Patents Assigned to RCA Licensing Corporation
  • Patent number: 5565923
    Abstract: Apparatus for developing synchronization of an intermediate layer of signal such as the transport or multiplex layer of a multi-layered compressed video signal, includes at the encoding end of the system apparatus for including a time stamp reference, such as a count value from a modulo K counter, and provision for a differential time stamp related to time stamps of a further compressed signal or differential transit times of respective transport packets. Flags are included in transport packets of signal to indicate the presence or absence of the time stamps or differential time stamps. At the receiving end of the system, circuitry examines respective packets for the condition of the flags to locate specific information such as the time stamps and differential time stamps. A counter is responsive to a controlled receiver clock signal and the count value of this counter is sampled at the arrival of transport packets including a flag indicating the presence of a time stamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 1995
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1996
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Joel W. Zdepski
  • Patent number: 5216671
    Abstract: A limiting factor in the operating speed of a bit-serial integrated circuit is the stray capacitance associated with interconnections of functional elements on the integrated circuit, which stray capacitance tends to be significantly larger than capacitances at signal nodes internal to a functional element. To overcome the limitations imposed by the capacitance associated with the interconnections, bit-serial signals are coupled from one functional element to another by multiplexing circuitry which splits the bit-serial signal provided by a functional element into parallel bit-serial-signals of lesser bit-rate, and then recombines the parallel signals for application to another functional element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 1, 1993
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Robert F. Nutter
  • Patent number: 5196941
    Abstract: In beam scan velocity modulation (SVM) system for a television receiver, a video signal is applied to a differentiator followed by a limiting differential amplifier. A driver amplifier coupled to the limiting amplifier drives an output stage that supplies current to an SVM coil. Certain video signals with large high frequency content may tend to produce excessive dissipation in the devices of the output stage. To prevent this, a current source for the differential amplifier is controlled by a voltage which is a measure of the average current through the output stage. The magnitude of the current source is varied to thereby vary the peak-to-peak signal output from the limiting amplifier to prevent overdissipation of the output devices. The presence of random noise in the video signal can produce unwanted SVM operation which can impair the viewed image. The unwanted noise component in the video signal can be reduced in amplitude by coring. The coring is unaffected by the variable limiting.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 23, 1993
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Robert D. Altmanshofer
  • Patent number: 5177611
    Abstract: High definition or enhanced television signals include supplementary information which is double-sideband modulated in quadrature with the picture carrier, and passed through an inverse Nyquist filter before being combined with a conventional vestigial sideband modulated main video signal. A receiver which recovers both the main video signal and the supplementary information processes the received video signal through an IF filter having a vestigial sideband frequency response characteristic. Two synchronous detectors recover in-phase and quadrature phase signal components from the filtered television signals, these recovered signals each include quadrature crosstalk distortion components from the other signal. The crosstalk from the supplementary signal into the main signal is canceled by filtering the recovered quadrature signal and adding the result to the recovered in-phase signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 5, 1993
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: James J. Gibson, Krishnamurthy Jonnalagadda
  • Patent number: 5121209
    Abstract: A video signal processing system includes a signal interpolator associated with time compression/expansion apparatus. The interpolator is preceded by a high frequency peaking network which responds to a variable control signal representative of a desired amount of displayed image sharpness. In a disclosed embodiment the peaking network responds to a control signal which is a function of a distance between image pixels, and a variable signal from a viewer adjustable image sharpness control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 9, 1992
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Terrence R. Smith, Michael A. Isnardi
  • Patent number: 5115171
    Abstract: An East-West switching transistor is coupled between a flyback transformer primary winding and a horizontal deflection output transistor circuit to control retrace energy to obtain an East-West modulation of the deflection current amplitude as required for East-West pincushion raster correction. The East-West switching transistor isolates a retrace resonant circuit that includes a horizontal deflection winding from a flyback resonant circuit that includes the flyback transformer during a portion of retrace. The deflection winding is coupled to a common conductor to permit the use of a retrace voltage sample developed in the deflection winding as a feedback signal to synchronize the deflection current to the video signal. The arrangement reduces phase modulation of the deflection current as a function of beam current variations, that could be visible as a beam current dependent horizontal picture shift or a raster bending in a horizontal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 1991
