4th Edition

Basic TV Technology Digital and Analog

By Robert L Hartwig Copyright 2005
    204 Pages
    by Routledge

    204 Pages
    by Routledge

    Basic TV Technology is the essential basic guide to the fundamentals underlying all television and video systems, written for students and nontechnical professionals. You don't need to have a math or science background in order to understand this explanation of how the principal pieces of equipment work, what their functions are, and how they are integrated to form a complex video system. An understanding of this material will be necessary for you to succeed in the real world, where one person often has to perform many different roles and functions within a production. Armed with some basic technical background information, you'll be more effective at figuring out new applications and at problem-solving.

    The fourth edition of Basic TV Technology has been updated to reflect the industry shift to digital video and includes new information on compression, television standards, LCD displays, HD, and equipment.

    This book features the accessible Media Manual format, in which every topic is covered in two pages: one of explanatory text and one of figures.

    Need more information on TV technologies, go to: http://www.insightmedia.info/newsletters.php

    CONTENTS

    Introduction

    Acknowledgements

    The Atom & Electricity
    The parts of the atom
    The flow of electrons through metals

    Basic Circuits
    Direct current (DC)
    Alternating current (AC)

    Units of Measurement (1)
    Voltage
    Current
    Power
    Resistance and impedance
    Mathematical symbols and formulas

    Units of Measurement (2)
    Frequency
    AC frequency
    Capacitance

    Fields (Induction) and Noise
    Induction
    Noise
    Signal-to-noise ratio

    Abbreviations
    Kilo
    Mega
    Giga
    milli
    micro
    nano
    Conversions

    Cathode Ray Tubes (CRTs)
    Interlace Scanning
    Progressive Scanning

    Need for interlace scanning

    Blanking
    Horizontal blanking
    Vertical blanking

    Waveform Display


    Charge Coupled Devices
    CCD layout and operation
    Broadcast-quality requirements

    An Introduction to Digital (1)
    What is digital?
    What Computers do

    An Introduction to Digital (2)
    Bits & Bytes (binary numbering system)

    Analog and Digital
    A to D conversion
    Sampling and quantizing
    D to A conversion

    Color system
    Color verses black and white
    Additive and subtractive colors
    Complementary colors


    How the Eye Sees Light (1)
    Color temperature

    How the Eye Sees Light (2)
    Filters
    Black Balance
    White balance

    Digital Encoding Ratios
    From black and white to color
    Digital responses to this situation

    CODECs

    Composite Encoding
    Home video cameras

    Color CRTs
    Convergence

    Plasma Display Screens
    How it works

    LCD Screens

    Analog Sync Generators

    Analog Sync Generator Signals (1)
    Drive pulses
    Blanking pulses
    Sync pulses
    Color burst

    Analog Sync Generator Signals (2)
    Combining sync with video

    Vectorscope
    Reading the vectorscope
    Color bar display

    PAL

    Analog Sync Flow Diagrams (1)
    Distribution amplifiers

    Camera Flow Diagram

    Combining Sync and Camera Flow Diagrams
    Out-of-phase cameras
    Timing the system

    Video Switchers
    Vertical interval switchers
    Component switchers
    Digital Switchers
    Special effects

    Switcher Applications
    Production and editing switchers
    On-air switchers
    Routing switchers

    Production Switcher Flow Diagram
    Switcher buses
    Switcher outputs

    Switcher Transitions and Special Effects
    Wipes

    Special Effects Keys--Luminance Keys
    Linear or transparent keys

    Special Effects Keys--Chroma Keys

    Composite Versus Component Video
    Problems of composite video
    Component video
    Y/C

    Color Difference Component Video

    Digital Special Effects
    Compressions
    Pushes
    Flips
    Rotations
    Other special effects

    Digital Interpolation
    Manipulation
    Interpolation

    Analog Videotape Recording Technology
    Recorders
    Videotape
    Recording heads

    Analog Video Recording Standards & Formats
    Audio versus video recording
    Helical video recording

    Other Tracks and Lockup (1)
    Sound and control tracks
    VTR Lockup
    Capstan lock

