A FILTER FOR EXTENDING THE DEFINITION OF A TELEVISION SIGNAL IN COMPONENT FORM

Abstract: A filter for improving the definition of television video signals comprises a structure which has alternate zero co-efficients, the non-zero co-efficients being in the form k/2n where k and n are integers. The filter may be one dimensional so as to enhance only the horizontal resolution or may be three dimensional covering five lines and three fields of a television picture. The advantage of this filter structure is that it is linear and may be used for transmission links or satellite broadcasting as long as the television signal is in component form.

Description: * - 1 - A FILTER FOR EXTENDING THE DEFINITION OF A TELEVISION SIGNAL IN COMPONENT FORM The present invention relates to a filter for extending the definition of a television video signal which is in component form. The filter is preferably used for filtering a 5 television signal to be transmitted and hence such a filter is also present in a receiver for such a television signal. The present invention provides a filter for filtering a television video signal in component form, comprising 10 a filter structure having alternate co-efficients which are zero, the non-zero co-efficients being in the form k n where k and n are integers. The advantage of this filter is that it is linear. Features and advantages of the present invention 15 will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 shows a multiplexed analogue component signal which is used as the basis for describing the 20 present invention ; Figure 2 shows in block diagram form a converter 25 :__ mi i- for converting the signal shown in Figure 1 for use with a television " receiver; Figure 3 shows a graph of repeat spectra due to sampling frequency; Figure 4 shows graphs of pre - and post - sampling filters; Figure 5 shows a line-interlace scan considered as a 2-dimensional sampling frequency; Figure 6 shows a graph indicating alias free zones ' with separate vertical and temporal filters; Figure 7 shows a graph similar to Figure 6 for combined vertical/temporal filtering; Figure 8 shows a field-quincunx sample structure; Figure 9 shows a graph of spatis-temporal resolution with 3-dimensional signal processing; Figure 10 shows diagrammatically a filter lattice for 3-dimensional filtering; Figure 11 shows a. block diagram of the filter lattice show in Figure 10; and Figure 12 shows the horizontal/vertical and horizontal temporal frequency responses for the filter of Figure 10. Before describing the invention, it is considered advisable to describe some basic considerations. We propose a signal which will improve on the quality of PAL ' in an FM channel and details of this proposal are given below. PAL signals normally achieve about 3•8MHz of useful luminance bandwidth, higher frequencies being impaired by cross-luminance effects in typical decoders 4.5MHz of 'clean' luminance bandwidth will be assumed as a figure which would represent an improvement (or at least compar¬ ability) with the performance of PAL. Similarly, a figure of 1.3MHz will be assumed for the colour-dif erence channels, with a vertical resolution equal to half that of the luminance channel. If each line of the luminance signal is compressed i r-'- r r in time from 5 us to 40 us, the transmission bandwidth increases proportionally. A luminance signal limited to a bandwidth of 4.5MHz would then pass through a 5.8MHz channel in this time-compressed form. At least 20 us of the line would be available for the colour-difference signals, allowing a sequential colour-difference trans¬ mission of 2.2 MHz bandwidth (Fig. 1). Filtering to 1.3 MHz bandwidth would be applied in the receiver to improve S/N ratio. For a signal with this format, calculations show that the weighted -S/N ratio in the colour channels would be improved by 5 dB in comparison with pre- emphasised PAL ( the luminance S/N ratio being virtually unchanged). In addition, cross-colour, cross-luminance and the effect of truncating the upper chrominance side- band would be eliminated. Moreover, the calculation does not account for the fact that the new signal has no high- frequency subcarrier, and probably would be less sensitive to distortion. Therefore, any inefficiency caused by the mismatch between the PAL signal and the FM noise spectrum mentioned in our report No. 116/81 issued in August 198l, together with the line-blanking period, provides sufficient margin to allow a separate-component transmission with improved S/N ration. These factors alone would portend an improvement in the signal quality f° r \ small-screen viewer without incurring significant costs in the home satellite converter. The converter would require a line-store for time decompression of the component signals as shown in Fig. 2. However, the main cause of inefficiency in composite signals (namely their repetitious nature) would remain. A compatible extension of resolution for large-screen applications would be based on exploiting this latter redundancy through signal processing. The analogue television signal represents a dynamic scene which has been sampled in two dimensions. It has been sampled vertically by the -line structure, and te p- O PI orally by the field structure. Any sampling process generates spurious spectral components which can give rise to aliasin impairment of the baseband spectrum through intermodulation with the sampling frequency. A frequency f produces an intermodulation component (f - ) where f is the sampling frequency. This gives rise to a repeat of the baseband spectrum centred on the sample frequency f in the manner shown in Fig. 3« 5 To avoid aliasing, the baseband spectrum must be low- pass filtered to remove frequencies exceeding f /2. More- over, a similar low-pass filter must be used after D/Z conversion so that only the baseband spectrum is reproduced at the output (Fig. 4)« Although the television scanning process samples the scene both vertically and