Abstract: A wide screen video signal is encoded for transmission as a composite signal having standard line and field rates and the standard frequency color burst. The signal includes chrominance components modulated on a color subcarrier frequency greater than the standard in proportion to the aspect ratio of the wide screen signal divided by the aspect ratio of the standard. A decoder converts the wide screen signal to a given broadcast standard without component separation or chroma demodulation by time expanding center samples of each active line of the wide screen signal.

Abstract: A slow motion system includes a variable interlace constant line-rate video camera, a variable speed recorder and a line-rate converter connected in cascade. During slow motion shooting the camera interlace ratio is increased, the recorder playback speed is reduced by the interlace ratio and the converter increases the line-rate of the recorded signal in proportion to the interlace ratio thereby providing a constant field-rate constant line-rate video output signal having a temporal resolution which increases as the interlace ratio increases.

Abstract: A high definition television production system generates a high definition video signal that is easily convertible to signals formatted in accordance with other television and film standards of release media. Such other standards may include 525/60 and 625/50 formats and film formats having a frame rate of 24 film frames per second. The HDTV system employs vertical line scanning in the camera to generate the HDTV signal. The horizontal field scanning rate is chosen to be the lowest common integral multiple of the frame rates of the release standards of interest. The interlace factor is selected high enough to provide good temporal sampling and to result in a vertical line scanning frequency that yields an integral number of HDTV scan lines in the field or frame time of the release standards. The video sampling rate is selected to be compatible with the 13.5 megahertz digital world standard studio rate.

Abstract: A timing signal generator applies timing signals to a wide aspect ratio (1.77:1) imager in a non-interlaced HDTV system for causing the imager video output signal to exhibit a line rate of 45,000 Hz and a field rate of 60 Hz such that at each step in post production conversion of the video signal to a lower definition distribution standard the conversion equipment operates in a line locked mode thereby ensuring that fractional pixels are not produced during the conversion steps and greatly simplifying the timing of such functions as line-rate, frame-rate and aspect-ratio conversions.

Abstract: An HDTV television system is described for use in providing a compatible HDTV signal and an improved NTSC signal generated at a sample rate which conforms with the world studio standard. The system includes an HDTV camera and frame store. Two interlaced HDTV fields are stored in the HDTV frame store for further processing. The signals are supplied to two branched. In a first branch the samples from the frame store are anti-aliasing filtered, cropped and selected to generate a world-standard digital component source of an "improved" NTSC signal. In a second branch the samples from the HDTV frame store are aspect ratio compressed and scanned in a zig-zag pattern to generate an 11 MHz HDTV signal which is compatible with standard definition television receivers in use today.

Abstract: A transcoding arrangement transcodes television signals sampled at a first clock rate into second signals sampled at a second clock rate. An integer number of samples of the television signals are assembled into blocks, each block containing an integer number of samples of the second signal. The integers are selected to reduce the number of multipliers required to perform the transcoding. A delay element forms four successive delayed samples of the incoming television signal. The first and last delayed samples are summed and then multiplied by a running variable multiplicand to form a weighted sum signal. The second and third delayed samples are multiplied by respective running variable multiplicands to form second and third weighted delayed samples. The weighted second and third samples are summed to form a sum which is subtracted from the weighted sum signal to form the interpolated output sample.

Abstract: A digital television system in which signals are sampled at 13.5 MHz and produce an integer number of samples during each horizontal line interval whether the signals are based upon PAL/SECAM or NTSC standards. In order to make the digital system hierarchical and to adapt it for simple transcoding from an NTSC signal sampled at 4 times color subcarrier, the number of samples occurring during the active portion of each horizontal line is made equal to 704. Transcoding by interpolation from 4XSC--sampled NTSC video to the digital system is accomplished by selecting a particular number of samples per active line such that small blocks of samples can be transcoded independently, which allows interpolation to be achieved simply.

Abstract: A high-definition camera uses sinuous or line scanning to produce wide bandwidth signals having high-definition in the horizontal and vertical directions. A wobble signal having a wobble chosen at an even integer multiple of one-half the line rate is used to create the sinuous scanning. The phase of the wobble signal is inverted on alternate frames to provide a full raster scan on a high-definition television receiver. A low pass filter produces a limited bandwidth signal from the wide bandwidth signal. The limited bandwidth signal is compatible with standard definition broadcast systems and receivers. At the receiver the high-definition image may be recreated by using a delta signal representative of the difference between the high-definition signal and the standard definition signal in conjunction with the limited bandwidth signal. The delta signal and its addresses may be transmitted during the vertical blanking interval.

Abstract: A digital multiplier for multiplying together first and second numbers when the first number is a quotient of an integer divided by an integer power of two and the second number has n bits. The multiplier comprises a first register having n-bits, a second register having n+1 bits and a third register having n+2 bits. The first register receives the n-bit second number. The n least significant stages of the second and third registers receive the n-bits of the second number, effectively dividing the value of the second number by two and four, respectively, to form respective third and fourth numbers. A fourth register receives the numerator of the first number and has at least two stages for representing at least a portion of the value of the numerator in the form of one of two preassigned states which may be assumed by the stages of the fourth register.

Abstract: A high-definition television system for electronic cinematography includes vertical scanning for ease of line-rate transcoding or adaptation to standard-definition television systems. The number of vertical line-scans is selected for transcoding to a standard-definition system by deleting alternate vertical line-scan samples.

Abstract: A transcoding arrangement transcodes signals sampled at a first frequency into second signals clocked at a second frequency. The first and second frequencies are selected so that their quotient is the ratio of integers. This results in recurrent blocks of samples having integer numbers of input samples and new output samples. A transcoder uses delay elements to form successively delayed samples of the input signal. Subtractors form difference signals representing the amplitude difference between successive delayed samples. Multipliers coupled to the subtractors multiply the difference signals by a running variable multiplicand to form weighted difference signals. The running variable is related to the effective position of the new sample being formed within a transcoding block of samples. The weighted difference signals are summed in an adder to form the new sample values.

Abstract: A flat-field television image having reduced visibility of horizontal scan lines is generated by receiving first and second fields of interlaced video and progressively generating a scanned image within a time for one incoming field. The progressively scanned image contains interstitital lines between the lines of one field, and consequently the line-scan structure is made less visible, but the flicker rate is undesirably decreased. In order to increase the flicker rate, additional progressively scanned images are generated at a rate equal to or greater than the incoming field rate.

Abstract: A flat-field television image having reduced visibility of horizontal scan lines is generated by receiving first and second fields of interlaced video and progressively generating a scanned image within a time for one incoming field. The progressively scanned image contains interstitial lines between the lines of one field, and consequently the line-scan structure is made less visible, but the flicker rate is undesirably decreased. In order to increase the flicker rate, additional progressively scanned images are generated at a rate equal to or greater than the incoming field rate.