which
reduces phase shift at the field frequency.
This is the well-known plate decoupling
or low-frequency compensation circuit,
which is shown in Figure 3. The effect of
this circuit is to place a "bump" in the
transmission characteristic, usually well
below the field frequency. The phase
shift at the field frequency is materially
reduced. The net effect is that the
"slope" or tilt of the low-frequency signal
is eliminated. If the gain bump produced
extends up to field frequency, a slight
"bow" distortion may be produced.
With this artifice it is possible, at least
theoretically, to reduce the size of the
coupling capacitor in the interstages and
compensate, by means of the plate de-
coupling circuits, for the distortion pro-
duced.
There are two difficulties attendant to
this procedure. The first lies essentially
in a balance of distortions. This may be
seen most readily by considering the
plate circuit as a predistorter and the
grid circuit as a restorer. Obviously if
the predistortion and restoration are con-
siderable, a precise balance between the
two is required to limit the net distortion
to a threshold value. A further difficulty
arises from the magnitude of the gain
bump produced. This is serious only
when a considerable number, ten or more,
of coupling circuits are employed.
The effect of a high gain bump is most
noticeable on switching transients such
as are caused by switching from one cir-
cuit or camera to another and is seen as a
low-frequency damped oscillation. For
these reasons the benefits to be derived
from low-frequency compensations are
limited.
Regeneration of Low Frequencies
The analysis of distortion has so far
neglected the distortion produced by the
deletion of the d-c or average value of the
video signal. For a still picture this
distortion could be eliminated by a man-
ual adjustment of the background bright-
ness of the picture monitor.
When there is motion in the picture,
however, an automatic means is re-
quired. This need is met by the so-called
"d-c restorer," a schematic of which is
shown in Figure 4. The operation of the
d-c restorer is as follows. The diode is ar-
ranged so as to conduct on the synchro-
nizing pulses. With the diode resistance
low enough in the conducting direction,
the coupling capacitor will be charged to
such a value as to just reduce the diode
current to zero. The voltage on the
following grid at this instant will be zero,
and hence the video signal will be positive
for the picture time. If for any reason,
such as zero wander, the synchronizing
pulses tend to go more negative, the
coupling capacitor is quickly charged by
the diode so that the minimum signal at
the grid is again zero. If on the other
hand the synchronizing pulses tend to go
more pQsitive, the diode ceases to con-
duct. However, the shunt resistance
across the diode discharges the coupling
capacitor to such a value as to cause the
diode to conduct again on the synchroniz-
ing pulses. Hence the line-up of syn-
chronizing pulses is maintained. In
effect, the d-c and those low frequencies
lost in transmission have been regener-
ated by the d-c restorer.

478 Doba, Rieke-Clampers in Video Transmission AIFE TRANSACTIONS

 c envelope of the tips of the synchronizing
I
rl | ffi
ANODE R GRID
co R
ii
- picture, which lacks only its d-c value, the
+B RC5R C
Figure 3. A low-frequency compensation
circuit
A shortcoming
A shrtcmin of he d-c restorer
of the -cestoer lies
ies
in the finite resistance of the diode in the
conducting direction. As a consequence
of this the blocking capacitor never be-
comes charged to the full peak value of
the synchronizing pulses, but a part of the
synchronizing pulse at the grid extends
in the negative direction. The amount of
this extension depends upon the wave
shape of the video signal. The net effect
of this is that a certain amount of re-
sidual distortion is always present.
The d-c restorer, as an element in a
system designed to maintain low-fre-
quency cut-off distortion at threshold
values, has a further disadvantage. For
positive operation as a low-frequency
restorer, the resistance-capacitance time
constant of the restorer should be small
compared to that of the system which
precedes it. This means that the net
system low-frequency distortion after
restoration will be due mainly to the re-
storer instead of the multitude of system
cut-off elements. Hence, it should be
used only for the restoration of d-c and
very low frequencies.
The shortcomings of the d-c restorer
are overcome in a device called a clamper.
A simplified schematic is shown in Figure
5, from which it may be seen that this
form of clamper is merely the d-c re-
storer with a pulse-operated switch re-
placing the diode and resistance. In this
form the clamper may be defined as a
pulsed d-c restorer. The pulses used are
normally the synchronizing pulses.
The clamper has over the d-c restorer
the advantage that a low impedance to
ground is obtained whenever the clamper
switch is closed, that is, during the syn-
chronizing pulse time. Hence the cou-
pling capacitor may be rapidly charged
or discharged to maintain line-up of
synchronizing pulses. During the re-
mainder of the time, the switch is open
and no leakage path to ground need be
provided. Hence the dlamper does not of
itself cause distortion of the signal.
If we consider the dlamper as a de-
modulator, then the demodulated wave
form is that which exists across the cou-
pling capacitor. This wave form is a stair-
case or stepped wave and may be called
the envelope since it is the negative of the
1950, VOLUME 69
(ENVELOPE)
(N EO )
pulses at the clamper input. The output
of the clamper is the input wave minus its c
::,envelope. E-V
For the case of a transmitted still EPULSE-, (OUTPU
E (INPUT) ACTUATED S N
derived envelope will be this d-c value.
Hence the clamper output will contain the
oiinal signal incuigtedcom -
orig cluding the d-c compo-
nent.
For the case of a transmitted moving
Figure 5. A simplified clamper circuit
picture from which the direct current and
low frequencies have been removed, the
derived envelope will contain the direct sampling. Between intervals the en-
current and, to a varying approximation, velope wave yielded by sampling remains
the low frequencies up to half-line fre- constant while the low-frequency distor-
quency Above half-line frequency the tion wave form which is sampled is con-
qency. Abve ine freqen th tinuously changing so that when the de-
proximation to the deleted frequencies rived wave is subtracted from the input
Although clamping has been referred wave, a residual distortion remains. This
Altough clampinghasen ref is illustrated in Figures 6(A), (B), (C).
only to the synchronizing pulses, any ref- Figure 6(A) is a typical low-frequency
erence or datum value of the signal may distortion wave such as might be due to a
be used. These also occur at the front
and back "porches" of the standard video single resistance-capacitance cut-off act-
signal. For certain uses, such as in pic- ing upon a video wave form which con-
ture monitors, back porch clamping may tains a square wave of low frequency.
