Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Video and Information System, Inc.

Moriyoshi Akiyama

Toshinori Murata

Kenji Katsumata

Toshiyuki Kurita

Yasutaka Tsuru

Yuji Yamamoto

Takanori Eda

Takumi Okamura

Sunao Suzuki

Hiroshi Sekiya

Shoji Kimura

Katsumi Hishiyama

An apparatus and a method for receiving television signals can display a television signal of a novel signal format, even at a low cost, without addition of any hardware. The apparatus and a method for receiving a television signal employs a data input unit for receiving video data encoded by any one format among multiple kinds of encoding formats, a video data memory for storing the video data from the data input unit, a decoding process program memory for storing multiple kinds of decoding process programs for decoding processes corresponding to received video data having multiple kinds of encoding formats, a programmable logic device which can vary the hardware constitution for the decoding process, a logic device varying unit for varying the hardware constitution for the decoding process, a decoding control unit for varying the circuit constitution of the programmable logic device via the logic device varying unit depending on the encoding format of the input video data and decoding the video data stored in the video data memory into a video signal which may be displayed depending on the decoding process program, and a display for displaying the decoded video signal.

Video decoder/converter with a programmable logic device which is

An image control apparatus includes a waveform equalizer, a distorted waveform extraction control unit, a noise reduction circuit, and an image quality control unit. The waveform equalizer receives an input video signal, equalizes the waveform of the video signal, and outputs the waveform equalized video signal. The distorted waveform extraction control unit detects a distorted waveform from the output of the waveform equalizer and controls the waveform equalizer to perform waveform equalization suitable for the input video signal. It also controls the noise reduction circuit and the image quality control unit in accordance with changes in the frequency characteristic of the video signal before and after waveform equalization to intensify the noise reduction for degrading the image quality, when the high frequency band of the frequency characteristic of the input signal has been lowered, and, conversely, to debilitate or stop the noise reduction for enhancing the image quality, when the high frequency band has been raised.

Image control apparatus for a television receiver

Growing community of inventors

Fujisawa, Japan

Moriyoshi Akiyama