Abstract:
An inventive method for preventing focus flutter display in a TV receiver or monitor includes the steps of amplifying a received signal for driving cathode elements of a cathode ray tube, and delaying initial full amplification of the signal during the amplifying step for a duration sufficient to prevent focus flutter display on the tube. A corresponding inventive kine driver circuit that prevents display of focus flutter includes an amplifier for amplifying and coupling received video signals to cathode elements of a picture tube, and a control circuit for delaying full amplification of the video signals to be fed to the cathode elements for a duration sufficient to prevent focus flutter display on the tube.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Provisional application No. 60/177,291, filed Jan. 21, 2000. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The invention relates generally to television receivers and monitors and, more particularly, to focus flutter prevention in TV receivers and monitors. 
     As used herein, the terms cathode ray tube (CRT), picture tube, and kine have the same meaning and are used interchangeably. Circuit elements repeated in different drawing figures are referenced by the same numerals. 
     Kine driver circuits in TV receivers or monitors are often prone to a problem referred to herein as focus flutter. Focus flutter occurs shortly after a television receiver is turned on. When power is first applied to a television receiver or monitor, the CRT filament is cold and there is no emission from the cathodes and, therefore, no beam. This lack of beam current causes the CRT cathodes to appear as open circuits. With no beam current the beam current limiter does not reduce contrast which controls the video gain of the TV receiver. At a maximum contrast control setting the video output signal from the source of video signals, e.g., a luma/chroma integrated circuit, is amplified to the greatest extent, which causes the high gain kine drivers to saturate. 
     In normal operation, a CRT&#39;s cathode potential is about 50-150 volts higher than its control grid (G 1 , see FIG. 1) potential. As a result, beam current is held within a normal range. However, the above-described condition of kine driver saturation causes the cathode voltage to fall to a level at or close to the level of the voltage on the grid G 1  to produce a zero bias condition. In this zero or near zero bias condition, when the CRT filament has heated the cathodes enough to have emission, excessive beam current will begin to flow. 
     With some picture tubes excessive beam current can be partially intercepted by the focus electrode (F, see FIG.  1 ), causing focus current to flow. This, in turn, causes the focus voltage to drop and defocuses the beam, causing even more beam current to strike the focus electrode. This positive feedback phenomenon manifests itself as a brightness fluctuation of the picture, known to skilled artisans as focus flutter. 
     The focus flutter problem occurs, typically, for a few seconds after a short 5-8 seconds warm-up delay, during a turn-on with a high IRE luminance signal when the brightness and/or contrast controls are set high enough. The problem is relieved after 1 to 2 seconds because as the beam current begins to flow the beam limiter reduces the video gain and the kine drivers come out of saturation and the zero bias condition disappears. Factors contributing to focus flutter include the geometry of the electron gun assembly of the CRT, the underheated cathode, excessively high drive of the cathode before the beam limiter activates, and less than completely stabilized and regulated power supplies. 
     The most commonly used approach to reduce the problem of focus flutter has been to lower the maximum drive voltage applied to the cathode of the picture tube by reducing, for example, the signal applied to the kine driver&#39;s input or by reducing the kine driver&#39;s gain. A disadvantage of such an approach is the loss of the light output of the receiver at normal operating conditions. Another approach has been to blank the screen during the warm up period of the receiver through software means. This requires dedication of some memory resources that can be at a premium. The most fundamental approach is to redesign the picture tube guns by increasing the aperture of the central hole in the control grid G 1  and the Focus electrodes to reduce the beam current interception. However, redesigning the picture tube is undesirable as it adds to the cost, time and manpower constraints and can degrade the beam spot size, i.e., resolution, at normal operating conditions. 
     Another solution proposed utilizes a diode clamp in the kine driver circuit to clamp voltage at the grid GI to a voltage level lower than the cathode voltage level, that prevents excessive beam current which would otherwise cause focus flutter, immediately following a cold cathode turn on. This solution has several drawbacks in that it alters operation of the receiver during both turn-on and normal operating conditions, during kine driver amplifier saturation the bias cannot go as low as 4V, whereas existing picture tubes can run into focus flutter mode during a turn-on at a bias voltage as high as 20V. The addition of diodes at the collectors of the kine driver amplifiers reduces the amplifiers&#39; bandwidth by increasing their collectors&#39; capacitance, which in turn reduces the resolution of the TV receiver. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     An inventive method for preventing focus flutter display in a TV receiver or monitor includes the steps of amplifying a received signal for driving cathode elements of a cathode ray tube; and delaying initial full amplification of the signal during the amplifying step for a duration sufficient to prevent focus flutter display on the tube. 