be advantageous inasmuch as the black Figure 6(B) shows the wave which is de-
level is maintained more nearly independ- rived by sampling the low-frequency
ent of signal amplitude than if synchroniz wave at a finite rate. Figure 6(C) shows
ing pulse clampingis employed For most the wave form which remains when the
purposes, however, the attendant diffi- sampler derived wave is subtracted from
culties of generating delayed pulses the low-frequency wave.
necessaryforbackporchclampingmake The residual distortion wave form of
itsuseless attractive Figure 6(C) produces a characteristic
raster distortion pattern. The effects of
low-frequency cut-off distortion when
Operation of Clampers clamped are zero at the left side of the
raster and increase toward the right so
The low-frequency cut-off of a video that the effects are first noticeable along
transmission system produces a dis- the right edge of the raster. These ef-
torted video signal at the output which fects are characterized by sudden changes
may be thought of as the sum of the in the background which occur when-
undistorted video wave form and a low- ever the low-frequency distortion wave
frequency distortion wave. The low- suddenly changes slope. Such slope
frequencywaveisthe negative total of all changes will occur wherever there are
the low frequencies lost in transmission. sudden vertical divisions in brightness as
It is intended that the process of sampling might be the case at the horizon in an out-
at the line frequency synchronizing or door scene. Figure 7 consists of raster
blanking times will yield substantially photographs where the picture material
this low-frequency distortion wave form. is an artificially generated white square.
The sampled distortion envelope can then Figure 7(A) is an undistorted case. Fig-
be subtracted from the distorted video ure 7(B) shows the low-frequency cut-off
wave form to yield substantially undis- distortion caused by a single resistance-
torted video. However, sampling at capacitance coupling network when no
finite intervals can yield a wave form clamping is employed. Figure 7(C) is the
which is correct only at the time of same raster after the cut-off distortion
has been reduced by clamping. The time
constant has been chosen small enough so
c that the distortion may still be seen in the
1 (rt t clamped case. It appears as a dark
ANODE U lDE l GRID streamer to the right of the square.
> R The peak-to-peak amplitude of the
X \ / residual distortion establishes the low-
1+B 1 1frequency cut-off requirement of a system
which employs a dlamper. This ampli-
Figure 4. The d-c restorer circuit tude is equal to the amount of slope in the
Doba, Rieke-Clampers in Video Transmission 479

A L.F. DISTORTION
T s ENVE LOPE
0
t ~~~reution
low-frequency wave form, Figure 2(D),
which accumulates during the time of one
scanning line. The amplitude in the
nonclamper case is the slope which ac-
cumulates over one-half frame scanning
time. For equal distortion amplitudes
in the two cases, a possible reduction in
the required low-frequency time constant
due to the use of clampers is about 65
times. The lowered value of the cut-off
time constant simplifies video interstage
design and permits the use of
transformers, with their attendant
Figure 7(A). A white rectangle with a grey
background. No low-frequency cut-off dis.
tortion
Figure 7(B). The effect of a large amount of
low frequency cut-off distortion
Figure 7(C). The effect of clamping applied
to the signal of Figure 7(B)
480 Doba, Rieke-Clampers in Video Transmission
Figure 6 (left). ic- -- -
The rsult of 5= ____=
clamping low-o l
tFrtequency dis- w 5
<~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~L-25
to~~~~~ by_5,.11
< -~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~bpn 20 - 4
Figure (cright). el
Peekeint e -4c
reduction byc45of t
clamping
advantages, as video coupling elements.
The subtraction of the sampled en-
velope of the input wave from the input
wave itself is as effective in reducing low-
frequency interference as it is in reducing
the distortion caused by the low-fre-
quency cut-off of the transmission sys-
tem. The low-frequency interference may
be comprised of any number of low-fre-
quency sine waves which are added to the
video wave fornn during transmission.
When this wave is sampled at a rate
which is high compared to the interfering
frequency, the derived envelope is simnilar
in form to the interfering wave but pro.-
gresses in the manner of a staircase. As
the interfering frequency is lowered the
sampled envelope becomes a better and
better approximation to the input wave
so that after substraction a smaller and
smaller interference remains. The re-
sidual interference has a maximum value
given by the maximum change of the
input wave in the time of one scanning
line. Where the time of one scanning line
is To and the interference is of the form;
e=sin ot, the remaining interference, R,
is given by: R=sin w(t+To)-sin cot
and has a maximum value, (when wt= -
coTo/2), equal to 2 sin wTo/2. This func-
tion is plotted in decibels in Figure 8(A)
for values of interference frequency, (f),
from 20 cycles to 15750/2 cycles. This
curve represents the ratio of peak output
distortion to peak input distortion
achieved by ideal low-frequency clamping
of this form. The suppression of 60-
cycle power frequency interference by 33
decibels might alone justify the addition
of a clamper in many situations.
High-frequency interference is affected
by clampers in a manner altogether dif-
ferent than low-frequency interference.
The derived envelope no longer resembles
the interfering input wave but has a low
recurrence frequency which is the beat
between the interfering frequency and
the nearest multiple of scanning line fre-
quency. The process is illustrated in
Figure 9 which shows an interference fre-
= I
_ __ ME C _
N
_ _ R_
M ECONDS: _ =_
3
TIME -4FREQUENCY {N CYCLES PER SECONO
0002040 -0 40080
n-
5
- w-
tem i
20 40 60 100 200
400 1000
TIME ~**FREQUENCY IN CYCLES PER SFCOND
4000 8000
quency nearly equal to scanning line fre-
quency and the resulting low recurrence
frequency of the derived envelope.
Reference to Figure 10 will serve to
show how this generation of low beat fre-
quencies may degrade intolerbly a sys-
tem which is otherwise acceptable. The
signal-to-noise ratio which is required of
an acceptable system falls off rapidly as
the frequency of the "noise" is increased.
If from a high-frequency interference
having a low signal-to-noise requirement
the clamper generates a beat frequency
having a high signal-to-noise require-
ment, the effective requirement at the
high interference frequency is determined
by the requirement for the generated
beat frequency and becomes severe at all
frequencies.
