Consumer Electronics (BEC654B)

Module-3
Subject: Consumer Electronics
Subject Code: BEC654B
Faculty: Dr. Mehaboob Mujawar

Module 3
Color Television

3.1 Introduction

It is always more pleasing to view a scene in its natural color in comparison with viewing the same scene in
its black and white version. The television transmission and reception started with monochrome, research and
development in solid state devices prompted the advent of color television. At present color TV cameras, VCR
and TV receivers are available at reasonable cost.

3.2 Light Energy

Light is one form of electrical energy. Its two features are intensity and color. The different objects that an eye
can see are focused by the eye lens on the retina of the eye. The retina is connected to the optical center of the
brain by optical nerve.

The light sensitive organs of the eye consist of rods and cones. Sensation of light brightness is caught by the
rods which enables to view the objects in different shades of grey with black on one end and white at the other
end. The cones of the eye are sensitive to color. The cones are in three groups. One group of cone perceives
red, the second group perceives blue and the third group perceives green.

3.3 Primary Colors

Red, Blue and Green are the primary colors and they are called so because all other colors can be obtained by
mixing these primary colors in suitable proportions. The spectrum of wavelength visible to human eye ranges
from 400 nanometers to 700 nanometers. The optical nerve of the eye mixes the different color perceptions so
that the color of the object can be seen. White is the combination of these primary color in equal brightness.

3.4 Tristimulus Values

The commission international Eclariage Illumination (CIE) standardised the different color combinations. The
primary colors are red, green and blue. The three-color component values of the different colors are called

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tristimulus values. Natural white has 30% red, 59% green and 11% blue. Thus, one lumen of white light = 0.3
lumen of red +0.59 lumen of green + 0.11 lumen of blue. The brightness of different colors is represented with
respect to that of white. When brightness of three primary colors is zero, the result is black. If 0.2 lumen of
each of primary colors are mixed, we get dark grey.

0.2 x 0.3 + 0.2 x 0.59 + 0.2 x 0.11 = 0.06 +0.118 +0.022

Red Green Blue = 0.2 lumen dark grey

3.5 Trichromatic Coefficients, Color Triangle

The three primary colors are added in different proportions of 0.59, 0.3 and 0.11 to give white color. These
values are very inconvenient and hence trichromatic units are considered. In Trichromatic units all three
primary colors are added in equal amount to yield white color. The trichromatic units of white consist of 1/3
T unit of each green, red and blue. The trichromatic coefficients x, y, z can be represented in terms of
tristimulus value x’, y’, z’ as under

𝑥'
𝑥= (3.1)
𝑥' + 𝑦' + 𝑧' .............................

Adding the above three equations

As the sum of trichromatic coefficients is 1, it is necessary to find only two of them.

If x and y can be found then z = 1 – x- y.
The T coefficients can be represented by a triangle called color triangle shown in Fig 3.1. In this triangle red
is shown on x-axis, green on the y-axis and blue on the x-axis. Since x+y+z =1 , the third axis need not be
shown. The extremity of each axis represents 1. Therefore the x,y,z coordinates of red color are 1,0,0
coordinates for green are 1,0,0 and for blue 0,0,1. Using these x,y,z coordinates, the three coordinates for
secondary colors can be found

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Eg : for magenta x =0.5 , y =0 and z =1-0.5 = 0.5

For yellow x = 0.5, y= 0.5 and z =0
For cyan x =0, y =0.5 and z =0.5

For white the x,y, z coordinates are 0.33 each

Fig 3.1 Color Triangle

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Mixing of Colors

Red, Green and Blue are primary colors. When they are mixed, we get secondary colors. Mixing is done in
two ways a) Additive Mixing b) Subtractive Mixing

A) Additive Mixing

Additive color mixing involves combining different colored lights, with the primary colors being red, green,
and blue (RGB), which when mixed together create a wide range of colors, including white when all are
combined equally.

Red, Green and Blue mixed in equal intensities give rise to white. Mixing of red and green in equal intensities
gives yellow color. Thus

Red+ Blue +Green = White

Red + Green = Yellow Blue
+Green = Cyan
Red+ Blue = Magenta

When the intensities of primary colours being mixed are different, we still get some other colours. Fig
3.2 illustrates additive mixing of colours. Each circle represents one primary colour.

Fig 3.2 Additive Mixing of Colors

B) Subtractive Mixing

Subtractive colour mixing involves the absorption and selective transmission or reflection of light. When an
object subtracts a colour from the incident light, subtractive mixing takes place. The colour seen, in that case,
will be the colour of the object. When white light is incident on a blue object, the object absorbs green and red

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components of white light and we see the blue colour. Fig 3.3 shows the subtractive mixing of colours.

Fig 3.3 Subtractive Mixing of Colours

3.6 Grassman’s LAW

The algebraic relationship defining mixing of primary colours is known as Grassman’s law. Eye views the
additive effect of three colours. Eye cannot distinguish between the different components but sees only the
resultant.

0.59G +0.3 R+0.11B =Y

Where G means green, R means red, B means blue and Y is the resultant. The resultant Y is called luminance.
Thus, eye gives a response which depends on algebraic sum of the three primary colours.

