Chapter 5
Fundamental Concepts in Video
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What is Video?
• Video is a combination of image and audio.
• Video is a sequence of images viewed at a certain fixed rate (attached to audio) to give us a
sense of motion .
• A single image is called frame and video is a series of frames.
• The rate at which the frames are projected is between 24 and 30 frames per second (fps).
• An image just like conventional images is modeled as a matrix of pixels.
• Each screen-full of video is made up of thousands of pixels.
• A pixel is the smallest unit of an image. A pixel can display only one color at a time.
• Your television has 720 vertical lines of pixels (from left to right) and 486 rows of pixels
(top to bottom).
• A total of 349,920 pixels (720 x 486) for a single frame.
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Con’t…
• There are two types of video:
• Analog Video
• Digital Video
1. Analog Video
Analog video is represented as a continuous (time varying) signal.
Each frame is represented by a fluctuating voltage [Link] is known as an analogue
waveform. One of the earliest formats for this was composite video.
Quality loss is also possible from one generation to another. This type of loss is like
photocopying, in which a copy of a copy is never as good as the original.
In analog video recording, the camera reads the topmost line from left to right, producing a
series of electrical signals that corresponds to the lights and shadows along that line.
Distortion of images and noise are common problems for analog video.
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2. Digital Video
• Digital video is represented as a sequence of digital images and uses component
video
• Digital technology is based on images represented in the form of bits.
• A digital video signal is actually a pattern of 1's and 0's that represent the video
image.
• The image is an exact copy of the original.
• A computer is the most common form of digital technology.
• The limitations of analog video led to the birth of digital video.
• Digital video is just a digital representation of the analogue video signal.
• Unlike analogue video that degrades in quality from one generation to the next, digital video
does not degrade.
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Con’t…
• The advantages of digital representation for video are many. For example:
(a) Video can be stored on digital devices or in memory, ready to be processed (noise
removal, cut and paste, etc.), and integrated to various multimedia applications;
(b) Direct access is possible, which makes nonlinear video editing achievable as a
simple, rather than a complex, task;
(c) Repeated recording does not degrade image quality;
(d) Ease of encryption and better tolerance to channel noise.
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Displaying Video
• There are two ways of displaying video on screen:
Progressive scan
Interlaced scan
Progressive Scan
• A progressive, or non interlaced, picture is painted on the screen by scanning all of the
horizontal lines of the picture in one pass from the top to the bottom.
• Progressive scan updates all the lines on the screen at the same time, 60 times every second.
• This is known as progressive scanning.
• Traces through a complete picture (a frame) row-wise for each time interval.
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Interlaced Scan
• In TV, and in some monitors and multimedia standards as well, another system, called
“interlaced” scanning is used.
• Interlaced scanning is where each picture, referred to as a frame, is divided into two separate
sub-pictures, referred to as fields.
a) The odd-numbered lines are traced first, and then the even-numbered lines are traced.
This results in “odd” and “even” fields — two fields make up one frame.
b) In fact, the odd lines (starting from 1) end up at the middle of a line at the end of the odd
field, and the even scan starts at a half-way point.
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Con’t…
• Here is a comparison of computer and television display.
Computer Television
Scans 480 horizontal lines from Scans 625, 525 horizontal lines
top to bottom
Scan each line progressively Scan line using interlacing system
Scan full frame at a rate of Scan 25-30 HZ for full time
typically 66.67 HZ or higher
Use RGB color model Uses limited color palette and
restricted luminance (lightness or
darkness)
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Types of video signals
• There are three types of video signals:
• Component Video
• Composite Video
• S-video
1. Component video
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2. Composite Video
• Composite analog video has all its components (brightness, color, synchronization
information, etc.) combined into one signal.
• Chrominance is a composite of two color components (I and Q, or U and V).
• Due to the compositing (or combining) of the video components, the quality of composite
video is marginal at best.
• The results are color bleeding, low clarity and high generational loss.
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3. S-Video
A compromise between component analog video and the composite video.
Compared to a Composite video connection S-Video simply carries more
information to the TV thus producing a slightly better picture than composite.
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Video Broadcasting (TV) Standards
Four broadcast (analog television systems) and video standards and recording
formats commonly used around the world are:
NTSC
PAL
SECAM
HDTV
Each system is based on a different standard that defines the way information is
encoded to produce the electronic signal that ultimately creates a television
picture.
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NTSC (National Television System Committee)
• Mostly used in North America and Japan
• It uses the familiar 4:3 aspect ratio
• The ratio of picture width to its height
• A single frame of video 525 horizontal scan lines
• Follows the interlaced scanning system,
• Each frame has two fields, with 262.5 lines/field.
Higher Frame Rate Use of 30 frames per second
Uses 20 lines at the beginning of every field for Vertical retrace control
leaving 485 lines per frame
Uses YIQ Color Model
Uses a bandwidth of 6MHz
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PAL (Phase Alternating Line)
• Widely used in Western Europe, China, India, and many other parts of the world.
• Uses 625 scan lines per frame, at 25 frames/second, with a 4:3 aspect ratio and interlaced
fields
• Uses the YUV color model and also Used in composite video.
• Uses a bandwidth of 8 MHz
SECAM (System Electronic Color Avec Memory)
The third major broadcast TV standard and very similar to PAL
Uses 625 scan lines per frame, at 25 frames per second, with a 4:3 aspect ratio and
interlaced fields.
SECAM differs from NTSC and PAL color systems in its basic technology and broadcast
method. They differ slightly in their color coding scheme
Uses YUV color model
only one of the U or V signals will be sent on each scan line.
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HDTV(High Definition TV)
High-Definition television (HDTV) means broadcast of television signals with a
higher resolution than traditional formats (NTSC, SECAM, PAL) allow.
Except for early analog formats in Europe and Japan, HDTV is broadcasted
digitally, and therefore its introduction sometimes coincides with the introduction
of digital television (DTV).
The main thrust of HDTV (High Definition TV) is not to increase the definition
in each unit area, but rather to increase the visual field especially in its width.
Modern plasma television uses this.
It consists of 720-1080 lines and higher number of pixels (as many as 1920
pixels).
HDTV moves toward progressive (non-interlaced) scan.
HDTV has a much wider aspect ratio of 16:9 instead of 4:3.
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Video File Formats
File formats in the PC platform are indicated by the 3 letter filename extension.
.mov = QuickTime Movie Format
.avi = Windows movie format
.mpg = MPEG file format
.mp4 = MPEG-4 Video File
.flv = flash video file
.rm = Real Media File
.3gp = 3GPP multimedia File (used in mobile phones)
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Four Factors of Digital Video
• With digital video, four factors have to be kept in mind. These are:
• Frame rate: the video is made up of 30 (or 24) pictures or frames for every
second of video.
• Spatial Resolution: Color resolution refers to the number of colors displayed
on the screen at one time.
• Color Resolution: How big is the picture?
• Image Quality: is most important factor.
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