When the interference is in the form of
wide band random noise, the derived
envelope has a random value from line to
line which is unrelated to the noise during
the picture time so that the envelope when
added back into the video contributes an
additional random interference. This
interference has the appearance of streak-
iness in the picture. It might be well to
point out that the clamper is not af-
fected by the characteristic noise of the
camera tube because this noise does not
appear in the synchronizing region.
Random noise added into the system be-
yond the blanking stage will presumably
exist in the synchronizing region and will
generate the streakiness in clamper output.
A possibility for reducing the amplitude
of beat frequencies generated by the
clamper exists in the finite duration of the
synchronizing pulse during which time
the envelope is derived by sampling. A
process of averaging over this duration in
the derivation of the envelope yields a
beat frequency amplitude which is equal
to the interference wave amplitude mul-
tiplied by the function, sin ifT/lrfrTwhere
r is the time duration of the synchroniz-
ing pulse and f is the frequency of inter-
ference, (see Appendix II). This function
at high frequencies decreases as l/f.
AIEE TRANSACTIONS
 o = CLAMPING INSTANTS Figure 9 (left). The 10 _TMCOoATI
< r\
^ ^ A low-frequency ~~~~~beat
^ --low-frequency 5 ___M TIeatNSAN
ICROSECONDS:
which is generated by i 0
(A)

the clamping of a high-f -35

frequency interference >-a t e
waveform T10
-
-. ..

Z200
Figure I11 (right). The (C2C.)tZ
ENVELOPE INTERFERENCE-s' reduction in amplitude 1 -25t heZ
n
of generated beat fre- in ba y im
quency as a function of ha -
Averaging of this kind will reduce the Theamp time constant IRE FQN INoCLE SteCrn
PER
nstat
me CYCLES
SEc oND
PER

beat frequency amplitudes to values such generati o

that they will no longer affect the inter-
ference requirement at high frequencies.
At frequencies between 2.5 kc and 100
kc the function sin 7rffq/nfp has not
yet become effective in reducing the
generated heat frequency amplitude. In
this region the signal-to-noise require-
ment is perhaps 6 decibels worse with
dampers than without. This seems to be
a minimum penalty to be paid for the use
of the dlamper.
The averaging of the values of the in-
terference over the time duration of the
synchronizing pulses is accomplished by
means of a time constant in the envelope
detector circuit. A resistance-capaci-
tance circuit has been employed thus far
and modifies the generation of the en-
velope as follows. The envelope follows
the low-frequency wander of the video
wave form abruptly at the beginning of
the synchronizing pulse when there is no
time constant. When a time constant is
employed, however, the envelope voltage
cannot change suddenly, but during each
synchronizing pulse approaches expo-
nentially the changed level of the video
Waet form teionstantainose nyelp ter-
deectrin follow awigh-frequteny tiontr
feringwaveformi attenuat
a
from high-
beat frequency versus the interference
frequency is plotted in Figure 11. The
derivation of the curves is developed in
Appendix I.
The addition of a time constant to re-
duce the generation of beats from high-
frequency interference reduces somewhat
the efficiency with, which thecdamper
acts to suppress low-frequency distortion
and interference. The increase in low-
frequency dlamper output distortion as
a function of the damper time constant is
shown in Figure 12, for the standard
wave form having a synchronizing pulse
width equal to 5 microseconds (see Ap-
pendix II). The curves of low-frequency
interference reduction, Figure 8, show the
same effects ofcamper time constant to
reduce the effectiveness of the lamper
as a low-frequency interference sup-
pressor.
Reference to these curves and the
curves of beat frequency amplitudes,
Figure 11, show that great reductions in
beat frequency amplitude at high inter-
ference frequency are possible with only a
slight decrease in the low-frequency per-
formance of the dlamper. Evaluation of
region from 2.5ke to 100 kc the maximum
amplitude of the generated low-frequency
beats is not much reduced by the time
constant of the clamper so that in this
region the transmission interference re-
quirements are about 6 decibels worse
when dampers are employed.
Clamper Circuits
The usual form of damper, which we
shall designate as the series capacitor
damper, is shown in Figure 5. In this
case the envelope is obtained across
capacitor C by the periodic closing of the
switch, S. The closed period corresponds
in time to the synchronizing pulse time
of the video wave form so that the capac-
itor is charged to the value of the video
wave at this time. The charge acquired
during the closed period remains un-
altered during the open period, and there-
fore represents an envelope of the peak
voltage of the video wave form during
the synchronizing pulse times. The out-
put voltage is then obtained as the dif-
ference between the input voltage and the
sampled envelope.

without ions-
during the synchronizing pulse so that
at the end of the synchronizing pulse the
instantaneous value of the interfering
wave remains as the envelope voltage,
When a time constant is employed the in-
terference is attenuated so that the en-
velope voltage at the end of the syn-
chronizing pulse is less and less deter-
mined by the interference as the fre-
quency of the interference is increaed.
The mplitude of this generated envelo
0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
these data make it possible to choose a
value for this time constant of about 2.5
microseconds as being close to an opti-
mum value. With this choice, low-fre-
quency performance is degraded about 1.5
decibels while the beat frequency output
at 1 megacycle has been reduced 22 dec-
ibels. This value of time constant has
been incorporated into the dlamper cir-
cuits to be described. In the frequency
Figure 10 (left). The
relative visibility of
single-frequency inter-
The rapidly closing switch is achieved
electrically by a pair of diodes as shown
in Figure 13(A). These diodes are caused
to conduct during the synchronizing
pulse intervals by driving pulses of the
same form as the synchronizing pulses.
The diodes and pulses taken together
constitute a switch between the signal
point and ground because periodically
they present a low impedance to ground.
