CRUZ, JOSHUA T.

ELECTIVE 4
BS ECE V TAKE HOME QUIZ

1. Discuss the composite video signal.

Composite video signal consists of a camera signal corresponding to the desired

picture information blanking pulses to make the retrace invisible, and synchronizing
pulses to synchronize the transmitter and receiver scanning.
A horizontal synchronizing (sync) pulse is needed at the end of eac active line
period whereas a vertical sync pulse is required after each field is scanned. The amplitude
of both horizontal and vertical sync pulses is kept the same to obtain higher efficiency of
picture signal transmission but their duration (width) is chosen to be different for
separating them at the receiver. Since sync pulses are needed consecutively and not
simultaneously with the picture signal, these are sent on a time division basis and thus
form a part of the composite video signal.

2. Explain why 3.58 MHz was selected as the color subcarrier

frequency
Color information was added to the black-and-white image by introducing a color
subcarrier of precisely 315/88 MHz (usually described as 3.579545 MHz±10Hz or about
3.58 MHz). The precise frequency was chosen so that horizontal line-rate modulation
components of the chrominance signal fall exactly in between the horizontal line-rate
modulation components of the luminance signal, thereby enabling the chrominance signal
to be filtered out of the luminance signal with minor degradation of the luminance signal.
Due to limitations of frequency divider circuits at the time the color standard was
promulgated, the color subcarrier frequency was constructed as composite frequency
assembled from small integers, in this case 5×7×9/(8×11) MHz. The horizontal line rate
 was reduced to approximately 15,734 lines per second (3.579545×2/455 MHz = 9/572
MHz) from 15,750 lines per second, and the frame rate was reduced to 30/1.001 ≈ 29.970
frames per second (the horizontal line rate divided by 525 lines/frame) from 30 frames
per second. These changes amounted to 0.1 percent and were readily tolerated by then-
existing television receivers.

3. Define compatibility with respect to color and monochrome TV

Regular colour TV broadcast could not be started till 1954 because of the stringent
requirement of making colour TV compatible with the existing monochrome system.

Compatibility implies that -

The colour television signal must produce a normal black and white picture on a
monochrome receiver without any modification of the receiver circuitry.
A colour receiver must be able to produce a black and white picture from a
normal monochrome signal. This is referred to as reverse compatibility.

To achieve this, that is to make the system fully compatible, the composite colour
signal must meet the following requirements:
 It should occupy the same bandwidth as the corresponding monochrome signal.
 The location and spacing of picture and sound carrier frequencies should remain
the same.
 The colour signal should have the same luminance (brightness) information as
would a monochrome signal, transmitting the same scene.
 The composite colour signal should contain colour information together with the
ancillary signals needed to allow this to be decoded.
 The colour information should be carried in such a way that it does not affect the
picture reproduced on the screen of a monochrome receiver.
 The system must employ the same deflection frequencies and sync signals as used
for monochrome transmission and reception.

In order to meet the above requirements, it becomes necessary to encode the

colour information of the scene in such a way that it can be transmitted within the same
channel bandwidth of 7MHz and without disturbing the brightness signal.

Similarly at the receiving end a decoder must be used to recover the colour signal
back in its original form for feeding it to the tricolour picture tube.

4. Explain negative transmission. Give its advantages.

Negative modulation is preferred in TV broadcasting. Output frame camera tube

(video signal) when it reaches the modulator, the polarity reversal is done so that black
level is at 72.5 % and white level is at 12.5 %. Thus, negative modulation takes place.
However, strong noise pulses may cause false triggering of deflection oscillator being
mistaken as sync pulses.
 The advantage of this so-called "negative transmission" is that noise pulses
interfering with the transmitted signal increase the carrier amplitude toward black, which
makes the noise less obvious in the picture. Also, the transmitter uses less power, with
lower carrier amplitudes, for pictures that are mostly white.

5. What is vestigial sideband transmission? Give its advantages and disadvantages.

Vestigial sideband (VSB) is a type of amplitude modulation ( AM ) technique

(sometimes called VSB-AM ) that encodes data by varying the amplitude of a single
carrier frequency . Portions of one of the redundant sidebands are removed to form a
vestigial sideband signal - so-called because a vestige of the sideband remains.
In the 625 line TV system where the frequency components present in the video
signal extend from dc (zero Hz) to 5MHz. A double sideband AM transmission would
occupy a total bandwidth of 10 MHz. The actual band space allocated to the television
channel would have to be still greater, because with practical filter characteristics it is not
possible to terminate the bandwidth of a signal abruptly at the edges of the sidebands.
Therefore, an attenuation slope of 0.5 MHz is provided at each edge of the two sidebands
This adds 1 MHz to the required total band space. In addition to this, each television
channel has its associated FM (frequency modulated) sound signal, the carrier frequency
of which is situated just outside the upper limit of 5.5 MHz of the picture signal. This,
together with a small guard band, adds another 0.25 MHz to the channel width, so that a
practical figure for the channel bandwidth would be 11.25 MHz.

Advantages of Vestigal sideband transmission

 The main advantage of VSB modulation is the reduction in bandwidth. It is almost as
efficient as the SSB .
 Due to allowance of transmitting a part of lower sideband, the constraint on the filter
have been relaxed . So practically, easy to design filters can be used .
 It possesses good phase characteristics and makes the transmission of low frequency
components possible

Disadvantages of Vestigal sideband transmission

 Its bandwidth requirement is somewhat higher than that of SSB modulation, due to the
presence of vestige.
 Vestigial sideband modulation leads to a complex demodulation process at the receiver
end.

6. Explain why the aspect ratio of 4:3 is used in standard television.

 4:3 was "basically" the standard aspect ratio of visual media at the time when
widespread TV adoption started. Silent films were typically shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio on
35mm film. That corresponds to a frame fitting on "4 perforations" of 35mm film with a
normal lens. When films started acquiring sound there were a variety of different formats
but the most successful put the sound directly on the film, in a strip that ran along the
edge of the film. This took up part of the film and led to a confusing arrays of different
standards before the Academy (AMPAS) established a 1.375:1 aspect ratio standard for
movies with sound.

7. Explain why the aspect ratio of 16:9 is used in digital television.