Deutsche Thomson-brandt Gmbh

Erich Geiger

Jurgen Kaaden

Uwe Hartmann

Udo Mai

Peter Mahr

Dietmar Hepper

Hans-Joachim Platte

Gerhard Maier

Franz Dieterle

Johannes Caspers

Uwe Riemann

Martin Plantholt

Dietrich Westerkamp

Rolf Schiering

Jean C Rufray

Jean C Guillon

Bernhard Otto

In the process of generating a compatible 4:3 letterbox format television signal, a wide aspect ration 16:9 progressive scan television signal is vertically transcoded from 575 to 431 image lines, converted to line interlaced form and horizontally compressed. A vertically transcoded interlaced luminance component is converted back to progressive scan form via interpolation, and subtracted from a vertically transcoded original progressive scan luminance component to produce a difference (helper) signal. The difference signal is time compressed and multiplexed into upper and lower edge bar regions of the letterbox format. The compatible letterbox signal also is encoded with additional information including vertical high frequency information and horizontal high frequency information separated during the transcoding and compression processes, respectively. The encoding includes modulating the color subcarrier frequency with luminance information, and intraframe averaging. The difference signal and encoded additional information are used by a 16:9 widescreen receiver to produce a 16:9 progressive scan image display with the transcoded number of lines and good resolution.

Auxiliary signal to assist conversion of a letterbox standard aspect

A compact disc player arrangement in which compact discs are stored in a magazine housing. One above another in a stack. The magazine housing may be removed for the purpose of loading with compact discs, and this magazine housing is replaceable in the compact disc player after having been loaded. A slidable drawer that is movable into and out of the housing forms a single component or unit with the housing. A selected compact disc that is different from the disc stored in the magazine housing, may be held in the slidable drawer and played in any selected sequence, independent of the discs stored in the magazine housing. The arrangement allows compact disc players to be extended from the use of only one-disc-at-a-time devices.

Magazine and drawer for accomodating disk-shaped media

Compact-disc changer with magazine and playback section that are movable

A control arrangement for a home entertainment unit, including a television receiver and one or more peripheral devices, such as a video recorder, coupled to the television receiver, includes a single remote control transmitter for transmitting a remote control signal to the television receiver, which, in turn, passes on control instructions to the peripheral devices. To allow such a remote control operation, even when one or more of the peripheral devices is produced by a manufacturer different than that of the television receiver and which therefore requires a different remote control code, the television receiver has a memory in which, under the control of a microprocessor, the remote control codes allocated to respective function control keys of the remote control transmitter supplied with a peripheral device are stored during a learning process. During the learning process, the screen of the television receiver displays messages for instructing the user which function control key of the remote control transmitter associated with the peripheral device to press. Thereafter, when a device function control key of the remote control transmitter supplied with the television receiver is pressed, the microprocessor, working in conjunction with the memory, converts or translates the codes contained within the received remote control messages to codes corresponding to the peripheral device and a correspondingly encoded remote control signal is relayed by the television receiver to the peripheral device.

Television receiver with remote control system capable of controlling

In a circuit arrangement for correcting a raster distortion in a cathode ray tube, at least one vertical perforated, index strip of a sensor is arranged at a corresponding margin of a picture producing screen of the cathode ray tube. An index signal that is indicative when the electron beam passes the index strip is generated. The index signal is coupled through an enclosure of the cathode ray tube in a nonconductive manner to a second electrode that is located outside the enclosure. A comparator circuit is used for comparing the index signal with a line deflection representative signal to generate a control signal that corrects the raster distortion.

Raster distortion correction circuit

Television receiver with a micro-computer controlled operating part and

A method and circuit arrangement for reducing the prominence of the scanning lines of an enlarged television picture by adding a plurality of scanning lines to an original television picture signal to form a modified picture signal, and supplying each added line with picture information from an adjoining one of the picture lines of the original television picture signal. This technique is applicable to television sets in which the pictures are stretched, in order for pictures having a different size and shape from that of the television screen to be shown in such a way that they fill the screen completely.

Method and apparatus for reducing visibility of scanning lines in

In a compact-disk changer, the positioning of a playing component (1) in relation to a magazine (4) is controlled for the purpose of removing disks (5) from the magazine in accordance with the invention by an optical link (8-10).

Compact-disk changer

A receiver stage for radio or television receiver. A single case enclosing a device comprises inside a tuner, an intermediate frequency amplifier connected to the tuner, a demodulator connected to the intermediate frequency amplifier, and a phase locked loop provision connected to the tunner. The joint case allows joint shielding of all components with shield plates mounted inside the case, avoids unreliable plug connections and reduces the production cost of radio and television receiver sets.

Receiver stage for radio or television receiver

A magnetic tape recorder for video recording and video playback with a one head drum and a head support plate. According to the invention the head support plate is point supported and spring attached to a base plate. The head support plate is movable around two rotation axes and is actuated with an electromagnetic drive means. The one motion cooperates with a dynamic track following circuit for providing dynamic height level correction of the head and allows to capture tracks during replay, which deviate from the parallel inclined position or, in case of a course of the track deviating from the tape recording speed resulting in a trick palyback. The motion around the other axis allows a controlled and regulated azimuth offset of the neighboring tracks during playback, which are recorded with continuously alternating azimuth angle.

Magnetic tape video recorder with a one head drum

An analog digital conversion is provided for two color difference signals, for example for a recording according to a timeplex method. The color difference signals are adjusted in their amplitude at the input of the analog digital converter such that the modulation range of the analog digital converter is always fully used independent of the original amplitude of the color difference signal. The amplitude is restored back to its original value after a digital to analog reconversion. This results in an improvement of the signal to noise ratio during the transmission. The amplification provided to the various signals can be controlled by comparator circuits comparing the signal level with a reference signal.

Growing community of inventors

Unterkirnach, Germany

Erich Geiger