22 - - - - -
2 8 __
1 _ f-

35
ferenc101.5 20 25 30 35 40 4550 icture ewingt disa c;

- t H t - - - staneis
(f tnheo°n 0c 111sl
ve tie
zr FRQECwNMGCCE E EODt iemcoscns LME IECNTNNMCOEOD
190 VOUM
- 9 Doba RikeClmPr in --e
Trnsisin 8
 ( I
z
L o
E Eo
HFlFt t+
P Ap
I X 1I
(A)
Zr EO=E-
Eor+Z
E +A rAz
z
r________________________
(B)
z r Eo=
(Ts+,w) + Z
EB3 (FfA) z
|() \,
(c)
Figure 13. The series capacitor clamper cir-
cuit and its electrical equivalent
A. The diodes dnd driving pulses
B. The pulsed diode equivalent
C. Envelope feedback to reduce diode dis-
tortion and resistance
voltage, ideally,
Notrneofthedriving puesignalpathbecau
the pulses are coupled to the signal path
in equal magnitude and opposite polarity
and generate only a loop current in the
diode circuit. The capacitors and re-
stsuprovide
sistors associated with the circuit ode
will conduct at the peaks of the driving
willes.
pulsescndu
at
tell cut
and be well
pa
offoff betheen
ding
between con-
ducting periods. The value of bias which
is developed determines the maximum
value of voltage that may be transmitted
in the signal path of the circuit. Higher
signal voltages will cause diode conduc-
tion during normally nonconducting
periods. This consideration furnishes the
requirement for the required driving
pulse amplitude since the bias voltage is
equal to the peak amplitude of the driving
pulse voltage.
The circuit impedance at the output
terminal of Figure 13(A) during periods
when the switch is open, is ideally the
dlamper capacitance itself. However, as-
sociated with the circuit at this point are
possible leakage paths to ground such as
the diode elements and the grid of the
amplifier which utilizes the dlamper out-
put. This leakage results in a change in
capacitor charge between clamping pulses
and is made evident as horizontal shading
in the output picture. The leakage cur-
rent then argues for a large capacitor.
Limiting in the other direction is the 2.5-
482
I microsecond capacitor charging time con-
| stant required and the minimum value of
| charging resistance which can be secured.
This charging resistance is comprised of
the resistance of the diodes and the re-
sistance of the signal source. The signal
source, has, therefore, been chosen to be a
cathode follower and may have an im-
pedance of 100 to 200 ohms, The effec-
tive resistance of the diodes when they
are conducting is of the same order so that
a total charging resistance of 200 to 300
ohms is obtained in this form of circuit.
Such a value yields 0.01 microfarad as
about the maximum value for the charg-
ing capacitance. With this value of
r capacitance a leakage resistance of 10
megohms would yield the amount of
horizontal shading equivalent to a 0.1
,)+ z second time constant and is considered
to be a tolerable value for the shading due
to a single circuit element.
The combination of diodes and driving
pulses departs from an ideal switch in two
ways; it has resistance as mentioned
before and it is subject to unbalance.
The unbalance results in placing on the
clamping capacitor a charge due to the
driving pulses and as these pulses vary in
form through the vertical synchronizing
pulse region the amount of charge
coupled to the clamping capacitor will
likewise vary, producing in the clamped
output a distorting envelope voltage.
Schematically this distortion might be
represented as a voltage source in series
with the switch as in Figure 13(B) where
it is labeled A. This figure shows condi-
tions which exist when the diodes are con-
ducting. Ideally the output at this time
should be zero but due to the diode re-
sistance r and the voltage source A a re-
sidual output S present.
This residual output during the con-
ducting period can be reduced consider-
ably if feedback is employed in the man-
ner shown in Figure 13(C). The residual
voltage appearing at the output terminals
is amplified and reversed in polarity by
the amplifier labeled, -,u. The amplifier
output is returned through the clamper
switch, S, and the diode resistance, r,
back to the output terminals. Circuit
equations reveal that both the diode re-
sistance, r, and distortion, A, are effec-
tively reduced by a factor, (1±,). The
factor, (1+,.), is recognized as the feed-
back of the circuit.1
When clamping is to be accomplished
during synchronizing pulse intervals the1
diode driving pulses preferably should be
pulses of the same duration as these in-
tervals. A suitable source of such pullses
is the clamped output signal itself. The
output signal is amplified by two am-
Doba, Rieke-Clampers in Video Transmnission
plifiers having amplification factors of
- Al and +2. The outputs of the am-
plifiers are coupled to the diodes which
are polanrzed to conduct during syn-
chronizing pulses and remain nonconduct-
ing between synchronizing pulses.
When Al and A2 are of equal magnitude
this arrangement provides the equivalent
of the switch, S, together with diode re-
sistance, r, and distortion, 'A, shown in
Figure 13(B). If A,i is greater than L2
a negative feedback circuit exists. The
magnitude of the net feedback (1+,u) is
equal to 1 +(Al -2)/2, and is useful in
reducing the effects of the diode distor-
tion and resistance as in Figure 13(C).
When the diode driving pulses are
derived from the video wave form there
is a requirement that the maximum en-
velope distortion from one line to the
next must not exceed the amplitude of the
synchronizing pulse amplitude se-
since
pulse extraction.
lection is the basis of
Envelopes greater in amplitude than
synchronizing pulse result in video infor-
mation being present at the pulse clipping
amplitude level. Low-frequency inter-
ference or distortion having an amplitude
greater than the synchronizing pulse
amplitude is tolerable because it is pro-
gressively removed from line to line by the
clamper. This restriction affects pri-
marily the response of the clamper to
sudden transients such as impulse noise or
contact noise.
There is another approach to the
clamping problem which is suggested by
feedback amplifier techniques. Figure 14
illustrates the method. The switch and
capacitor combination are rearranged so
that its useful output is the envelope
voltage rather than the difference between
signal and envelope as in the case of the
series capacitor clamper. This envelope
detector is a /3 circuit element in a feed-
back circuit, arranged to reduce the over-
all forward gain to distortion and inter-
ference voltages without affecting gain
to a video wave form which is free of such
voltage. The result of such an arrange-
ment is an improvement of signal-to-
noise ratio by the amount of loop gain em-
ployed.
INPUT
FORWARD
s| t
EVLP- C"-IE
VOLTAGE VOTG
Figure 14. The envelope detector as acircuit
element in a feedback clamper circuit
AJEE TRANSACTIONS
 The feedback loop includes an amplifier
<>, &,.~ >, connected from the output point to the
envelope detector. This amplier con-
tains no video distorting elements and
3 3 provides all the loop gain required. The
envelope detector extracts from the am-
plified video any envelope voltage v%hich
may be present. Its output will be of the
form of the wave shown in Figure 6(B).
