Rca Inc.

General Electric Company

Other

Rca Licensing Corporation

Thomson Multimedia S.a.

Glenn A Reitmeier

Christopher H Strolle

Robert A Dischert

Curtis R Carlson

Charles M Wine

Terrence R Smith

Frank J Marlowe

Joel Walter Zdepski

Felix Aschwanden

Nicola J Fedele

Dipankar Raychaudhuri

Bhavesh B Bhatt

Kamil M Uz

Kaarlo J Hamalainen

James J Williams, Jr

Lauren A Christopher

Charles R Thompson

An adaptive scan format converter (14, FIG. 1; FIG. 2) at a transmitter/encoder of a video signal processing system such as a high definition television (HDTV) system, as a function of what format is desired for coding and transmission via an output channel. Similarly, at a receiver, a received scan format is automatically converted (36, FIG. 1; FIG. 2) to a desired format for display as needed. For example, a received interlaced signal (I) will be automatically converted to progressive (P) format to be compatible with a progressive scan display device (39). A received progressive signal will be passed to the display device without format conversion. Automatic scan conversion is performed seamlessly so that, for example, the conversion between progressive main television program material and interlaced commercial material is produced without artifacts and is essentially invisible to a viewer.

Image scanning format converter suitable for a high definition

A preprocessor for conditioning interlace-scan video signals for frame based compression, includes apparatus to accept fields of interlace-scanned video and provide fields of interlace-scanned luminance and chrominance component signals. The fields of interlace-scanned luminance component are combined into respective frames of luminance signal and applied to compressor apparatus for further processing. The fields of interlace scanned chrominance components are independently processed at the field level to generate lines of chrominance values which are interstitial to the lines of the original chrominance values and at a lesser pixel and line density. The independently processed fields of interlace-scanned chrominance signals are combined into respective frames of chrominance component signals and applied to compressor circuitry for further processing. Performing the chrominance signal interpolation and subsampling at the field level tends to eliminate a majority of color distortions around moving images. Receiver apparatus is configured to perform post decompression processing to generate frame data having the original pixel and line density.

Digital television signal compression apparatus

Apparatus for encoding/decoding a HDTV signal for e.g., terrestrial transmission includes a compression circuit responsive to high definition video source signals for providing ierarchically layered codewords CW representing compressed video data and associated codewords T, defining the types of data represented by the codewords CW. A priority selection circuit, responsive to the codewords CW and T, parses the codewords CW into high and low priority codeword sequences wherein the high and low priority codeword sequences correspond to compressed video data of relatively greater and lesser importance to image reproduction respectively. A transport processor, responsive to the high and low priority codeword sequences, forms high and low priority transport blocks of high and low priority codewords respectively. Each transport block includes a header, codewords CW and error detection check bits. The respective transport blocks are applied to an forward error check circuit for applying additional error check data. Thereafter the high and low priority data are applied to a modem wherein they quadrature amplitude modulate respective carriers for transmission.

An HDTV compression system

A hierarchy of video standards is provided in a recording format for video record and replay systems to achieve performance flexibility, such as in regard to television studio and portable recording equipment. This recording format divides the tape into a plurality of longitudinal segments with each segment being assigned to tracks in which full raster information is recorded at a fractional resolution equal to the quotient of one divided by the number of the plurality of longitudinal tape segments.

Multiple format digital video tape record and replay system

A transmitter unit of a remote control system includes a key function display unit for identifying the function of key elements of the transmitter unit at various steps of a control sequence for one or more controlled devices. The memory for storing character-representative information for identifying the functions of the key elements of the transmitter and corresponding function control instructions is contained in the controlled devices rather than in the transmitter unit. This allows for the addition of new controlled device without modification of the transmitter units.

Remote control system with key function display provisions

A progressively scanned video signal is encoded into temporal sum and difference components for transmission. The sum signal is temporally filtered, decimated and time expended to be compatible with interlaced receivers. The difference signal, also temporally filtered, decimated and time expanded, is conveyed via single or separate channels with the sum signal to a progressive scan receiver for reconstitution of the original progressive scan signal. Modified quadrature amplitude modulation is used to convey the sum and difference signals in a common channel.