    Date of Patent: May 19, 1992
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Peter E. Haferl
  • Patent number: 5111120
    Abstract: Two windings of a flyback transformer in a horizontal deflection circuit are inductively coupled with opposite polarity to a source of horizontal rate retrace pulses. The windings have a common junction coupled to ground. A circuit energized by the retrace pulses generates modulated currents of opposite polarity. Conduction of each current is controlled by a switch circuit including a semiconductor switch and two diodes. The switch circuits are coupled to one another at a junction, and the junction is coupled to an energy storage capacitance. One of the diodes conducts positively valued portions of the respective current through the energy storage capacitance and the other of the diodes conducts negatively valued portions of the respective current through the semiconductor switch. Each semiconductor switch is a current discharge path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 1991
    Date of Patent: May 5, 1992
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Peter E. Haferl
  • Patent number: 5075774
    Abstract: High definition or enhanced television signals include supplementary information which is double-sideband modulated in quadrature with the picture carrier, and passed through an inverse Nyquist filter before being combined with a conventional vestigial sideband modulated main video signal. A receiver which recovers both the main video signal and the supplementary information processes the received video signal through an IF filter having a vestigial sideband frequency response characteristic. Two synchronous detectors recover in-phase and quadrature phase signal components from the filtered television signals, these recovered signals each include quadrature crosstalk distortion components from the other signal. The crosstalk from the supplementary signal into the main signal is canceled by filtering the recovered quadrature signal and adding the result to the recovered in-phase signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 24, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: James J. Gibson, Krishnamurthy Jonnalagadda
  • Patent number: 5060057
    Abstract: A television-type video signal containing main information, and auxiliary information modulating an auxiliary subcarrier having a controlled phase, is applied to a field storage network. First and second adaptive luminance-chrominance separators of the line comb filter type are coupled to the field storage network for receiving input signals from adjacent image fields, respectively. Chrominance outputs from the separators are combined to produce a separated main chrominance signal. Luminance outputs from the separators are combined to produce a separated main luminance signal. The modulated auxiliary subcarrier is derived from the field storage network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Anton W. Keller, Felix Aschwanden
  • Patent number: 5046164
    Abstract: An interstitial line generator for an interlaced scan to non-interlaced scan video signal converter includes circuitry for examining a plurality of lines spatially and temporally disposed about an interstitial line location and excludes signals having amplitudes representing the relative extrema of the plurality of lines. The remaining signals are combined in predetermined proportions to generate the interstitial line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1989
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Robert N. Hurst, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5045010
    Abstract: The present invention provides an improved method of assemblying a rectangular tensioned shadow mask wherein the two long sides are welded to two curved frame members paralleling the major axis. The improvement comprises forming two subassemblies of said frame, each subassembly including one of the curved members and two partial straight members, each partial straight member being attached at 90 degrees to an end of the curved member. Next, the two subassemblies are positioned in approximately their final positions with the partial straight members on each side of the frame overlapping each other but forming an angle less than 180 degrees on the side of the frame of the intended mask attachment. The long sides of the mask are next welded to the curved members. Now, the subassemblies are rotated until the partial straight members are aligned, to apply tension to the two curved members to place at least a central portion of the shadow mask under a predetermined tension.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: David W. Fairbanks
  • Patent number: 5041756
    Abstract: The present invention provides an improvement in a color picture tube having a tensioned shadow mask and support frame assembly. The mask is rectangular, having two long sides paralleling a central major axis thereof and two short sides paralleling a central minor axis thereof. The mask has a cylindrical contour, with the mask being curved along the major axis and straight along the minor axis. The improvement comprises the frame including two curved members paralleling the major axis and each other and two straight members paralleling the minor axis and each other. The curvature of the curved members matches the curvature of the cylindrical contour of the mask. The two long sides of the mask are welded between the two curved members. Each of the straight members includes two overlapped parts that are welded together where overlapped. Each of the parts is attached to the end of one of the curved members.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 1990
    Date of Patent: August 20, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: David W. Fairbanks
  • Patent number: 5038078
