PICTURE-IN-PICTURE TELEVISION RECEIVERS

Abstract: In a picture-in-picture television receiver, the subpicture signal is A-D converted (8); the converted digital subpicture signal is latched (92) in response to a subpicture clock signal (fw) which is in synchronism with a subpicture synchronising signal; the latched signal is latched again (93) and stored in an image memory (10) in response to a main picture synchronising signal; and the latched signal is read from the image memory (10) in synchronism with the main picture synchronising signal, in order that the subpicture can stably be inserted in a predetermined area of the main picture by eliminating an unstable data duration or interval during which variation in the subpicture signal is different for each of a plurality of bits thereof.

Description: This invention relates to picture-in-picture television receivers for reproducing two different pictures simultaneously on a common display screen (such as a display screen of a cathode ray tube), and to methods of reproducing two different pictures simultaneously on a common display screen of a picture-in-picture television receiver. Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings shows a display screen of a previously proposed picture-in-picture (P in P) television receiver on which an A-channel picture and a B-channel picture are simultaneously displayed. The B-channel picture (hereinafter referred to as a "subpicture") is inserted at a predetermined area of the A-channel picture (hereinafter referred to as a "main picture") by reducing (compressing) both the lateral and vertical dimensions of the subpicture to 1/3, for instance, of those of the main picture. In the P in P television receiver, if the size of the subpicture is reduced to 1/3, for instance, the subpicture signal is first subjected to analog to digital (A-D) conversion, and the horizontal and vertical scanning lines then are extracted in a ratio of 1 out of 3 before being written in a picture memory. The subpicture signal is written in the memory, in response to a clock signal synchronised with a synchronising signal of the subpicture signal, while the subpicture signal is read out from the memory, at a speed which is three times higher than that employed in writing the signal, in response to a clock signal synchronised with a synchronising signal of the main picture signal. Since the sampling frequency on the subpicture side is different from that on the main picture side, it is inevitably necessary to convert the sampling frequency somewhere in the circuitry of the P in P television receiver. In more detail, a subpicture signal is converted from an analog signal to a digital signal, stored in a memory via a write process circuit, read from the memory, and converted from a digital signal to an analog signal. During these operations, successive portions of the subpicture signal, each composed of a plurality of bits of the digital signal arranged in series, are processed. However, since the time during which variation in signal data becomes stable is different among the bit of the signal making up the plurality, there is a problem in that unstable data durations or intervals occur before the data represented by all of the bits of each plurality becomes stable. US Patent US-A-4 367 484 discloses a picture-in-picture television receiver according to the precharacterising part of claim 1 of this specification and a method of picture reproduction according to the precharacterising part of claim 4 of this specification. According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a picture-in-picture television receiver for reproducing two different pictures simultaneously on a common display screen such that one of said pictures ("subpicture") is inserted in a predetermined area of the other of said pictures ("main picture"), the receiver comprising: memory means; write processing circuit means for writing a subpicture signal representing the subpicture into the memory means under the control of a synchronising signal of the subpicture signal; read processing circuit means for reading the signal stored in the memory means under the control of a synchronising signal of a main picture signal representing the main picture; and means for combining the read signal with the main picture signal to produce a signal for display; the receiver being characterised in that: an analog-to-digital converter means is provided for converting an analog subpicture signal into a digital subpicture signal; and the write processing circuit means comprises: first latch circuit means for latching the digital subpicture signal in response to a subpicture clock signal which is in synchronism with the subpicture synchronising signal; second latch circuit means for latching an output signal of the first latch circuit means in response to a main picture clock signal which is in synchronism with the main picture synchronising signal, the second latch circuit means being connected to the memory means whereby an output signal of the second latch circuit means constitutes the subpicture signal written into the memory means; series/parallel converter means connected between the analog-to-digital converter means and the first latch circuit means for receiving a predetermined number of bits of the digital subpicture signal in response to the subpicture clock signal, the series/parallel converter means being operative to output a conversion end signal when series/parallel conversion has been effected for said predetermined number of bits; and an edge detector operative to detect a trailing edge of said conversion end signal and responsive thereto to cause the second latch circuit means to latch said output signal of the first latch circuit means only when a predetermined number of periods of the main picture clock signal have elapsed after the trailing edge of the conversion end signal has been detected by the edge detector. According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of reproducing two different pictures simultaneously on a common display screen such that one of said pictures ("subpicture") is inserted in a predetermined area of the other of said pictures ("main picture), the method comprising: writing a subpicture signal representing the subpicture into memory means under the control of a synchronising signal of the subpicture signal; reading the signal stored in the memory