     An inventive kine driver circuit that prevents display of focus flutter includes an amplifier for amplifying and coupling received video signals to cathode elements of a picture tube; and a control circuit for delaying coupling of amplified the video signals to the cathode elements for a duration sufficient to prevent focus flutter display on the tube. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exemplary circuit schematic of a known kine driver circuit. 
     FIG. 2 includes the circuit schematic of FIG. 1 modified to incorporate the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a circuit schematic of an exemplary kine driver employing the inventive focus flutter prevention. 
    
    
     Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the FIGURES of the drawings. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A known kine driver circuit  1  according to FIG. 1 includes cascode amplifiers  2 ,  3  and  4  that amplify RGB color component signals from a luma/chroma processor  6  to drive CRT cathodes Ca. The CRT  5  depicted is a known type which includes a control grid G 1  for regulating overall current of electron beams, a screen grid G 2  which begins acceleration of the electrons towards the front, and the focus grid F which further accelerates and narrows the beams. The grid G 1  can be either grounded or at some low potential and the luma/chroma processor  6  can be an integrated circuit IC form and is well known to skilled artisans. 
     Each of the cascode amplifiers  2 ,  3  and  4  include an NPN transistor pair Q 1  and Q 2  coupled to their respective emitter and collector terminals. A voltage Vcc is applied to load resistor Rc coupled to the collector terminal of the upper transistor Q 1  of each cascode amplifier  2 ,  3  and  4 . The collector voltage developed across the load resistor Rc drives the corresponding cathode Ca of the picture tube  5  through flushover resistor Rf. The base of each upper transistor is biased by voltage VB that is less than collector voltage Vcc 2 , which in turn is less than the voltage Vcc applied to the load resistor Rc. R, G and B color component signals from the luma/chroma processor IC  6  (not shown) are applied to base terminals of the lower cascode transistor Q 2 . The emitters of lower transistors Q 2  are biased by a voltage source formed by a PNP transistor Q 5  and resistor pair R 1  and R 2 . Resistor pair R 1  and R 2  divide voltage Vd, coupled to resistor R 1 , to bias the base-emitter junction of transistor Q 5  with a voltage Vr, which is a portion of voltage Vd. It is noted that the driver circuit  1  utilizes only one voltage source Vs that combines the currents from all three lower transistors Q 2  of the cascode amplifiers  2 ,  3  and  4 . 
     The resistive divider R 1 /R 2  provides a reference voltage Vr, equal to VdR 2 /(R 2 +R 1 )), to the base of the voltage source transistor Q 5 . This reference voltage then controls the cascode currents through flushover resistors Rf and, consequently, the DC potentials of the picture tube cathodes Ca. 
     As noted before, TV receivers or monitors are often prone to the focus flutter problem, usually most visible in the form of a rapid and non-monotonic change of the focus of the picture during the first few seconds after the receiver or monitor has been turned on. The focus flutter occurs as a result of the control grid G 1  and the focus electrode F intercepting some portion of the beam current during the warm up period of the receiver. During this short 5-10 second period voltage at the cathode Ca can drop as low as only a few volts above the control grid G 1  voltage. The invention prevents a TV receiver or monitor from going into a focus flutter mode by delaying the complete turn on of the kine drivers until the receiver or monitor completes its warm-up. An initial increase of the kine driver&#39;s bias is gradually decreased synchronously with the warming up process of the receiver or monitor, which in turn provides a very graceful appearance on the screen of a picture that is properly focused. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the initial increase and the following gradual decrease of the voltage source Vs and the kine driver&#39;s bias, i.e., reference voltage Vr, is implemented by the addition of a series arrangement of a resistor and capacitor R, C parallel coupled to the upper resistor R 1  of the resistive voltage divider pair R 1 , R 2 . 