This output is coupled to the video input
a r8 ~ *
circuit through a coupling amplifier
3
which is usually necessary as an imped-
ance transformer.
.-3V9_-H\t > a In the forward path of the feedLack
CY I Nloop
o (-there may be transmission elements
o
VeL 4 | of 3a wide
| variety of formns. The envelope
distortion which might normally be in-
I 301 30
troduced by these elements is reduced by
> O the, feedback in the same way as input
L4 e distortion.
o|| These elements might include
nonvideo components such as amplitude-
modulation or frequency-modulation com-
||
,1 1 - ~2\ 0 2t -*- ponents delivering anoutput carrier wave
X 9 tD' - O- O' 0t) * rather than a video wave. In such a case
complementary elements would be in-
0 0 0.
in~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~lue
CY
gt 5 a 4|H| l g [ 1 '; E the signal
ntefebc forn atetr
to a video waveaht the '5
t < envelope detector input terminals. The ,
l,y | l carrier counterpart of the video distortion
would then be suppressed.
3Uat. 1t 0 ;iXt > The effective clamping time constant
° |
^T 5T
IC; ooT°T ) for the feedback connection is the time
E constant of the envelope detector divided
- by the feedback factor, l+,u, (see Ap-
C4
0 -C ~ ~~~~~~~~
pendix III). In order, therefore, to
| o > sy tN X t tt |1l * jJ 'U secure an effective time constant of 2.5
.1j -i | | Xmicroseconds, the envelope detector time
constant is increased by increasing the
t
*o
t 0 capacitance or driving resistance or both.
XL0 I I,
>Q S I 0# | ,o * ,* In terms of the X43 frequency character-
I,k1|
OI tX I o oI I tX rZ ~~~~~~~istic
the effective 2.5-microsecond time
X l | c: I '
tS -
1 6 § [
o°eo ^1oX °| ' ^ | > ~~~~~unity @~ ~ ~ ~0 constant means that ,u3 is reduced to
at a frequency of about 64 kc.
, N t Ec: lto o l ~~~~~~~~The
phase shift of ,u, at this frequency
l 1;l PJ~~~~~~~will be 90 degrees plus whatever phase
t| Nn s atT t !/ t/l NX tl *t
°1 t| 51 ~~~~~~~~shift
is contributed by the high-frequency
~~~~~~~~~~~~cut-off
of the remaining circuits. Since
> t1 1 01t ~3 3 3 1 Lui., these circuits would norally extend to
°l 1 ' |1 zI tm ~~~~~~~~~~~about
four megacycles they contribute
o gO = | | ll t1-Il phase shift at 64 kcc of the order of one
zz = L | l Yt ~~~~~~~~~degree circuit and high-frequency
per
r ° 1 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~feedback
stability should be easily ob-
8 15 t1 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~tained.
t i1 1 | ~~~~~~~~~~Stability against oscillation at low-
1 3 3 3n } 3" ~~~~~~~~~~frequencies will usually present greater
X 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~difficulties.
It is important that ,uq be
° rn v v | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~maintained
at a large value beyond the
F 0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~lowest distortion or interference fre--
$ F 1 Z |Xi3 ~~~~~~~~~~quency
which must be suppressed. Cut-
3
I I I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ting
off the loop gain in an orderly manner
in the region below a few cycles per-
| 3 1> |- ~~~~~~~~~~~~second
is in most cases impracticable.
. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~An
alternative to cutting off ,l43 at the low
} ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~end
is that of maintaining the feedback
t(bQl ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~loop
gain to zero frequency. This pro-

1950, VOLUME 69 Doba, Rieke-Clamnpers in V'ideo Transmission 483

INPUTr- y!~ I2 OUTPUT
_3000 1 1 3000

°'~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 05
UF.
- S z UF. < 43 t | 3 | °° M 1
200 V.

22K IK 150 24K 125 24K 125I 2

GASTRIODES
DIODESAREARE TYPETYPE2C51OB'2 K VL0I_ OUTPUT AMP
_O__ MFM F M0V

V 3 V17 57 0 _V8A

300 0300J300
8.2K 2K

30K Figure 16. A transmission line bridging

VIDEO VOLTMETER Pamper of the feedback type
cedure avoids the cut-off problem and is provided at thza input to control the gain stages and two 2C51 tubes, V4 and
results in the additional advantage that over-all gain. V5, in parallel for the output stage.
those elements within the feedback cir- The input amplifier utilizes a 2C51 These output tulbes are operated at zero
cuit are d-c stabilized at the clamping double triode vacuum tube in a direct- bias with d-c insertion on the grids to
pullse intervals. In this manner the coupled circulit. The output triode is provide the required maximum output of
value of carrier radiated by a television used as a cathode follower and provides a 2.5 volts.
transmitter could be maintained at a con- low-impedance (about 250 ohms) facing The output is normally obtained from
stant value at synchronizing pulse times the clamping capacitor. The coupling the plates of the 2C51 tubes to provide an
by including the transmitter as one of the impedance between the two triodes con- unbalanced signal on a 75-ohm line, but
forward path elements of such a dlamper sists of a 2,000-ohm resistance and in- also by utilizing the voltage across the
feedback loop. ductance Li comprising the high-fre- cathode circuit, a balanced signal with a
Two examples of dlampers will now be quency impedance. An additional 18,000 110-ohm impedance may be provided.
described in detail. The first is a series ohm resistance (R18) shunted by a 0.5- A switch S3 is utilized to change readily
capacitor dlamper-amplifier which has ntiicrofarad capacitor (C3) provide a gain from one to the other. A 5-decibel pad
application as a video line terminating increase at low frequencies. This com- in the balanced output path is used to
amplifier. The second dlamper is of the pensates to some extent for whatever maintain the output signal at the same
feedback type and is a device which may low-frequency distortion may be intro- value (normally two volts) for either con-
bre bridged across a video line to suppress duced ahead of the dlamper and in general dition.
video distortion and interference and permits a greater amount to be tolerated. The feedback used in the output am-
which, incidentally, serves to measure A variable resistance (R17) is provided plifier is of a type calculated to achieve
the peak-to-peak video voltage (ixisting so that the amount of this low-frequency the greatest stability of forward trans-
at this point, gain increase may be reduced if necessary mission characteristic of a video amplifier.
