Patent GB-1078702-A (GB)
Title: Television system and method
IPC: H04N11/02
Filed: 1964-10-23
Abstract: 1,078,702. Television. STANDARD TELEPHONES & CABLES Ltd. Oct. 23, 1964 [Oct. 24, 1963], No. 43300/64. Heading H4F. The video signal from a pick-up tube 31, Fig. 2, viewing a two-tone (i.e. black and white) image is passed to a line 108 for transmission via a four-bit storage register 85 the stage conditions of which are examined by a NOR logic circuit 93, the arrangement being such that whenever four adjacent white elements occur a signal is developed by stages 95, 100, 103 which operates a gated switch 46 to cause the camera line and frame scanning to be increased in speed four times and to scan at the increased speed for four further picture elements. The scanning operates on a step-by-step basis under the control of a 2À5 kc/s. (slow) signal from a 4: 1 divider 40 connected to a 10 kc/s. oscillator 39 and the effect of the operation of gate 46 is to substitute the 10 kc/s. (fast) signal for the scanning control. The signal from gate 46 also times the movement of the signal elements through register 85 whereby the signals due to the four adjacent white elements are transmitted at four times normal (slow) speed and appear as a single signal element of the same duration as a slow black and white element. In order to distinguish the fast signal element stages 97, 100, 103 add a signal to the element in mixer 92 so as to increase its amplitude. The final transmitted signal thus comprises three distinct levels, two for black and white slow elements at the 2À5 kc/s. scanning speed and the third for the fast white group of four elements at the 10 kc/s. scanning speed. The signals from switch 46 are also employed (1) to pulse pick-up tube 31 (2) to sample the video output in gate 74 and (3) time the operation of stages 97, 100, 103. Line and frame synchronizing signals are provided by circuits 54 and 55. The line signal comprises a white element followed by a fast white element (which is a combination never encountered in the image signals since a fast white element always follows a black element) and the frame signal comprises two such combinations. The signal for transmission is restricted by filter 101 to a band between 1250 and 2250 c/s. and modulated on a 2500 c/s. carrier from divider 40. Only the carrier and lower side-band are transmitted. At a receiver, Fig. 7, reproduction is effected by a storage-type cathode-ray tube 199 and the scanning is controlled by an identical arrangement involving a 10 kc/s. oscillator 179, a 4: 1 divider 182 and a gated switch 197. The oscillator is synchronized with the received carrier by elements 183, 184, 190, 196. A slow-fast detector 174 responds to the third (fast white) signal elements and controls switch 197. A black-white detector 175 distinguishes the slow white and fast white elements from the black elements and controls a gate 209 through which pulses from a generator 207 controlled by the output from gate 197 pass to the "write" gun of the cathode-ray tube. A modification is referred to in which black signal elements are time compressed instead of white elements. A further modification involves compression of both black and white elements. This involves a four-level signal which includes fast black and fast white elements as well as slow black and white elements. A second detailed embodiment is described with reference to Fig. 12 (not shown) in which a twelve-bit and a four-bit storage register are used in tandem to permit the detection of both sixteen and four adjacent white elements. Three scanning speeds are used under the control of 40 kc/s., 10 kc/s. and 2À5 kc/s. signals. The transmitted signal involves four signal levels representing slow black, slow white, fast white and super fast white.