     While the TV receiver/monitor is turned off, the capacitor C is completely discharged. As soon as the receiver/monitor is turned on and the Vd voltage is applied to the resistive divider R 1 , R 2 , the capacitor C starts charging through resistors R and R 2 . At this moment, the bias voltage at the base of the voltage source transistor is Vr*=VdR 2 /(R 2 +R*)&gt;Vr, where resistance R*=RR 1 /(R+R 1 )&lt;R 1 . At the first moment the charging capacitor C presents a short circuit and resistor R is effectively connected in parallel with R 1 . The increased bias keeps the cascode currents from an abrupt surge, which in turn keeps the picture tube cathode potentials from plunging too low. The minimum cathode Ca voltage depends on the choice of the resistor R value. Charging of the capacitor gradually reduces the bias voltage Vr* until it reaches the normal operating value Vr. The rate of charging of the capacitor is tau=(R+R 2 )C, which can be made to track the warming up process of the instrument by a proper choice of the value of the capacitor C. The tracking is achieved simultaneously for all three cathodes Ca since, as noted above, the modified voltage source controls all three currents. At the end of the warm-up process, the receiver/monitor operates as if the resistor R and capacitor C addition does not exist because the charged capacitor acts as an open circuit with respect to DC potentials. 
     A kine driver utilizing the inventive resistor R and capacitor C controlled driver bias is shown in FIG.  3 . Cascode amplifiers, capable of outputting about 150V peak-to-peak amplify the R, G and B color component signals to drive the CRT  5 . A lower input transistor Q 702 , Q 701 , Q 703  is connected as a common emitter transistor circuit and a corresponding upper transistor Q 101 , Q 102 , Q 103  is connected as a common base transistor circuit. 
     Color component R, G and B signals from the luma/chroma processor  6  are coupled across respective current limiting resistors R 707 , R 708 , R 706  to base terminals B of respective lower cascode transistors Q 702 , Q 701 , Q 703 . Amplified R, G and B signals exit from the collector terminals C of respective upper transistors Q 101 , Q 102 , Q 103 . The collector current of the lower and upper transistor is approximately the same. However, the voltage across the collector-emitter junctions C to E of the lower and upper transistors is different. Collector-emitter voltage of the upper transistor Q 101 , Q 102 , Q 103  can be around 200V, whereas the collector-emitter voltage of the lower transistor Q 702 , Q 701 , Q 703  is less than 10V. Consequently, the power dissipated in the upper transistor can be twenty times that of the corresponding lower transistor. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, base terminals B of the upper transistors Q 101 , Q 102 , Q 103  are biased by a +12V regulated supply through respective current limiting resistors R 107 , R 108 , R 109 . A 200V supply is dropped across inductor L 101  and each of load resistors R 101 , R 102  and R 103  to develop a collector supply voltage at each of the upper transistors Q 101 , Q 102 , Q 103 . The 200V is also divided between resistors R 117  and R 110  to provide voltage to the control grid G 1 , although in other embodiments grid G 1  can be grounded and resisters R 117  and R 110  are omitted altogether. Protection against arcing in the CRT  5  is provided by respective flushover resistors R 104 , R 105  and R 106 . 
     As the G signal applied to the base B of transistor Q 701  increases, transistor Q 701  is more forward biased which causes the current in transistor Q 102  to increase and cause its collector voltage Vc, to decrease. As the G signal decreases, the collector voltage Vc of transistor Q 102 , which is also the voltage of the cathode Ca for the green G electron gun (not shown) of the CRT  5 , begins to increase towards a collector supply voltage of +200V. Also, as the G signal decreases, it is actually moving towards blanking or black. Beam current in the CRT  5  is a function of the bias voltage between the cathode Ca and the screen grid G 1 . As bias voltage decreases, beam current increases. Since the grid G 1  is normally fixed, as the collector voltage of transistor Q 102  tracks towards the power supply voltage, of +200V, bias voltage increases which in turn decreases beam current. 
     Power in transistor Q 102  is limited by its load resistor R 102 . Resistor R 102  variation is selected so that the output transistor Q 102  runs at optimum power dissipation and bandwidth. Current from the CRT, in case of internal arcing, is limited by flushover resistor R 105 . Base current in transistor Q 102  is limited by coupled resistor R 108 , which helps reduce the possibility of saturation. Transistor Q 102  is kept turned on slightly even during blanking by the current draw through resistor R 718 , which decreases the radio frequency interference RFI generated from switching the transistor Q 102  completely off and back on. Its effect can be seen by comparing the cathode voltage at blanking to the level of the Vcc supply voltage. Without this resistor R 718 , blanking level would be at the supply voltage. Current into transistor Q 701  is limited by resistor R 717  in case of CRT  5  arc. The gain in the G signal is determined by resistors R 716  coupled to the emitter terminal of the lower transistor Q 101  along with resistor R 102  coupled to the collector terminal C of upper transistor Q 102 . Peaking and extension of the bandwidth of the G signal circuit is achieved with the resistor R 715  and capacitor C 714  combination, which effectively reduces the value of resistor R 716  as the frequency increases. 