by introducing a loss in the input grid The maximum feedback is about 48
Series Capacitor Clamper Circuit circuit. decibels and falls off at the rate of 6 dec-
Provision is made by means of switch ibels per octave. The value is about 15
The Western Electric Company IB 82 for disabling both these functions as decibels at 4 megacycles, and results in a
dlamper-amplifier is shown schematically well as turning the dlamper off when it is high degree of stability. In the present
in Figurel15. It fulfills the 2-fold function desired to study the distortion existing amplifier the external gain change, for an
of reducing low-frequency distortion and ahead of the dlamper. This is accom- internal gain change of about 6 decibels,
providing a maximum of 18 decibels gain. plished by shunting C3 with an additional is less than 0.1 decibel up to 4 megacycles.
The amplifier proper is comprised of an 125-microfarad capacitor (C13) and by The over-all frequency response may be
input amplifier providing about 12 dec- raising R17 to its maximum vralue of 1 made flat to about 8 megacycles by
ibels gain, and an output amplifier with megohm. The dlamper is disabled by proper adjustment of Li.
6 decibels gain. The clamping capacitor turning off the heaters of the dlamper The input to the dlamper drive am-
(C4) is the coupling element between the diodes (V8). plifier is obtained from the resistance
two. A gain control consisting of a The output amplifier is a 3-stage R24 in the cathode of V2. Since this
stepped potentiometer having nine two cathode feedback amplifier utilizing two point is beyond the clamping capacitor,
decibel steps and a 1-decibel attenuator.L'.6AK5 vacuum tubes, V2 and V3, for the the video signals here are clamped and

484 Doba, Rieke-.Clampers in Video Transmission AIEE TRANSACTIONS

 stuitable for driving the clamper diodes. Repeated use of a video level indicator
Cathode voltage rather than the grid which functions also to clamp -the signal
voltage of V2 is used because of the lower will maintain low-frequency distortion
impedance level of the former. This re- and interference at low levels. Thus, the
duces the shunting effect of the input im- likelihood of intermodulation between
pedance of the dlamper-drive ampli- these components and the video signal is
fier. reduced.
Vacuum tubes V6 and V7 comprise the This dlamper is an example of the feed-
dlamper-drive amplifier with the formner back method of clamping described pre-
serving as an amplifier- phase inverter and viously and illustrated in Figure 14. In
the latter as two cathode followers to this case the forward elements reduce to a
drive the diodes from a low impedance pair of blocking capacitors used for d-c
point. In order to obtain a net negative isolation of the dlamper. The transmiis-
feedback around the dlamper drive cir- sion line is electrically equivalent at the
cuit, the drives for the two halves of the bridging point to a voltage source, E,
dlamper diodes (V8) are made unequal. appearing through a resistance equal to
In the present instance these values of one-half the characteristic line imped-
driving pulse gain are proportioned to ance. The signal at the bridging point is
yield a net feedback of 15 decibels. amplified and applied to the envelope de-
The dlamper drive voltages are coupled tector. The detector output which ap-
to the diodes through' capacitors C15 and pears as a voltage across capacitor, C, is
C16. Because of the rectifying proper- returned to the transmission line bridging
ties of the diodes, these become charged point by means of a coupling amplifier
to almost the peak value of the syn- which for illustration is assumed to have a
chronizing pulses, and hence the diodes voltage gain of unity working into one-
are biased below cut-off for the part of the half the line impedance. This feedback
signal containing the picture information, envelope is out of phase with the original
The values of resistors R49 and R50 are distortion due to E and therefore reduces
chosen high enough to maintain this the net distortion existing at the bridging
charge almost undiminished between point. The amount remaining in the out-
synchronizing pulses, while their ratio is put can be made negligibly small by em-
made such as to maintain zero bias with ploying sufficient gain between the
respect to ground at the grid of V2. bridging point and the envelope detector.
The proper operation of the dlamper Referring to the schematic diagram,
depends upon the signal amplitude avail- Figure 16, the feedback loop is seen to
able to bias the diodes. If this is too low, consist of two video gain stages ahead of
the diodes will become conductive during the envelope detector and an output
all or pait of the picture time and hence coupling stage consisting of two similar
introduce considerable distortion. With circuits in parallel to inject the envelope
a normnal signal output of 2 volts, there is back into the bridging point. The bridg-
about a 10- to 12-decibels margin in oper- ing point is isolated from the transmission
ating value. That is, the output signal line by two 3,000-microfarad capacitors
may fall to about 0.5 volt before the to remove any direct voltage that may be
dlamper fails. present on the line and which the dlamper
- could not tolerate. The video distortion
Shunt Feedback in the output occasioned by the 3,000-
Clamper-Voltmeter microfarad capacitors is negligible,
V1 and V2 are together the first video
The dlamper described next is a de- gain stage and there is present negative
vice which is bridged across a video feedback of about 6 decibels from the
transmiission line. It has two functions. cathode of V2 to the grid of V1 for the
Firstly, it removes, by clamping, the low- purpose of linearizing the output. The
frequency distortion and interference cathode of V2 is coupled to the input of the
that may be present at the bridging point, next video gain stage by means of a gas
Secondly, it measures the amplitude of tube, V73, which drops the d-c potential
stantaneous potentials within the feed-
back loop are stabilized at fixed values at
the synchronizing pulse times regardless
of signal level or picture content. This
assures that the optimum operating point
obtains at synchronizing pulse times and
that distortion will be minimized at this
part of the signal wave form.
A by-product of great usefulness is due
to this d-c stabilization of the synchroniz-
ing pulse value of the wave form. This
means that, if a rectifier is connected to
obtain the peak value of signal departure
from the d-c level with no signal applied,
then the rectified voltage is a measure of
the peak-to-peak video input level and a
peak-to-peak meter of good characteris-
tics results. V17 is such a peak rectifier
diode and the rectified voltage is applied
to a meter by means of the cathode fol-
lower V18. The zero setting of this cir-
cuit is sufficiently stable that the me-
chanical zero adjustment of the meter suf-
fices to adjust zero. A scale factor ad-
justment, Rl, compensates for variations
in gain of the first video gain stage and
variations of other elements. It is be-
cause the mneter possibilities are exploited
that linearizing feedback is applied to the
first video gain stage. Figure 17 shows
the peak factor characteristics of the
metering circuit.
