Cable Tech Facts main index. We left off with the test signals that are inserted in the vertical blanking interval. The chroma signal represents the color portion of the TV's picture. Hue, or tint, is the color itself, such as red, green, or yellow.
Saturation refers to how little the color is diluted by white.
Red, for example is fully saturated, while pink is a desaturated red. The more desaturated a color is, the closer it gets to white. Since the luminance information is already carried by the luminance portion or the composite video signal, only hue and saturation need to be added. It is important to note that without the luminance information, the color information is virtually useless. By itself, the color information will only produce large, dark colored picture areas on the television screen.