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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jul 18, 2024 • Article History Table of ContentsAsk the Chatbot a Question
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At the input terminals of the receiver, the picture and sound signals are at their weakest, so particular care must be taken to control noise at this point. The first circuit in the receiver is a radio-frequency amplifier, particularly designed for low-noise amplification. The channel-switching mechanism ( tuner) of the receiver connects this amplifier to one of several individual circuits, each circuit tuned to its respective channel. The amplifier magnifies the voltages of the incoming picture and sound carriers and their side bands in the desired channel by about 10 times, and it discriminates by a like amount against the transmissions of stations on other channels.
From the radio-frequency amplifier, the signals are passed to a superheterodyne mixer that transposes the frequencies of the sound and picture carriers to values better suited to subsequent amplification processes. The transposed frequencies, known as intermediate frequencies, remain the same no matter what channel the receiver is tuned to. In typical receivers they are located in the band from 41 to 47 megahertz. Since the tuning of the intermediate-frequency amplifiers need not be changed as the channel is switched, they can be adjusted for maximum performance in this frequency range. Two to four stages of such amplification are used in tandem, increasing the voltage of the picture and sound carriers by a maximum of 25 to 35 times per stage, representing an overall maximum amplification on the order of 10,000 times. The amplification of these intermediate-frequency stages is automatically adjusted, by a process known as automatic gain control, in accordance with the strength of the signal, full amplification being accorded to a weak signal and less to a strong signal. After passage through the intermediate amplifiers, the sound and picture carriers and their side bands reach a relatively fixed level of about one volt, whereas the signal levels applied to the antenna terminals may vary, depending on the distance of the station and other factors, from a few millionths to a few tenths of a volt. Intermediate-frequency amplifiers are especially designed to preserve the chrominance subcarrier during its passage through these stages.
From the last intermediate amplifier stage, the carriers and side bands are passed to another circuit, known as the video detector. From the detector output, an averaging circuit or filter then forms (1) a picture signal, which is a close replica of the picture signal produced by the camera and synchronizing generator in the transmitter, and (2) a frequency-modulated sound signal. At this point the picture and sound signals are separated. The sound signal is passed through a sound intermediate amplifier and frequency detector (discriminator, or ratio detector) that converts the frequency modulation back to an audio signal current. This current is passed through one or two additional audio-frequency amplifier stages to the loudspeaker (see the figure ).
The video detector develops the luminance component of the picture signal and applies it through video amplifiers simultaneously to all three electron guns of the colour picture tube. This part of the signal thereby activates all three primary-colour images, simultaneously and identically, in the fixed proportion needed to produce white light. When tuned to monochrome signals, the colour receiver produces a black-and-white image by means of this mechanism, the chrominance component being absent. The separation of the luminance information from the composite picture signal can be accomplished through the use of a comb filter, so called because a graph of its frequency response looks like the teeth of a comb. This comb filter is precisely tuned to pass only the harmonic structure of the luminance signal and to exclude the chrominance signal. The use of a comb filter preserves the higher-frequency spatial detail of the luminance signal.
When the receiver is tuned to a colour signal, the chrominance subcarrier component appears in the output of the video detector, and it is thereupon operated on in circuits that ultimately recover the primary-colour signals originally produced by the colour camera. Recovery of the primary-colour signals starts in the synchronous detector, where the synchronizing signals are passed through circuits that separate the horizontal and vertical synchronizing pulses. The pulses are then passed, respectively, to the horizontal and vertical deflection generators, which produce the currents that flow through the electromagnetic coils in the picture tube, causing the scanning spot to be deflected across the viewing screen in the standard scanning pattern. (See the section Picture tubes.)
The synchronous detector is followed by circuits that perform the inverse operations of the addition and subtraction circuits at the transmitter. The end result of this manipulation is the production of three colour-difference signals that represent, respectively, the difference between the luminance signal (already applied to all three electron guns of the picture tube) and the primary-colour signals. Each colour-difference signal reduces the strength of the corresponding electron beam to change the white light, which would otherwise be produced, to the intended colour for each point in the scanning line. The net control signal applied to each electron gun bears a direct correspondence to the primary-colour signal derived from the respective camera sensor at the studio. In this manner, the three primary-colour signals are transmitted as though three separate channels had been used.
In addition to the amplifiers, detectors, and deflection generators described above, a television receiver contains two power-converting circuits. One of these (the low-voltage power supply) converts alternating current from the power line into direct current needed for the circuits; the other (high-voltage power supply) produces the high voltage, typically 15,000 to 20,000 volts, needed to create the scanning spot in the picture tube.
Receivers are commonly provided with manual controls for adjustment of the picture by the viewer. These controls are (1) the channel switch, which connects the required circuits to the radio-frequency amplifier and superheterodyne mixer to amplify and convert the sound and picture carriers of the desired channel; (2) a fine-tuning control, which precisely adjusts the superheterodyne mixer so that the response of the tuner is exactly centred on the channel in use; (3) a contrast control, which adjusts the voltage level reached by the picture signal in the video amplifiers, producing a picture having more or less contrast (greater or less range between the blacks and whites of the image); (4) a brightness control, which adjusts the average amount of current taken by the picture tube from the high-voltage power supply, thus varying the overall brightness of the picture; (5) a horizontal-hold control, which adjusts the horizontal deflection generator so that it conforms exactly to the control of the horizontal synchronizing impulses; (6) a vertical-hold control, which performs the same function for the vertical deflection generator; (7) a hue (or “tint”) control, which shifts all the hues in the reproduced image; and (8) a saturation (or “colour”) control, which adjusts the magnitudes of the colour-difference signals applied to the electron guns of the picture tube. If the saturation control is turned to the “off” position, no colour difference action will occur and the reproduction will appear in black and white. As the saturation control is advanced, the colour differences become more accentuated, and the colours become progressively more vivid.
Since the late 1960s, colour television receivers have employed a system known as “ automatic hue control.” In this system, the viewer makes an initial manual adjustment of the hue control to produce the preferred flesh tones. Thereafter, the hue control circuit automatically maintains the preselected ratio of the primary colours corresponding to the viewer’s choice. Thus, the most critical aspect of the colour rendition, the appearance of the faces of the performers, is prevented from changing when cameras are switched from scene to scene or when the receiver is tuned from one broadcast to another. Another enhancement is a single touch-button control that sets the fine tuning and also adjusts the hue, saturation, contrast, and brightness to preset ranges. These automatic adjustments override the settings of the corresponding separate controls, which then function over narrow ranges only. Such refinements permit reception of acceptable quality by viewers who might otherwise be confused by the many maladjustments possible when ordinary manual controls are used.
Modern remote controls, employing infrared radiation to send signals to the receiver, are descended from earlier models of the 1950s and ’60s that used electric wire, visible light, or ultrasound to control the power, channel selection, and audio volume. Today’s television sets have no knobs; instead, their features are controlled through on-screen displays of parameters that are adjusted by the remote control.