The second video stage is similar to the
first. However, there is no feedback from
the output to the input since there is no
linearity requirement. In fact, for normal
levels the video is completely stripped off
the synchronizing pulses at the cathode
of V5. However, since stabilization oc-
curs at the tops of the synchronizing
pulses, the amplifier stages are linear at
these instants and there is no danger of
clipping the distortion wave carried by
the synchronizing pulses. The gas tube,
V6, reduces the d-c potential to a value
near zero for the envelope detector but
couples without loss the variations due to
input signals. Gas tubes have the char-
acteristic whereby their resistance in-
creases with frequency so that the re-
sistance even at moderately low frequen-
cies is substantially different from the d-c
value. For this reason the gas tube must
be effectively by-passed at all frequencies
within the range of interest, otherwise
 .Z.6 Figure 17. The video volt- and is merely the amplitude of the input
INPUT 2.5 l
meter peak factor characteristics wave at the nth sampling interval.
2.5 If _E is a cosine wave represented by
2.4 1: l l+|
____ ___
_ _E
li.(_ =+tr
4,. ___,_l ____
> ------INPUT =l.0 then

Z fO/
l_ V e (2)

W 07 L l l__ including zero and

w~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2
rl=
___
0.5__
INPUT = 0.4
0.4---
0.3 . I
1 2 4 6 8 10 20 40 60
PERCENTAGE WHITE
the cathode of V7 while a smaller signal of
opposite polarity is connected to the
plate of V9. The signal of opposite
polarity is conveniently obtained from
the output of the first video gain stage. A
cathode follower, V8, is used as the drive
for V9 so that the diode current will not
produce distortion at the first video stage Conclusions
output point. The capacitance, across
which the envelope voltage appears, is
connected through a resistance to the cdampers may be summarized as follows:
If w=27r(mfo+F) where m is an integer
FI <fo/2, then
(m+0 )n __2rf-
_ since iJ2irmn _
_From equation 3 it may be seen that the
envelope frequency corresponds not to the
100 input frequency but to the beat between the
input frequency and the nearest multiple of
tortion. Since the clamper effectively For thefrequency
sampling case whereincluding zero. of the
the duration
drives the coils with an envelope source sampling time is finite, say r seconds long,
impedance approaching zero ohms the let the value of the input wave during the
low-frequency cut-off of the coils is ex- nth sampling time be: E=E(n/fo-7+t)
tended to the point where no video dis where 0 <t <1/fo and as before n is an
integer. Further let the resistance-capaci-
tortion is noticeable. tance product of the clamping circuit be T.
Then, the envelope after the nth sampling
may be represented operationally by
n-1 ln \
The effects which result from the use of V pT+E(-T+t)
V- = fo\fo/
n
1
(4)
..fo
p

junction of the anode of V7 with the Low-frequency interference which adds to

lp
cathode of V9. The resistance-capaci- the video wave form may be suppressed by where V(n-lIfo)isthevalueoftheenvelope
tance product of the two elements and the a factor inversely proportional to the fre- derived at the preceding sampling interval,
loop gain of the circuit determine the quency of the interference. The factor is and p is the operator d/dt. The integral
effective time constant of the clamping large, over 30 decibels, at 60 cycles. equation corresponding to equation 4 is
action.
action. in The effects of high-frequency interference
in the frequency range from 2.5 kc to 10 V-=n Vn-l e_
0+ f-r/T X
V10 is a cathode follower to couple the kc are doubled in amplitude due to the fo fo T
envelope voltage to the grids of the out- generation of low frequency beats between T /n \
put amplifiers. The output amplifiers the interfering frequency and multiples of E (-- +t) dt (5)
are triodes which operate at high current the video line frequency, (15.75 kc). The 10 Vi /
andandareare to the amplitude requirement for interference in If a ain E is a cosine wave represented by
coupled
coupled to the bridging point with
bridging point with this 9~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ths
range of frequencies therefore
6 is isthreor ane
feqenie
f
gas tubes and large capacitors. Four decibels worse with dlampers than without. jW(Lfo
-+t ) 1
tubes are required to handle the peak en- The low-frequency amplitude cut-off re- e ,<t<
velope expected from a 2.5-volt video quirement of the video system using fo
signal. These tubes are split into two dlampers may be raised in frequency by a
factor of 10 to 65 times as compared with a n n-1 ± j n 1-
, r JwT
pairs so that tube aging will be more nonclamper cut-off of one to five cycles V =V- e-, + c-1 +w
easily detected in maintenance. depending upon the amount of low-fre- fo fo \ 1+JwT
The range of levels, which this clamper quency gain bump used for 60-cycle phase ... (6)
will handie is nominally 0.2 to 2.5 volts compensation. Savings are then made in
the size of components required for low- Since the input is a periodic wave, in
peak-to-peak. The passive elements frequency transmission. the steady state
which shunt the bridge point to ground Transformers as video coupling elements n-i
produce a shunting loss of about 0.8 become practicable when dlampers are used. v - _- lw/lfo vn
=

decibel which is constant over the video The increase of the low-frequency cut-off fo fo
bandband o freqencie. If the
of frequencies. te impedance
impdance frequency means that reasonably sized units
and hence, with this substitution in equa-
may bcosrcted to cover the video
irregularity produced by this shunt is un- transmission band. tion 6
to

desirable, a T-pad may be constructed by /f_((1+(2+ T)\

using series resistors in the input and out- .n _ J} nfo TD
E

put leads. These resistors of about 7 Appendix i. D tor offo (1+jwT) (l- /r+i/fV)) (7)
ohms will provide 75-ohms impedance in EnvelopeIntiisacelo,henvophs
each direction and a loss of 1.6 decibels. Let the sampling frequency be Jo, and the same period as the input wave only if
Some experiments have been carried the duration of the sampling time infinites- the frequency is less than half the sampling
out using 75-ohm to 110-ohm transform- imally short. Then for an input wave frequency. In only this case is itproper to
ers at the dlamper terminals. With E =E(n/fo+t) where 0 <t <l1/Jo, and n is an speak of a residual distortion as being equal
this arrangement signals on balanced 110- integer, the resultant derived wave may be to the differehnce beitween the input and the
ohm circuits may be clamped. Using dsgae yevlp.Ti sgvnb
197A repeating coils the clamped output V-En (1) E-7t-n=e@>-7r
appeared to be free of low frequency dis- E(f-+I
-O / fo ~ 7~

486 Dobca, Rieke-Clatmpers in Video Transmission AJEE TRANSACTIONS

 -(I(1+JwT) have been plotted. In the region from Appendix Ill. Derivation of
I __(____
-J(
(I
_T+ _ (8)
about 60 to 500 kc, only the values of A
Envelope forClamper
E
Feedback
for F b Loo
LOOp
(1 +jwT) ((i - IE (T/T+iw/fo))
)
J'Wlfo) when F=0 have been indicated. Above
500 kc, only the extreme values obtained
This, in general will have a maximum when F= 0, and sin(7rfr) = 1 have been Referring to Figure 14, let rC T.