    Abstract: A cathode ray tube has a funnel provided with an outer conductive coating that is electrically isolated from an AC mains supply. An insulated degaussing coil is fitted to the funnel against the outer conductive coating and energized by the AC mains supply in an electrically nonisolated manner. A spring includes a resilient body forming a spring action that snugly fits the degaussing coil against the outer conductive coating. The spring includes a clip for attaching the resilient body to the degaussing coil. At least one of the clip and the resilient body is made of an insulated material for preventing the resilient body from providing a conductive path with respect to electrical shock hazard between the degaussing coil and the electrically isolated outer conductive coating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 6, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Scott J. Duggan
  • Patent number: 5036293
    Abstract: Video signal time scaling apparatus includes a gated oscillator enabled and disabled in synchronism with a line scanning rate and capable of generating an oscillatory signal which is other than a multiple of a line scanning rate. The phase of an oscillator output signal is compared to the phase of a reference signal a predetermined time after the oscillator is enabled. Phase coincidence indicates a correct oscillation frequency. Otherwise, the oscillator frequency is incremented or decremented until phase coincidence is achieved. The oscillator signal acts a READ clock for permitting a video signal to be read out of a line memory at a rate different than that at which the video signal was written into memory, thereby producing a time scaled output video signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 30, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Felix Aschwanden
  • Patent number: 5034994
    Abstract: A balanced mixer and output filter for television receivers and the like is presented. The mixer is followed by a fairly selective bandpass filter to protect the IF amplifiers from first and second adjacent channel signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 1989
    Date of Patent: July 23, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Max W. Muterspaugh, William D. Anderson
  • Patent number: 5032917
    Abstract: A first video signal component and a second video signal component represent constituent portions of an image to be displayed. An analog signal blending network blends these components together along a boundary region several pixels wide to reconstitute a video signal representing the image to be displayed. The blending network includes first and second active analog devices which exhibit mutually opposite gain over the boundary region to response to a common gain control signal, to produce a virtually invisible seam along the boundary region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 16, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Felix Aschwanden
  • Patent number: 5031044
    Abstract: A PIP system stores data indicative of the location of the center point of an inset picture with respect to a display screen center point in a memory area of a first size. The inset image data is read out of the memory area beginning with the data stored in a memory location known as the "read address". When a ZOOM-IN or ZOOM-OUT command is received, data representing a new video image of a different size is stored for display in an unused memory area of a different size, a new inset center point is computed, and a new read address is computed, so that the displayed centers of the new inset area of a different size, and the old inset area are substantially the same.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1989
    Date of Patent: July 9, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Barth A. Canfield, David J. Duffield
  • Patent number: 5030881
    Abstract: An improved color picture tube includes a mask that has an aperture array including slit-shaped apertures aligned in columns that essentially parallel the minor axis and end at a border of the aperture array. Adjacent apertures in each column are separated by tie bars in the mask. The tie bars in one column are offset in the longitudinal direction, paralleling the minor axis, from the tie bars in each adjacent column. The spacing between tie bars in a column is the tie bar pitch at a location on the mask. A first set of columns, that includes every other column, has increased tie bar pitch at the ultimate end apertures, as compared to the tie bar pitch at the penultimate apertures in each of the columns. In a second set of columns, every other column not in the first set, has decreased tie bar pitch at the ultimate end apertures, as compared to the tie bar pitch at the penultimate apertures in each of the columns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 9, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Bruce G. Marks, Thomas D. Welles, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5028850
    Abstract: A deflection apparatus produces a field gradient that reduces a tendency of a major axis of a beam spot to become elongated at each corner, at each end of a horizontal axis and at each end of a vertical axis of a display screen relative to the beam spot at the center of the display screen. A beam spot stigmator causes the beam spot to be substantially anastigmatic at each of the corners, the end of the horizontal axis and the end of the vertical axis of the display screen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventors: Michael D. Grote, Jeffrey P. Johnson, Dennis J. Bechis
  • Patent number: 5029005
    Abstract: In a television receiver apparatus is provided for muting an audio power amplifier having continuous operating supply voltage applied thereto from a standby power supply even when the receiver is in an "off" condition so that spurious noise and hum coupled to the power amplifier will not be amplified and heard by the viewer. The muting is applied via a microprocessor controller which controls and senses the power supply status of the receiver as well as mutes the power amplifier in both the "off" and the "on" conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1991
    Assignee: RCA Licensing Corporation
    Inventor: Robert E. Morris, Jr.