means under the control of a synchronising signal of a main picture signal representing the main picture; and combining the read signal with the main picture signal to produce a signal for display; the method being characterised in that: an analog subpicture signal is converted into a digital subpicture signal; and the writing step comprises: latching the digital subpicture signal in response to a subpicture clock signal which is in synchronism with the subpicture synchronising signal; latching an output signal resulting from the first-mentioned latching operation in response to a main picture clock signal which is in synchronism with the main picture synchronising signal, an output signal resulting from the second-mentioned latching operation constituting the subpicture signal written into the memory means; series/parallel converting the digital subpicture signal prior to the first-mentioned latching operation in response to the subpicture clock signal and outputting a conversion end signal when series/parallel conversion has been effected for a predetermined number of bits of the digital subpicture signal; and detecting a trailing edge of said conversion end signal and causing the second-mentioned latching operation to be effected only when a predetermined number of periods of the main picture clock signal have elapsed after the trailing edge of the conversion end signal has been detected. A preferred embodiment of the present invention described in detail hereinbelow provides a picture-in-picture television receiver which can eliminate the above-mentioned unstable data durations or intervals and can stably convert the sampling frequency of the subpicture signal to that of the main picture signal. In the circuit configuration of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, one latch circuit is synchronised with a subpicture and the other latch circuit is synchronised with a main picture, whereby it is possible to eliminate the subpicture data signal being latched to the main picture side during the unstable data durations or intervals, so that the conversion of the sampling frequency can be effected stably from the subpicture side to the main picture side. The invention will now be further described, by way of illustrative and non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a screen of a picture-in-picture television receiver; Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing an exemplary circuit of a picture-in-picture television receiver in which the present invention can be embodied; Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a write processing circuit incorporated in the circuit shown in Figure 1 to form a picture-in-picture television receiver that is a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 4 is a timing chart for the write processing circuit shown in Figure 3; and Figure 5 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a picture quality improvement circuit which can be connected to the write processing circuit shown in Figure 3. Figure 2 shows an exemplary circuit of a picture-in-picture television receiver, the circuit comprising an antenna (aerial) 1, a tuning circuit 2, an intermediate frequency amplifier and video detecting circuit 3, and a composite video signal input terminal 4 to which a video signal, for example a playback signal from a video tape recorder (VTR), can be supplied. A main-sub switching circuit 5 selects one of a video signal from the circuit 3 and a video signal from the terminal 4 as a main picture and the other as a subpicture. The main picture video signal obtained from the switching circuit 5 is applied to a Y/C processing and synchronising signal processing circuit 6 which provides a main picture video signal S M , a main picture vertical synchronising signal V M , and a main picture horizontal synchronising signal H M . In addition, the subpicture signal obtained from the switching circuit 5 is applied to a Y/C processing and synchronising signal processing circuit 7 to provide a subpicture video signal S S , a subpicture vertical synchronising signal V S , and a subpicture horizontal synchronising signal H S . The subpicture video signal S S is applied to an analog to digital (A-D) converter 8 which converts it into a digital signal. The digital signal is written in an image memory 10 through a write processing circuit 9. If the subpicture is reduced in size in both the vertical and horizontal directions to 1/3 of the size of the main picture, the horizontal and vertical scanning lines are extracted by the write processing circuit 9 in a ratio of 1 out of 3 and then written in the memory 10. By virtue of this processing operation, effective picture information made up of 64 scanning lines per one field, for instance, is written in the memory 10. Further, in addition to the above-mentioned processing operation, the write processing circuit 9 converts a sampling frequency in a manner described hereinbelow with reference to Figure 3. A subpicture clock oscillator or generator 11 generates a clock pulse signal having a frequency ("write frequency") fw in synchronism with the subpicture vertical and horizontal synchronising signals V S and H S . On the basis of the clock pulse signal having the frequency fw, a write address generator 12 generates write address signals WA representing write addresses from "0" to "2047". The write address signals WA are supplied to the memory 10 via a memory controller or control circuit 13. Data read from the memory 10 is applied to a digital-to-analog (D-A) converter 15 via a read processing circuit 14 to convert the digital subpicture signal to the original analog video signal S S . A main picture clock oscillator or generator 16 generates a clock pulse signal having a frequency ("read frequency") f R in synchronism with the main picture vertical and horizontal synchronising signals V M and H M . On the basis of these signals, a read address generator 17 generates read address signals RA representing read addresses from "0" to "2047". The read address signals RA are supplied to the memory 10 via the memory control circuit 13. When the subpicture is reduced to 1/3 of the size of the main picture, the above-mentioned reading operation is executed at a speed three times higher than that employed for writing. That is, information of one scanning line H is speedily read during a period of 1/3H. Further, the write