value at the time just preceding the sampling
interval, that is, when t = 1/fo. The maxi-
shown. During to clamin 14,le ouT-
During the nth clamping interval, the out-
mum value of the absolute amplitude of the Appendix II. put voltage (neglecting RL) may be repre-
residual then is defined as Reduction of LOW- sented operationally
- (T ~ -2(+ r\Frequency Video Distortionnn
R=1-_ /kl)1_gT ) (9) Where the video signal has been applied Es(yr+t)=E(n +)
(1 +jwT) (1- E(TT+J.1f0)) to several stages of capacity coupled ampli- n-1
fier stages, or several transformers have been Ec pT
When w < <fo equation 9 reduces to
1 foT
used, the resulting wave form will be char-
acterized by a slope or tilt. This may be
Eo -nr+t-
1+pT fA
"
1+pT
fo

R= _ fo -erT+1(10)
J analyzed by considering the clamper input
as made up of an undistorted signal plus Ec pT
The second factor of equation 10 an additional saw-tooth voltage. Then since E n{-f+t- o
Tfo the clamper leaves the undistorted signal \ fo / 1+pT
[1 7 1fT unmodified except for the addition of a d-c = (17)
1-- e ,- 1 -fJ component which may be disregarded, the 1+
~~~~~remaining
considered. saw-tooth term need only be l+pT
is a factor which .shows how the clamper
time constant reduces the effectiveness of It will be assumed for simplicity that Where Ec is the value of the derived
the clamper in reducing low-frequency dis- this saw-tooth wave is of constant slope and envelope across the capacitor C. As in
tortion. It has been plotted in decibels of sufficiently long duration compared *to Appendix I, Ec(n - 1)/fo is the value of the
as a function of T in Figure 12. It is the time of operation of the dcamper as to envelope for the preceding interval. Then
identical with an expression equation 16, for be essentially infinite in duration. since the difference between the input and
the effects of time constant upon the reduc- We take as our point of departure equa- output wave is the envelope, we have from
tion of cut-off distortion. h tion 5 of Appendix I, and let E =(n/f- equation 17, after the sampling interval
Values of R against f = l27r have been T+t). Substituting this value of E in equa-n- Tn
plotted in Figure 8 for the following values +tio 5 weu obtain
btiing athi valeg of E i e Ec~-n-i
p~ -'E(- o/)
fo l+,u 1+A fo-r+tj
tion after integration
of parameters n
fo=15,750 cycles V = V E-r/T+_(l1_E-/T)+ pT +T
r = 5 microseconds fo fo fo 1 +,u 1+,
T=0.8, 2.5. 10 microseconds aTe _/T-cT(l-CT/T) (14) (18)
When T- -0, equation 9 reduces to In the steady-state condition, the in- Comparing equation 4 we see that it is
crease in envelope voltage in proceeding entirely similar provided we recognize that
R-2 sin | -( --X ) (11) from one sampling interval to the next must the effective time-constant has been reduced
\2\ /be equal to the corresponding increase in by the factor 1 +,, and that the amplitude
When f>fo/2, the envelope generated is input voltage. That is of the input is modified by the term ,u/1l+.
extraneous and it is proper to speak of it n n-1 n n-1 ca Hence we conclude
as a new source of interference. As before, V--V = -E =-
let w=27r(mfo+F). The beat is then given fo fo fo fo fo Ec= V (19)
from equation 7, by Equation 14 may then be reduced to l+,u
j2Fn ~ -(1+jo T))v /n \ /1 \ rT
v = e (1-e ) T (12) VhaQ T)-T -T)l v/T (15) References
(1+jT
fs T(1(1-_ : (T
(1+JwT)( i)
('+iwF/s))JThe maximum value of the residual dis- 1. THE MARCONI-E.M.I. TELEVISION SYSTEM,
The absolute amplitude of equation 12 tortion is then given by Journal, Insttution of Electrical Engineers (Lon-
may be reduced to n+1 n don, England), December 1938, pages 758-66.
R= -r - V-= at --9 X 2. THE CLAMP CIRCUIT (PART I AND PART II),
l(sinh2 r/2T+sin2 7rfr) fo / fo L\ fo C. L. Townsend. The Broadcast Engineers'
A= l T F\ (13) / 1 foT Journal (New York, N. Y.), January 1947, pages
7-9, April 1947, pages 6-9.
+c2T2) ( sinh2+sin2
I( ) (16)
\ 2T ~~fo / r3. TELEVISION D-C COMPONENT, K. R. Wendt.
Values of A against frequency have been The second factor in equation 16 indi- 1948, pages 85-(N
u.
plotted in Figure 11 for the same range in cates the dependence of the residual distor- 4. A TV SYNC STRETCHER, R. C. Palmer. Com-
values of T. tion on the time-constant T, and has been munications (New York, N. Y.), March 1948,
Only the first few cyclic variations in A plotted in Figure 12. pages 10-11.

No DLiscussion

1950, VOLUME 69 Doba, RiekeClCsampers in Video Transmission .487