temporally, no such pre filtering or post-filtering has taken place. Consequently, tele¬ vision pictures are impaired by high vertical frequencies, and by high temporal frequencies. In particular, vertica frequencies exceeding 156i c/ph (cycles per picture height) or temporal frequencies exceed 12^ Hz cause aliasing. To remove these impairments, it is necessary to introduce a vertical/temporal pre-filter and post-filter. It is only when we consider the necessary characteristics of these filters that we see the potential for increasing the vertical and temporal resolution. The line-interlace structure, considered as a sample, frequency, must be treated in two dimensions. The lines sample the scene vertically, but are also displaced along the temporal axis (i.e. between adjacent fields). There¬ fore we must introduce the concept of a two-dimensional frequency plan as shown in Fig. 5« The interlaced line structure is represented by a point in this plane at 31 ^ cycles/picture height, and 25 Hz temporal frequency. The baseband signal is centred on the point (0, 0) and is unrestricted in extent, except by the sampling aperture (that is, the spot-size and persistence), there being no pre-filter either vertically or temporally. As in the one-dimensional case, the effect of the sampling process is to introduce a repeat baseband spectrum on the site of the sampling frequency. Clearly, vertical frequencies exceeding 156 c/ph or temporal frequencies exceeding 12j Hz, enter the baseband region unless pre- filtering is applied. Even if suitable pre-filtering is employed, the repeat spectrum will be apparent in the display unless post-filtering is also applied - this is merely the visibility of line-structure familiar in all television pictures. The simplest arrangement for the removal of vertical and temporal aliasing would be to introduce separate filters in the vertical and temporal directions, as shown in Fig. 6. This would avoid the aliasing which arises from overlap between the baseband and repeat spectra. However, half the frequency space would then be wasted. Therefore, it is posible to double either the vertical or the temporal resolution without causing aliasing. Alternatively, a combined vertical/temporal filter can produce the result shown in Fig. 7, in which a peak resolution of 312£ c/ph and 25 Hz is achieved. This characteristic approximates that of the human eye which can perceive high spatial resolution only in static scenes. It is clear that a . conventional line-interlace structure (312^ line-afield) can support a vertical resolution of 312^ c/ph but does not do so if the scene is sampled directly with line-interlace scanning. Aliasing into the baseband region occurs during the scanning process and cannot be removed by subsequent filtering. Consequently, it is necessary to provide an initial scan which contains more lines (for example by doubling their number to 625 lines per field) so that aliasing into the baseband region is essentially avoided. This signal can then be pre-filtered (vertically and temporally) to remove those frequencies which cannot be carried by the 3125-line interlace signal. Alternate lines are then discarded to produce the con- ventional interlace signal, which then carries enhanced vertical/temporal resolution (without aliasing) as indicated in Fig. 7- This signal could be displayed on a conventional interlace monitor, which would then show improved aliasing characteristics. The line structure would remain visible however, due to the presence of the repeat spectrum at 2- 2_ c/ph/25 Hz. The full potential of the signal can be realised only if a post-filter is included prior to the display. The repeat spectrum is unavoidable in a 312 5 - line interlace display, but the post-filter has the effect of interpolating the lines which were originally dropped, so as to recreate the 625 lines/field signal. Indeed, it may be shown that the functions of post-filtering and line interpolation are mathematically equivalent. The procedure just described provides a transmission signal which may be viewed either on a conventional display, or with enhanced resolution by including the necessary filtering. It therefore represents " a compatible extension to resolution, the costs of which are borne only by users who wish to pay for the improved picture quality. It cannot be simply applied to composite signals, because the post-filtering operation destroys the subcarrier phase relationships. It can, however, be applied separately to each component of a YUV transmission. The compatible enhancement of vertical resolution arose through an optimisation of the filters associated with the vertical sampling (scanning) of the scene. It is interesting to consider whether a similar enhancement can be achieved in the horizontal direction by deliberately introducing a horizontal sampling process where none was necessary. This question has been considered in some detail and it is found that an improved horizontal band- width can be achieved through a similar technique. Suppose that a luminance signal is sampled at a OMPI frequency of, say, 9MHz, using the "field-quincunx" sample structure of Fig. 8 This sample structure must be analysed in three dimensions, the samples being displaced horizontally, vertically and temporally. Consequently, the repeat spectra generated by the sample structure occur in three- dimensional frequency space. Suitable three-dimensional filtering can (in principle) then create an alias free (unity gain) region extending to 9 MHz horizontally, 31 ^ c/ph vertically and 25 Hz vertically, as shown in Fig. 9 - As in the two-dimensioanl case, the sourse coding must be a 625 lines/field sequential scan signal, with alternate lines being dropped after the pre-filtering process, thereby creating a compatible field-interlace structure. The extended-definition receiver would include a similar post-filter/interpolator prior to a 625-line sequential display. When we consider that a