    Other Tracks and Lockup (2)
    Vertical lock
    Frame lock
    Horizontal lock

    Time Base Error

    External Causes of Time Base Error
    Gyroscopic time base error

    Time Base Error Correction

    Time Base Correctors (1)
    What a time base corrector does
    How a TBC works
    Horizontal sync as a clock

    Time Base Correctors (2)
    D-to-A conversion
    Video proc amp
    Window of correction

    Larger Analog Sync Problems & Solutions
    Nonsynchronous sources
    Frame synchronizer

    Other Advantages of TBCs & Frame Synchronizers
    Dynamic tracking heads
    Freeze frames
    TBCs, VTRs, and production

    Digital Videotape Recorders
    DV video

    Digital Video Servers
    Problems of videotape
    Video servers

    Disc Based Recorders

    Editing Analog Videotape
    Physical cutting and splicing
    Electronic editing

    The Editing Process (1)

    The Editing Process (2)

    Types of Edits 117
    Assemble edits
    Insert edits

    Editing Methods-Manual editing

    Editing Methods-Control track counters

    SMPTE Time Code Editing

    Off-Line and On-Line Editing
    Off-line editing
    On-line editing

    Editing by Computers
    Drop frame/non-drop frame editing

    Problems of Traditional Editing

    Non Linear Editing

    Video Compression

    Spatial Compression
    Entrophy reduction
    Entrophy encoding

    Temporal Compression

    MPEG Compression Standard

    Computer Graphics for Video
    Originating computer graphics
    Interface between people and machines

    Character Generators

    Creating Imagery & Effects
    Computer-generated imagery (CGI)
    Digital Video effects


    The Digital Studio

    Open Architecture vs. Dedicated Equipment

    Drawbacks of Open Architecture Equipment

    High-Definition TV
    Production HDTV standards versus broadcast HDTV standards

    ATSC High Definition Broadcast Standard

    Standard Definition Digital Television (SDTV)

    Audio For Video
    The early years
    Mono and stereo

    Surround Sound
    5.1 Stereo

    Professional and Consumer Audio
    Impedance
    Balanced and unbalanced audio

    Combining Audio Components
    Line and mic levels
    Analog and digital
    Professional and consumer equipment

    Microphones, Mixers, and Loudspeakers
    Microphones
    Mixers
    Loudspeakers


    Sound Recording for Video
    DAT
    Solid State Recorders

    Digital Audio Workstations

    Further Reading

    Glossary

    Biography

    Robert Lee Hartwig was born and raised in a small northern California farming town. At the age of 13, his parents bought an 8mm movie camera. He spent the next couple of years fooling around with animation and teaching himself simple film editing. He spent his teenage summers on the family farm. He attended Chico State University where, quite by accident, he got involved in the college radio station. While involved in college radio, he served as Business Manager of the station and was appointed to be the student manager of the station. At the same time, the school was developing a Mass Communications Degree program, which he transferred to as soon as the program opened. While in school, he worked at both AM and FM radio stations as an on-air announcer. He still worked summers on the farm because the 80 - 100 hour weeks made a lot more money for him. He was a member of the first graduating class in Mass Communications from Chico State where the faculty awarded him the Leadership Merit Award upon graduation.


    He went to San Diego State University for his Master's Degree in Radio and Television. Coming from a rural background, living in a city the size of San Diego drove him nuts. The culture shock was the greatest challenge to completing the MA. While working on the MA, he also worked for the San Diego Area Instructional Television Authority, was a Television Specialist for the Adult Division of the San Diego Community College District, worked as a photographer on a special project for the San Diego Community College Association, and taught a night class in TV Production for the Adult Division of the San Diego Community College District. This teaching experience gave him the teaching bug. He was granted his MA in December of 1973.

    He moved back to northern California and got a part-time teaching job in the Mass Communications Department at Butte Community College in Oroville, CA. While at Butte he also produced and directed video programs for t

    "I read this book to refresh my basic grasp of television technology concepts, and for that purpose it worked perfectly. Organized into small sections which build slowly from simple ideas (electricity basics) to complex tools (video servers). The book also includes a useful list of further reading material and a reference glossary." -- An Amazon Reviewer