Abstract: This invention provides a carbonizing apparatus for easily carbonizing a material to a desired state of carbonization, which apparatus requires a reduced installation space, and lowers concentration of harmful gases contained in an exhaust gas. The interior of a cylindrical furnace body 82 having a vertical axis is divided by a partition wall 83 into an upper furnace body acting as a combustion section 80 and a lower furnace body acting as a carbonization section 6. The partition wall 83 defines a through hole for supplying distillation gas to the combustion section 80. The carbonization section 6 has a vertical structure, with a supply part 33 disposed in an upper portion for supplying a material under treatment 1, and a carbide take-out part 35 and a first blowoff part 36 of spontaneous combustion air disposed in a lower portion, so that the material under treatment 1 is movable by gravity toward the take-out part 35. An agitating device 39 includes agitating members 43 revolvable about a vertical axis.

Abstract: To make it easier to carbonize the processing target material to a desired carbonized condition and also to make installment within a limited installment space possible. A carbonizing apparatus includes a carbonizing furnace having a feeding portion for a processing target material, a takeout portion for a carbonized material, a blowout portion for combustion air and an exhausting portion for combustion exhaust gas and a stirring device capable of stirring the processing target material inside the carbonizing furnace. The blowout amount of the combustion air is adjustable. The apparatus is operable to carbonize the processing target material fed from the feeding portion, with stirring, spontaneously combusting and moving the material while moving this material toward the takeout portion and subsequently to take out the resultant carbonized material from the takeout portion.

Abstract: Digital video effects equipment for providing special effects by controlling the number of quantization levels for each sample of an incoming television video signal. Each video signal sample is converted into a digital signal comprising a predetermined number of binary digits. A gradation modification circuit decreases the gradation represented by the digitized video signal and the decreased gradation signal is reconverted to an analog signal. The resultant special effects gives the video picture an oil-painting-like impression.

Abstract: A phase locking system locks at least one incoming composite video signal to the synchronizing signals of a second, reference wave. The incoming signal is strobed at a rate dependent upon the incoming color subcarrier into a memory, essentially on a field-by-field basis. Circuitry is provided by grouping the fields on a repeating field-tagged basis (groups of four for the NTSC signal format) to maintain signal integrity.