PAL transmission typically achieves only 4 MHz of horizontal resolution, a little over 15 5 c/ph vertically and 12-_r Hz temporally, and is impaired by aliasing, cross-colour and cross- luminance, there can be little doubt that such signals would be capable of large-screen display. In principle, impulses at a 9 MHz rate can pass through an analogue Nyquist channel of 4-5 MHz bandwidth without impairment, or through a 5 * 85 MHz channel when time compressed from 52 us to 40 us per line. It is less than obvious that the technique also improve the spectral efficiency of the signal, or indeed that the extended definition arises directly as a result of this improvement. Conventional signals contain a series of gaps in the spectrum which carry only high-frequency diagonal information. When high-frequency diagonals are excluded, as in Fig. 9 these gaps become available to carry more useful information. The effect of the 3-D sampling process described is to deliberately alias useful high-frequency information into O PI these gaps. The original spectrum can then be truncated, in the safe knowledge that high frequencies are carried elsewhere in the signal. The post-filter/interpolator restores the folded energy to its rightful position at high frequency, thereby recreating the original spectrum. . We have now investigated the use of three-dimensional filters and have found that the sampling density (i.e. number of samples per unit space-time volume) defines a frequency volume which cannot be exceeded by the signal spectrum for error-free reconstruction. The particular arrangement of samples (the sampling lattice) restricts the choice for the shape of the appropriate frequency volume. For a television system it would be sensible to define a frequency volume shape which matches the spatio-temporal frequency response of the eye, and to use a sampling arrangement which would efficiently support this frequency shape. One of the most important properties of the eye's response is that the spatial bandwidth reduces with an increasing temporal frequency component. An efficient coding scheme for television signals would take account of this in defining the frequency volume (or "three- dimensional bandwidth") of the signal. Such a resolution exchange (i.e. a reduction of spatial resolution for moving pictures as compared with stationary pictures) woul normally be expected to require "adaptive" (i.e. non¬ linear) techniques. A class of linear filters has been designed, however, which achieve the required resolution exchange without non-linear distortion. The filters have the following important properties:- 1. They operate on an interlaced video signal sampled orthogonally and enable down sampling by a factor of two, to a field-quincunx sampling arrangement. 2. They introduce no attenuation for purely vertical- temporal frequencies. 3- The horizontal resolution decreases as the temporal frequency component increases . Alternate coefficients are zero which enable an identical filter to be used as a post-filter to interpolate samples at the full orthogonal sampling rate. With this 5 arrangement successive down-up sampling procedures can be performed without further degradation. 5. The non-zero coefficients are simple binary fract¬ ions, i.e. they take the form k/2 where k and n are integers. This greatly facilitates hardware implement- 0 ation. ' " Examples of these filters have been implemented using a lattice of coefficient positions as illustrated in Fig. 10, which spreads over 3 fields and five lines. A filter incorporating these coefficient positions can 5 be implemented using four line delays and two field delays as illustrated in the block diagram of Fig. 11. Each coefficient is obtained by tapping the delay sequence at the appropriate position and multiplying by the coefficient value. The filter response is then obtained 0 by adding together these modified and delayed signal components. Coefficient values for a typical filter are:- N = 5 B = 43/512 G = -IS/512 The horizontal-vertical response (i.e. the stationary picture response) and the horizontal-temporal response are shown for a filter which these coefficient values in Fig. 12. 5 OMPI The filter described above may be used with television signals using the multiplexed analogue component system described previously or with component television signals in digital form. Further, it may be used for broadcast links in general rather than public direct broadcast by satellite. While the above filter is a full three dimensional filter it is possible to enhance only the horizontal resolution using a simplified version of the above filter. It is to be emphasised that this filter, whether in simplified or three dimensional form is a linear filter and thus cross-over effects present in non-linear filters are avoided. Oi>ϊPI

Claims: CLAIMS : 1. A ilter for filtering a television video signal in component form, comprising a filter structure having alternate co-e ficients which are zero, the non-zero co-efficients being in the form k / where k and n are / 2 n integers. 2. A filter according to claim 1, wherein first delay means are provided for storing signals from a plurality of lines of the same field of a television picture and second delay means are provided for storing signals from a plurality of successive fields. 3. A filter according to claim 2, wherein said first delay means comprises four line delay elements and said second delay means comprises two field delay elements. 4- A television transmission system wherein a filter according to claim 1 is included prior to the signal in component form being transmitted. 5. A receiver for a signal transmitted by a television transmission system according to claim 4> the receiver including a filter according to claim 1.

Inventors: TONGE GARY JAMES, TONGE, GARY, JAMES
Applicants: INDEP BROADCASTING AUTHORITY, INDEPENDENT BROADCASTING AUTHORITY
Application year: 1983
Main classification: H04N5
IPC codes: H03H17, H04N5