3.7 Colour Specifications

A colour is completely specified by the following three terms

A) Hue:

• It is the actual colour seen by the eye. Red, Green, Blue, Yellow etc represent different hues in spectrum
of colours.
• It is the result of the effect produced on the eye by wavelengths of that colour.

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• By mixing two or more colours many hues can be reproduced.

B) Luminance or Brightness

• It is the total amount of light intensity or light energy received by the eye.
• It is expressed in lumens
• It is seen that certain colours appear brighter than others which is because of brightness

C) Saturation

• Saturation refers to the intensity or purity of a color, with highly saturated colors appearing vibrant and
intense, while desaturated colors appear muted or gray.
• It is seen that brightness is the property of white light and color light whereas saturation is an attribute
of colour light.

D) Colour Signal

• The three primary colours blue, green and red produced by the three camera tubes are used to produce
colour signal.
• If these colour signals are transmitted directly, there will not be proper compatibility with monochrome
television receivers.
• Hence the colour signals are combined to form luminance and chrominance signal.

E) Luminance Signal

• The signal is obtained by mixing the three colors red, green, blue in proportion of 30%,59% and 11 %.
This mixed signal is called luminance signal and is denoted by Y
• The above proportions have been selected keeping in view the sensitivity of eye to these colours
• For other colours the luminance signal Y is the sum of luminance contribution of the primary colour

F) Chrominance Signal

It is also Called C-signal. The chrominance signal (also called chroma) carries the color information (hue
and saturation), separate from the luminance signal (luma), which represents brightness. Y signal has to be
transmitted for compatibility with the black and white receiver. Instead of transmitting all the three R, G B
(in addition to Y) two difference signals R-Y and B-Y are sent. G-Y is not selected for transmission as G is
generally the largest amplitude colour and G-Y is the smallest. Therefore G-Y is more vulnerable to noise
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interference than R-Y and B-Y.

When the scene being telecast is free of any colour, which means only when luminance and grey shades are
transmitted, colour difference signals become zero. On grey shades R,G,B signals from camera tubes are
less than 1 but are equal and hence colour difference signals are zero. For colour scenes R,G,B are not equal
and hence finite colour difference signals exist.

G) Generation of Y and Colour Difference Signals

Fig 3.4 Generation of Y, R-Y and B-Y colour signals

The three camera tubes give VR, VG and VB as outputs. These three are added in proportion of 30%, 59%
and 11% by resistance R1, R2 and R3 to give Y signal. In order to avoid cross talk, the resistance Rc is kept

small. Therefore, the Y signal is amplified by an amplifier. Then Y signal is inverted to give -Y signal which
is added to R and B signals to give R-Y and B-Y signals.

3.8 Bandwidth for colour signal transmission

Y signals is transmitted with full frequency bandwidth of 5MHz for maximum horizontal details in
monochrome. Since the eye cannot recognise the colours of objects below a finite size. It is not necessary to
transmit any colour information which lies above 1.5 MHz. For very fine colour details produced by
frequencies in the range of 1.5MHz to 5MHz every person is colour blind. Very very small pixel areas are
interpreted as luminance information with only grey shades. For some complex colours which are a
combination of all the three primary colours, human eye can perceive only large pixels which produce video
frequencies below 0.5 MHz. For relatively less complex colours which are combination of only two primary
colours, eye can perceive pretty fine pixels which produce video frequencies between 0.5MHz and 1.3MHz.
Therefore, the maximum bandwidth necessary for colour signal transmission is ± 1.5MHz

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3.9 Chromaticity Diagram

Colour is specified by Hue, Luminance and Saturation. These three specifications of colour can be represented
graphically by chromaticity diagram which is three dimensional. In x-y plane the diagram looks like a horse
shoe shaped triangle. Both spectral and non-spectral colours can be depicted on this diagram as shown in Fig
3.5 (a)

Fig 3.5 (a) Chromaticity Diagram (a) Hue and Saturation along x-y axis

Fig 3.5 (b) Pyramid representing brightness

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White appears inside the curve, the corners represent the three primary colours red, green and blue. Luminance
is shown on the z-axis the diagram looks like a pyramid Fig 3.5 (b). Brightness is maximum at the base of
pyramid and minimum at the vertex. Thus, vertex represents black. As we move from base to vertex of the
pyramid the brightness changes from maximum to minimum. Chromaticity diagram can be used to determine
the result of additive mixing of colours graphically.

3.10 Spectral and Non-Spectral Colours

Three corners of the chromaticity diagram represent the three primary colours red, blue and green. Colours
along the perimeter are pure saturated colours and are called spectral colours. As we move from the perimeter
towards the centre the colours become less saturated. White is at centre point having coordinates x=0.31 and
y=0.32, this indicates pure white. Other white colors such as sunlight, standard white etc are around the point
indicating pure white. Purple colours which lie along the base line are called non-spectral colors.