     The R and B signal circuits operate identically to that of the G signal circuit described above. Transistors Q 101  and Q 702 , resistors R 101 , R 719 , R 720 , R 721  and R 722 , and capacitor C 715  in the R signal drive circuit  31 A &amp; B, and transistors Q 103  and Q 703 , resistors R 103 , R 723 , R 724 , R 725  and R 727 , and capacitor C 713  in the B signal drive circuit  33 A &amp; B correspond functionally to transistors Q 102  and Q 701 , resistors R 102 , R 715 , R 716 , r 717  and R  718  and capacitor C 714 , respectively, in the G signal drive circuit. 
     Gradual increase of collector currents in the cascode amplifiers  31 A &amp; B,  32 A &amp; B,  33 A &amp; B is effected by the cascode biasing circuit  30  coupled to each of the lower cascode amplifier circuits  31 A,  32 A,  33 A. Operations of the cascode biasing circuit  30  is similar to that in FIG. 2 
     The emitter terminal E of PNP transistor Q 704  forms a virtual AC ground where currents from all three cascode amplifier outputs return. Transistor Q 704  provides an AC ground that is not 0V DC, which is desirable in order to bias the kine driver amplifiers  31 A &amp; B,  32 A &amp; B and  33 A &amp; B properly. Changing the DC voltage on the base B of transistor Q 704  changes the DC voltage at the collector of the upper cascode transistors Q 101 , Q 102  and Q 103 . The emitter of transistor Q 704  is one junction voltage drop above the base terminal B divider voltage from resistors R 712  and R 713 . The value of resistor R 713  is different for different size picture tubes  5  because a very large picture tube  5  usually operates with the control grid G 1  at 20 VDC, while at smaller tube sizes the control grid G 1  is usually grounded. 
     While the TV receiver or monitor is turned off, the capacitor C is completely discharged. As soon as the receiver or monitor is turned on and Vd 3  voltage is applied to the resistive divider R 712 , R 713  the capacitor C starts charging through the resistors R and R 713 . At this moment, the bias at the base B of the voltage source transistor Q 704  is Vr*=Vd 3  R 713 /(R 713 +R′)&gt;Vr, where resistance R′=R(R 712 )/(R+R 712 )&lt;R 712 . At first the charging capacitor C presents a short circuit and resistor R is effectively connected in parallel with resistor R 712 . The increased bias keeps the cascode currents from an abrupt surge, which in turn keeps the picture tube cathode C potentials from plunging too low. Minimum voltage at the cathodes Ca depends on the choice of the R value. Charging of the capacitor C gradually reduces the bias Vr* until it reaches the normal operating value Vr. The rate of charging of the capacitor is tau=(R+R 713 )C and it can be made to track the warming up process of the receiver or monitor by a proper choice of the value of the capacitor C. The tracking is achieved simultaneously for all three cathodes since, as noted above, the modified voltage source controls all three currents. At the end of the warm up process the receiver or monitor operates as if the resistor R and capacitor C arrangement does not exist because the charged capacitor acts as an open circuit with respect to DC potentials. 
     The inventive kine driver arrangement provides substantial benefits in that the focus flutter control circuit elements affect the kine driver bias only when needed at turn-on during warm-up of the receiver or monitor. The duration of the circuit&#39;s operation is determined by the choice of the time constant of the resistor R and capacitor C in the base of the reference transistor. The bias of the cascode amplifiers can be set at any needed level simply by proper choice of the resistor R and capacitor C series. The circuit modification is simpler, less expensive, and requires less components taking up less physical space than the prior focus flutter control circuits. Also, the resistor R and capacitor C circuit addition does not intrude on any of the basic TV circuit&#39;s operating parameters as it automatically ceases to affect bias of the cascode amplifiers after a few initial seconds of the warm-up period of the TV receiver or monitor. 
     An additional benefit of the inventive circuit also prevents the appearance of colored, usually red, fringes on the vertical lines, known as “red bleeding, by preventing the kine drivers from going into deep saturation in the first few seconds after the TV receiver/monitor is turned on. The circuit modification to incorporate the invention can be implemented without difficulty at a cost of less than two cents.