frequency fw is selected to be 4/3fsc and the read frequency f R is selected to be 2fsc, for instance, where fsc denotes a subcarrier frequency. In this case, the read frequency f R is selected to be 3/2 times (and not three times) the write frequency fw. This is because the A-D converter 8 converts a luminance signal and a colour difference signal from the circuit 7 in a time divisional manner as is well known in the art. The subpicture video signal S S obtained by the D-A converter 15 is applied to a composing circuit 18 together with the main picture video signal S M obtained by the processing circuit 6. The composing circuit 18 is controlled by a switching signal S C applied from a control circuit 19. Therefore, it is possible for the composing circuit 18 to provide a composite signal S M + S S , in which the signal S S is inserted into a predetermined area of the signal S M , the composite signal being supplied to a picture tube 20. In accordance with the above-described circuit configuration, the subpicture B, reduced in size by a factor of 1/3 both vertically and horizontally, is reproduced at a predetermined area of the main picture A, as shown in Figure 1, on the picture tube 20. A switch 19a is provided for the control circuit 19. When the switch 19a is manually turned on, the subpicture B can be erased. The above-mentioned sampling frequency conversion processing operation carried out by the write processing circuit 9 will now be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. In Figure 3, items of data (words) each comprising 5 bits arranged in series, for instance, are inputted from the A-D converter 8 to a series to parallel converter 91. In the converter 91, for instance, six 5-bit memory circuits are connected in series. The converter 91 and a succeeding stage in the form of a 30-bit latch circuit 92 are activated in response to the subpicture clock signal having the frequency fw, and a further succeeding stage in the form of a latch circuit 93 is activated in response to the main picture clock signal having the frequency f R . In operation, 30 bits of data X, Y are sequentially inputted to the latch circuit 92 in a ratio of one out of six pulses of the subpicture clock signal. The time during which the data becomes stable without variation is different for each bit of the 30 bits of data, so that an unstable data duration or interval occurs until all of the 30 bits become stable. When the converter 91 has performed series-to-parallel data conversion for six 5-bit words (a total of 30 bits), a conversion-end signal a₁ is outputted by the converter 91. The trailing edge of the signal a₁ is detected by an edge detector or detection circuit 94 as an edge detection signal a₂ in synchronism with the main picture clock signal. At a point in time when one period of the main picture clock signal has elapsed from the leading edge of the edge detection signal a₂, the succeeding stage latch circuit 93 is activated so as to latch the data of the latch circuit 92. Since the above-mentioned unstable data duration or interval is usually shorter than one period of the main picture clock signal, the latch circuit 93 never fetches the data from the latch circuit 92 within the unstable data duration or interval. Therefore, it is possible stably to convert the data from the sampling frequency of the subpicture to that of the main picture. This means that the memory 10 can be operated in synchronism with the main picture clock signal having the frequency f R during both the writing and reading periods, so that any data can be handled without the influence of the unstable data durations or intervals mentioned above. Further, it should be understood that the operation of fetching data from the latch circuit 92 to the latch circuit 93 can be selected at any point in time within six periods of the main picture clock signal. Further, the output of the latch circuit 93 is written in the memory 10 after a necessary processing operation, in which one scanning line is extracted from three scanning lines, has been completed. A method of solving another problem associated with the circuit shown in Figure 2 will now be described. As described above, when the subpicture is reduced in size by a factor of 1/3, only signals corresponding to one scanning line are used out of the signals corresponding to three scanning lines. In other words, in one field of the subpicture signal, only the 3rd, 6th, 9th... scanning lines are used out of the 1st to nth scanning lines, the other scanning lines not being used. Therefore, a problem arises in that roughness of the subpicture inserted in the main picture is conspicuous in the vertical direction. Figure 5 shows an embodiment of a picture quality improvement circuit for solving at least partially the above-mentioned problem. The picture quality improving circuit is connected between the A-D converter 8 and the write processing circuit 9. In this embodiment, a scanning line is added to a previous scanning line, and a resultant added or addition output is averaged by multiplication by 1/2. For instance, in one field of the subpicture signal, the 1st scanning line is discarded, the 2nd and 3rd scanning lines are added together, and the addition output thereof is divided by 2. Referring to Figure 5, when the 2nd scanning line of the digitised subpicture video signal is inputted from the A-D converter 8 as input data, the data is written in a line memory 95 by setting it in a write mode. Next, when the 3rd scanning line of the signal is inputted, data is read from the line memory 95 and the data read from the line memory and the data of the 3rd scanning line are added by an adder 96. Thereafter, an addition output of this adder 96 is applied to a 1/2 multiplier 97 for averaging. Then, the 4th scanning line is discarded, and the same operation is repeated from the 5th scanning line. As described above, since only the writing and reading operations are performed alternately in the line memory 95, it is sufficient for the speed of operation of the line memory 95 to correspond to the frequency fw of the subpicture clock signal. Therefore, it is possible to use a low-priced low-speed line memory 95. In spite of the simple circuit configuration, it is possible to eliminate the unstable data duration or interval, and stably to convert the sampling frequency of the subpicture signal to that of the main picture signal.