Progressive scan television system with interlaced inter-field sum and

A television system for generating a composite video signal for an image having extended aspect ratio such as 5:3, and for displaying such composite video signal in a television image area having the same extended aspect ratio. The horizontal blanking interval of an NTSC composite video signal is utilized for the transmission of video information characterizing either the right or the left edge of a display line of the picture; whereas, the remaining portion of the NTSC signal is utilized for the transmission of video information characterizing the inner portion of the display line between the edges. The video information for the missing edge in each display line is derived in the receiver from video edge information of adjacent display lines.

Transmission of reduced resolution picture edge information using

An adaptive system for separating chrominance and luminance components from composite video includes a delay element having a central output tap and pairs of further output taps symmetrically disposed about said further tap. Samples from each pair of taps are subtractively combined, filtered and scaled. These samples are then applied to a decoder which determines the pair of taps providing the smallest filtered and scaled difference. Samples from the pair of taps generating the smallest difference and samples from the central output tap are then combined to produce either comb filtered chrominance/luminance or bandpass/lowpass filtered chrominance/liminance.

Sampled data video signal chrominance/luminance separation system

In a television receiver, a demultiplexer for a high definition multiplexed analog component television signal provides samples of each component signal. A group of samples for each component signal is selected according to the aspect ratio of the television receiver display, and according to the aspect ratio of the picture contained in the high definition multiplexed analog signal so that the selected group is the one that provides picture information which fits the aspect ratio of the display. The selected samples for one scan line are first stored during the active scan line time and then read out sequentially during the subsequent scan line time. The stored samples of each component signal are read out sequentially during substantially the same time period to provide the required Y, U, V signals. A similarly designed demultiplexer may be used to process an extended aspect ratio frequency multiplexed signal such as a high definition NTSC-formatted signal.

Decoder for extracting a 4:3 aspect ratio signal from a high definition

The image represented by a video signal contains an associated image spectrum defined within a spatial-temporal frequency volume. From this video signal, a second video signal is produced that represents spatial-temporal carrier modulation of a spectral section of the image spectrum into an interleaved location adjacent the image spectrum. To reduce the visibility of aliasing artifacts, the interleaved spectral section is made to be of reduced amplitude relative to its original amplitude in the image spectrum. To reconstruct the spatial-temporal frequency spectrum of the image at the television receiver, the video signal containing the frequency interleaved spectrum is processed in a complementary manner that represents spatial-temporal carrier modulation of the interleaved section to restore that section to its original position in the image spectrum. At the same time, the amplitude of the restored section is increased.

Spatial-temporal frequency interleaved processing of a television signal

High horizontal spatial frequency information may be transmitted through a limited bandwidth channel by means of spatial-temporal frequency interleaving techniques. To transmit both frequency interleaved high horizontal spatial frequency information and diagonal spatial frequency information in one video signal, the corresponding spectra containing these two types of information are time-multiplexed prior to transmission. At the receiver, the interleaved high horizontal frequency information is extracted, relocated to its original horizontal position, and recombined with the diagonal frequency information to generate a baseband video signal.

Time-multiplexing of an interleaved spectrum of a television signal

A digital TV system reduces the data rate by transmitting or recording only bytes representing half of the sampled pixels. Steering bits are also transmitted that tell which of the transmitted bytes are the closest match to the untransmitted bytes so the pixels represented by the later can be reconstructed. The steering or control bits are repeated for subsequent omitted bytes unless it no longer indicates a match within a selected tolerance or threshold.

Reduction of control bits for adaptive sub-nyquist encoder

A frame comb filter system includes circuitry for reducing motion induced artifacts in reproduced images. Frame comb filtered chrominance signal is line comb filtered to extract motion induced luminance cross components therein. The luminance cross components are added to frame comb filtered luminance signal to reduce motion induced luminance signal errors. The corrected luminance signal is then subtracted from composite video signal to produce the chrominance component of composite video.

Circuitry for correcting frame combed luminance signal for motion

A synchronization system for serial digital television signals compares successive sync signals to form an error signal and also delays the digital signals. The information signal delay is changed during loss of signal by an amount in accordance with the error signal to resync the signal. Thus valid information occuring before loss of synchronization is utilized. The delay means can comprise a pair of RAMs.

Synchronization system that uses all valid signals

An error concealment system for a digital video signal uses different methods of concealment in accordance with the severity of the error. An adaptive estimate (horizontal or vertical average) is used if all pixels need for such an estimate are valid. If not, a four pixel average is used. If that is not possible a vertical average is used, and finally a horizontal average is used. If the error is very severe, then a line store provides the last valid line.

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Trenton, NJ, United States of America

Glenn A Reitmeier