[net.video] How are colour decoders in commercial TV's built?

dmmartindale@watcgl.UUCP (Dave Martindale) (02/02/85)

Background info:
	The NTSC television standards require colour information to be
	transmitted as two colour-difference signals (I and Q) which have
	different bandwidths.  The I and Q axes are rotated 33 degrees
	from the axes of the colour difference signals R-Y and B-Y,
	necessitating the use of a precision resistor matrix to
	perform the basis transformation.

	If a television receiver wishes to be cheap, it can decode
	the colour signals using the R-Y and B-Y axes directly, limiting
	both colour signals to about 0.7MHz bandwidth.  But to do the job
	"properly" (according to the spec.), it must decode the signals
	along the I and Q axes, filter the signals to 1.5MHz and 0.5MHz
	respectively, use a delay line in the I channel to compensate
	for the greater delay of the Q filter, and use a resistor matrix
	to regenerate R-Y and B-Y from I and Q.  Also, more delay in
	the luminance channel is needed.  All this adds cost.

The question:
	Some things I've read seem to imply that many, if not almost all,
	commercial TV receivers do the simpler "narrow-band" demodulation
	of the colour signal, thus throwing away half of the bandwidth
	of the I signal that was transmitted.  Does anyone know for sure?
	The specs for professional cameras, I know, tell you which sort
	of modulation they use, but I've never seen this matter discussed
	by ads or data sheets for home equipment.

Dave Martindale
{decvax,ihnp4,utcsrgv,allegra}!watmath!dmmartindale

doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (02/06/85)

> 	Some things I've read seem to imply that many, if not almost all,
> 	commercial TV receivers do the simpler "narrow-band" demodulation
> 	of the colour signal, thus throwing away half of the bandwidth
> 	of the I signal that was transmitted.  Does anyone know for sure?

This isn't necessarily definitive, but last year RCA introduced a new
color TV chassis (CTC31?) which they claimed was the first to have
the full 1.5MHz I bandwidth.
-- 
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!doug