Claims: A picture-in picture television receiver for reproducing two different pictures simultaneously on a common display screen such that one of said pictures ("subpicture") is inserted in a predetermined area of the other of said pictures ("main picture"), the receiver comprising: memory means (10); write processing circuit means (9) for writing a subpicture signal representing the subpicture into the memory means (10) under the control of a synchronising signal of the subpicture signal; read processing circuit means (14) for reading the signal stored in the memory means (10) under the control of a synchronising signal of a main picture signal representing the main picture; and means (18) for combining the read signal with the main picture signal to produce a signal for display; the receiver being characterised in that: an analog-to-digital converter means (8) is provided for converting an analog subpicture signal into a digital subpicture signal; and the write processing circuit means (9) comprises: first latch circuit means (92) for latching the digital subpicture signal in response to a subpicture clock signal (fw) which is in synchronism with the subpicture synchronising signal; second latch circuit means (93) for latching an output signal of the first latch circuit means (92) in response to a main picture clock signal (f R ) which is in synchronism with the main picture synchronising signal, the second latch circuit means (93) being connected to the memory means (10) whereby an output signal of the second latch circuit means constitutes the subpicture signal written into the memory means; series/parallel converter means (91) connected between the analog-to-digital converter means (8) and the first latch circuit means (92) for receiving a predetermined number of bits of the digital subpicture signal in response to the subpicture clock signal (fw), the series/parallel converter means (91) being operative to output a conversion end signal (a1) when series/parallel conversion has been effected for said predetermined number of bits; and an edge detector (94) operative to detect a trailing edge of said conversion end signal (a1) and responsive thereto to cause the second latch circuit means (93) to latch said output signal of the first latch circuit means (91) only when a predetermined number of periods of the main picture clock signal (f R )have elapsed after the trailing edge of the conversion end signal (a1) has been detected by the edge detector (94). A picture-in-picture television receiver according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined number of periods of the main picture clock signal(f R ) is one. A picture-in-picture television receiver according to claim 1 or claim 2, which comprises picture quality improvement circuit means connected between the analog-to-digital converter means (8) and the series/parallel converter means (91), the picture quality improvement circuit means comprising: (a) line memory means (95) for storing predetermined lines of the digital subpicture signal in response to the subpicture clock signal (fw); (b) adder means (96) for adding a subpicture signal line read from the line memory means (95) to a succeeding subpicture signal line; and (c) a 1/2 multiplier means (97) for averaging the added subpicture lines. A method of reproducing two different pictures simultaneously on a common display screen such that one of said pictures ("subpicture") is inserted in a predetermined area of the other of said pictures ("main picture), the method comprising: writing a subpicture signal representing the subpicture into memory means (10) under the control of a synchronising signal of the subpicture signal; reading the signal stored in the memory means (10) under the control of a synchronising signal of a main picture signal representing the main picture; and combining (18) the read signal with the main picture signal to produce a signal for display; the method being characterised in that: an analog subpicture signal is converted (8) into a digital subpicture signal; and the writing step (9) comprises: latching (92) the digital subpicture signal in response to a subpicture clock signal (fw) which is in synchronism with the subpicture synchronising signal; latching (93) an output signal resulting from the first-mentioned latching operation in response to a main picture clock signal (f R ) which is in synchronism with the main picture synchronising signal, an output signal resulting from the second-mentioned latching operation constituting the subpicture signal written into the memory means (10); series/parallel converting (91) the digital subpicture signal prior to the first-mentioned latching operation (91) in response to the subpicture clock signal (fw) and outputting a conversion end signal (a1) when series/parallel conversion has been effected for a predetermined number of bits of the digital subpicture signal; and detecting a trailing edge of said conversion end signal (a1) and causing the second-mentioned latching operation (93) to be effected only when a predetermined number of periods of the main picture clock signal (f R ) have elapsed after the trailing edge of the conversion end signal (a1) has been detected. A method according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined number of periods of the main picture clock signal (f R )is one. A method according to claim 4 or claim 5, which comprises effecting a picture quality improvement operation between the analog-to-digital conversion operation (8) and the series/parallel conversion operation (91), the picture quality improvement operation comprising: (a) storing (95) predetermined lines of the digital subpicture signal in response to the subpicture clock signal (fw); (b) reading a stored subpicture signal line and adding (96) the stored subpicture signal line to a succeeding subpicture signal line; and (c) averaging the added subpicture lines.

Inventors: HONGU, MASAYUKI, MOTOE, HISAFUMI, SARUGAKU, TOSHIO, TOKUHARA, MASAHARU
Applicants: SONY CORPORATION
Application year: 1986
Main classification: H04N5
IPC codes: H04N5