3.11 Colour Circle

The triangular chromaticity diagram can be transformed into colour circle shown in the Fig 3.6 below. Red,
Green and Blue are radial vectors spaced 120 degrees from each other. The distance from centre to the
circumference represents saturation. The V reference axis is R-Y. Hue is represented by phase angle with
respect to V reference. If one end of the vector represents one primary colour, the other end will give the
complementary colour. Yellow is complementary to bule and Magenta is complementary to green.

Fig 3.6 Colour Circle

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3.12 Digital Television (DTV) and High-Definition Television (HDTV)

Black and white television services were started in UK in 1936 and in USA in 1939. In early fifties standard
for colour TV were set. Now the era of digital television has started. The initial signal and the final reception
are both analog. To transmit an analog signal in digital form, the analog signal has to be digitized by a device
called encoder. At the receiver the digital signal is converted back to analog using a decoder. The present-day
TV sets can receive digital TV signals by adding a set top box.

In digital TV, there is difference between brightness and colour components. Luminance is filtered from the
chroma components. Each is sampled and digitized separately. The digital imaging standard includes
combination of picture information comprised of six profiles and four levels. Each profile consists of specific
data packets defined in the standard as B, P and I frames. Large amount of information is compressed into
data packets by removing redundant information. The B, P, I frame are bidirectional, predictive picture,

predictive coded picture and infra coded pictures respectively. In digital TV, the video signal consists of about
2 million pixels which is about 6 times that in analog systems. Progressive scanning provides a temporal
resolution of 60 full frames per second. The motion seen will be smooth enough for sports fans and computer
graphic experts. Fig 3.7 shows a simple block diagram of digital television (HDTV). A television must
interface the different source input formats including films, magnetic and optical media etc. The different
video source formats are covered using multiple transmission formats. The video and audio signals are
compressed by respective encoders. The output of encoders is a string of binary digits representing the video
and audio signal. A multiplexer combines video, audio and other data. All this information is fed to modulator
for transmission over a VHF/UHF channel by transmitter. At the receiver end, the signal is demodulated and
turned back into string of binary digits. These binary digits are demultiplexed into video, audio and other data.
Decoders convert these bits into analog video, audio and other data and feed to the receiver.

Fig 3.7 Block Diagram of Digital Television

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Applications and uses of DTV/HDTV include live and recorded sound, sports, movies, news, comedies, business
promotion etc

The digital channels with their low interference characteristics can be packed into less bandwidth and thus the number
of channels can be increased.

3.13 Recent Advances in TV Technology

The improvements and innovations have continued past the introduction of black and white TV, Colour TV
etc and are still continuing even today to provide better viewing facilities to public.

A) LCD TV (Liquid Crystal Display)

LCD TV has slim design and flat viewing surface. Allows large screen, wide viewing angle and high-quality
picture. Most of the LCD TVs can be mounted on wall and double up as TV and personal computer. A high
source behind the panel shines light through LCD display. A white diffusive panel behind LCD reflects and
scatters the light evenly. It consists of two polarizing transparent panels with liquid crystal solution sandwiched
between the panels. The screens front layer of glass is etched on the inside surface in a grid pattern to form a
template for the layer of liquid crystals. These liquid crystals are rod shaped molecules that bend light in
response to electric current as a result of which the crystals align so that light cannot pass. Each crystal acts as
a shutter either allowing light or blocking light. The pattern of dark and transparent crystals form the image.

LCD TV uses advanced LCD called active-matrix LCD. The design is based on TFT (Thin film
Transistors) which are basically tiny switching transistors and capacitors arranged in a matrix. They rapidly
switch LCD pixels on and off. LCD TV is energy efficient and uses 60 % less power than older TV.

B) LED TV

LED TV uses light emitting diodes. Thus, it is a flat panel display using LED which means thinner panel and
lower power consumption. Heat dissipation is better, display is very bright and contrast colour is also better.
LED TV can be full array LED or Dynamic local dimming LED. The dynamic local dimming control allows
dimming of some area’s darkness for better contrast.

Comparison of LED and LCD TV

1. LED TV has better dynamic control

2. LED TV is extremely thin
3. LED TV causes less environmental pollution at the time of disposal
4. LED TV uses 20-30% less power than LCD TV
5. LED TV is more reliable than LCD TV
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6. LED TV us more expensive than LCD TV

LED TV applies pulse width modulation to supply current for dimming control. Thus, lights can be switched
on and off faster than what eye can perceive.

C) Plasma TV

Plasma TV uses tiny cells containing electrically charged ionized gas similar to that existing in fluorescent
lamp. One panel has millions of tiny cells arranged between two panels of glass. These cells hold mixture of
noble gases and small amount of mercury. When mercury is vaporised, the electric field causes plasma. Some
electrons strike mercury particles and the mercury participles shed energy so as to produce ultra violet plasma.
The plasma strikes phosphor painted on the inside of the cells. Thus, energy is converted to visible light.
Depending on the type of phosphor different colours are produced. Plasma display are very bright and have
wider colour gamut. These can be produced in very big sizes. Display panel is thin, less than 6cm thickness,
so that the total thickness is less than 10 cm.

Plasma TVs use more power. Plasma screen is made of glass which can reflect more light than LCD screen.

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