U.S. Philips Corporation

Franciscus H Bergen

Peter H De With

Stephanus J Nijssen

Jan J Rotte

Sing L Tan

Leendert J Van De Polder

Johannes Yzebrand Tichelaar

Marnix G Collet

Wolter W Degger

Philippe A Van Overmeire

Jilles Ultee

In an extended television signal having signalling bits for conveying control information to control an extended decoder, the signalling bits include a start code and data bits. The start code's main lobe of spectral energy resides in the lower spectral area of a baseband television signal below 2 MHz and preferably below 1.7 MHz. The start code is preferably (almost) DC-free, and the start code has good aperiodic correlation properties and a predetermined minimum bit Hamming distance to the data bits when shifted in the direction of the data bits following the start code.

Start code for signalling bits

A converter with which an extended definition (ED) video signal may be converted into a signal that may be recorded by a video recorder and with which a signal read out by a video reorder may be converted to an ED video signal. The ED video signal includes first lines having a first luminance signal (Y.sub.1) and a chrominance signal (C), and second lines having no chrominance signal but a second luminance signal (Y.sub.2) in the form of a modulated luminance signal with suppressed carrier. The converter includes a separation unit which receives the ED video signal from an input terminal and has three outputs. A first output couples the first luminance signal to a first output terminal via a first signal combination unit. A second output couples the chrominance signal to a second output terminal via a second combination unit. The third output is coupled to the first output terminal via a mixer circuit and the first combination unit.

Extended definition video signal converter for use with a video recorder

A system for recording and reproducing an extended definition (ED) video signal in/from a track on a magnetic record carrier wherein an ED video signal, such as a PAL-PLUS video signal, includes first lines having a first luminance signal (Y.sub.1) and a chrominance signal (C), and second lines having no chrominance signal but a second luminance signal (Y.sub.2) in the form of a modulated luminance signal with suppressed carrier. The recording device includes a first signal path (11,31,32,16) for processing the first luminance signal, a second signal path (11,18) for processing the chrominance signal and a third signal path (10,30,32,16) for processing the second luminance signal prior to the three signals being combined (22) and recorded on the record carrier. The reproducing device also includes a first (48,50) a second (52,53) and a third signal path (48,73,83) for processing the first luminance signal, the chrominance signal, and the second luminance signal, respectively. Furthermore, a converter is described with which an ED video signal may be converted to a signal that may be recorded by a video recorder and with which a signal read out by a video recorder may be converted to an ED video signal.

System and apparatus for recording and reproducing and extended

A device for reproducing a luminance signal from a magnetic record carrier has a first correction circuit (14, 37) to compensate for time errors in the signal being read and a second correction circuit (14, 38) to compensate for dropouts in the signal being read. The first correction circuit (37) comprises a first delay line (23) which provides a delay of half a line period (32 .mu.s). The second correction circuit (38) comprises a delay line (25) which provides a delay of one full line period. At least a section of the delay line (25) constitutes the delay line (23) for the first correction circuit.

Device for reproducing a luminance signal from a magnetic record carrier

By the use of two additional mixing stages (21, 26) it is possible to replace the 2H glass delay line (operating at approximately 4.43 MHz) used in the known modulators by, for example, a charge-coupled device CCD (8) (which operates at approximately 625 kHz), enabling the total storage capacity required to be reduced in comparison with the situation in which the glass delay line is replaced directly by a CCD (operating at 4.43 MHz).

Modulator comprising a comb filter

A television pickup arrangement comprises a solid state pickup device which is read by field transfer. The pickup produces a picture signal which on display shows information smear. It is known to perform a correction by obtaining signal smear information from under an opaque, masking strip on the picture pickup portion of the pickup device. The smear picture signal is stored once in every field period in a memory device which is repeatedly readable at line frequency. The smear picture signal is subtracted from the picture signal to be corrected. If there is movement in the scene in the horizontal direction, an unacceptable smear is, however, still observable. According to the invention, a correction may be effected, using a second memory device. The second memory device may be used for performing a signal averaging operation over several field periods or for storing a smear picture signal so that different smear corrections can be effected in the upper and lower picture halves. In both cases the smear is reduced to an acceptable level.

Smear reduction for a television pickup

A television camera in which an electronic view-finder is further used for adjusting an optimum focusing. The picture signal is then applied to the view-finder via a switching device, and that during the presence of an aperture correction signal. Outside the occurrence of this aperture correction signal the supply of a picture signal which has been made unsharp may be affected, or the supply thereof may be interrupted. Adjusting the optimum focusing on the basis of the picture on the viewer screen is then facilitated.

Television camera comprising a focusing arrangement

In order to minimize the effects of magnetic fields in a color television camera, the color prism arrangement is constructed so that at least two camera tubes can be arranged parallel to each other.

Television camera equipped with a color-separating arrangement disposed

An imaging panel comprising a buffer register inputs of which are connectable to the outputs of one of the rows or elements or connectable one after the other to outputs of several rows of the elements and whose outputs are coupled to the panel output. The buffer register is connected to a control circuit for shifting in each first field period of the interlaced picture each recorded information of an element row directly and fully, and for shifting in each second field period of the interlaced picture half of each recorded information of an element row, the other half being retained in the buffer register for confining it to half of the information to be shifted of the next row of elements.

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Eindhoven, Netherlands

Franciscus H Bergen