A Multi-Frame Rate, Compression-Free, Video Recorder for Universal DTV Mastering in High Resolution

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY
Doc Type: Conference Paper
Content Type: Original Research
Volume: 1999, No. 7, pp. 397–408
Abstract: The advent of the Digital Television (DTV) broadcasting era offers the prospect of higher-quality delivery of content through more access channels to the home, but it could also mean greater complexity in production and post-production. DTV involves the continuing support of legacy television formats such as PAL and NTSC in programme production for many years, while at the same time expanding the capacity and capability of facilities to accommodate the new demands of the HDTV options that are also available within DTV standards. Several initiatives are helping to tackle this challenge. These include the work on the Common Image Format in the ITU-R and the proposal within the SMPTE for a 24-frame progressive variant on existing HDTV standards to make a mastering format for production that can be universal and generic to all world DTV and legacy TV formats, just as its inspirational force, 24-frame motion picture film, is universal and generic. A key element needed to support such a universal mastering format has so far been missing. This is a video tape recorder, of sufficient internal bandwidth to perform the basic functions expected of a classic post-production VTR, but at high definition bit rates, and without recourse to compression. Not only that, but it is equally important that the machine be adaptable in frame rate, to cover both universal mastering and international distribution formats for DTV. This paper therefore describes a new video tape recorder shown at the recent NAB convention in Las Vegas that satisfies these requirements. Adherence to important SMPTE standards is also covered, together with a development path planned for the technology that covers issues such as RGB recording and film image data recording.
Publication Date: 1999-07-01
DOI: 10.5594/M001227
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/M001227
Author(s): David J. BancroftPhilips Digital Video Systems, Film Imaging Group United Kingdom
bio
Dave Bancroft is Business & Technology Development Manager for the Film Imaging Group of Philips Digital Video Systems. Although his group is based in Weiterstadt, Germany, Dave operates out of the United Kingdom and contributes to long term projects, such as DTV production, in the United States. Dave began his career in broadcast engineering at the BBC in London, where he received his fundamental training and became an operations & maintenance engineer on outside broadcasts. He became particularly interested in video tape recording and related mechanical wonders and this led to an international odyssey which kept him away from the UK for twenty years. During this time, he worked for RCA in Germany, then began a seventeen-year stint with Ampex Corporation in Greece, the Middle East, Africa, New York and California. He joined Philips Digital Video Systems, or as it was formerly known, BTS, in 1992, with the assignment of HDTV marketing in Darmstadt, Germany. He moved his desk back to the UK in 1995 and took up his present position with Philips in 1997. Dave is a long-time member of SMPTE, where he represents Philips in several technology committees in SMPTE's standardisation efforts, and is also an International Member of SMPTE's executive Standards Committee. He is also a member of the Royal Television Society and the BKSTS in the UK.
Copyright: © 1999 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

1 Advanced Television Systems Committee Specification A-53. EXTERNAL
10 Television Standard 274M-1998, SMPTE. EXTERNAL
11 Television Standards 224M/225M/226M/227M/228M-1996, SMPTE. EXTERNAL
12 Television Standards 277M-1996 and 278M-1996, SMPTE. EXTERNAL
13 Heitmann J.K.R. , “The SMPTE D-6 Digital Recording Format,” SMPTE Advanced Television and Electronic Imaging Conference, San Francisco, February 10–11, 1995 , Proceedings PP 92–101. EXTERNAL
14 Manufactured by Philips Digital Video Systems, Weiterstadt, Germany. EXTERNAL
15 See ref. 5. EXTERNAL
16 Negative film has significant “exposure latitude;” which is generally exploited more than the latitude available in video cameras; hence during or after telecine transfer it may be necessary to expand part of the recovered density range of an over- or under-exposed negative to yield a satisfactory grey scale. This will also expand any quantising errors resulting from an insufficient number of amplitude coding levels. Where this grey scale correction is deferred (e.g. in so-called “tape-to-tape” colour correction), all equipment prior to this correction must maintain this larger dynamic range. EXTERNAL
17 “Segmented” form means that the active lines from the total progressive frame, in this case 1080, are divided into odd-numbered lines (540) in a first segment, and the remaining even-numbered lines (540) in a second segment. The segment occurrence rate is then twice the progressive frame rate. There are two differences between this form and the more familiar interlaced form. First, this mode is confined to applications where the original source prior to segmentation has been scanned with a progressive scan sensor (e.g. film); this means that the motion phase of the two segments will be the same (which is not the case with true interlaced scanning). Second, it is required that there be no additional built-in vertical response filtering (e.g. by line-averaging in the sensor), as is the case with interlaced scanning, and which is present to prevent small area flicker and aliasing in interlaced displays. This is because “segmented” signals are intended to be converted back to progressive scan at some later stage. The purpose of this segmentation is to allow easier adaptation of equipment designed originally for interlaced operation, such as VTRs, and also via the doubling of effective vertical rate (in this case from 24 Hz to 48 Hz) to allow simple monitoring with a tolerable flicker frequency. EXTERNAL
18 23.97 Hz is the frame rate that results when 24.00 Hz is shifted by the same ratio (1/1.001) as when 60.00Hz becomes 59.94 Hz (these numbers are rounded down from the exact figures). A 23.97 Hz film transfer, for example, will be performed to yield 59.94 Hz field rate transmission standard video in nominal “525/60” countries. EXTERNAL
19 See ref. 18. EXTERNAL
2 Bancroft D. J. , “Recent Advances in the Transfer and Manipulation of Film Images in the Data and HDTV Domains, SMPTE '99 Conference, Sydney, 13–16 July, 1999 . EXTERNAL
20 Television Standard 292M , “Bit-Serial Digital Interface for High-Definition Television Systems,” SMPTE . EXTERNAL
21 The clock frequency is shifted downwards for the same reason as in ref. 18. EXTERNAL
22 See ref. 20. EXTERNAL
23 See minutes of specialist joint “Time Code & Reference for 1080/24P” Ad Hoc Group meeting, as part of SMPTE S22 Systems Technology meetings, held at Tektronix, Beaverton, 9th May 1999. EXTERNAL
24 See ref. 17. EXTERNAL
25 SMPTE Television Standard 207M-1992 , “Digital Control Interface - Electrical and Mechanical Characteristics,” and SMPTE Recommended Practice RP 138–1996, “Control Message Architecture for Digital Control Interface.” . EXTERNAL
26 “Spirit DataCine Film Scanner,” Philips Digital Video Systems . EXTERNAL
27 “Specter Virtual DataCine,” Philips Digital Video Systems . EXTERNAL
28 See ref. 26. EXTERNAL
29 “DCT” = “discrete cosine transform,” a method used to change the representation of an image from the time domain to the frequency domain, where it then can be quantised on a frequency-dependent basis as the most important component of a lossy compression scheme (e.g. MPEG). The quantisation is not reversible, so is considered “lossy.” Most real-world image compression schemes use this technique, but it can be avoided if only very small average compression ratios arc required. EXTERNAL
3 A method used in 60Hz field rate countries to convert from 24 frame film to a 60 Hz television field rate. EXTERNAL
4 There is no interlacing, but there may be segmentation (see ref. 17). EXTERNAL
5 Television Standards 240M-1995 and 260M-1992, SMPTE. EXTERNAL
6 Eureka EU95 standard. EXTERNAL
7 See ref. 5. EXTERNAL
8 See ref. 6. EXTERNAL
9 74.25 MHz at a 60.00 Hz field rate and derivatives; 74.25/1.001 MHz at a 59.94 Hz field rate and its derivatives. EXTERNAL

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David J. Bancroft; A Multi-Frame Rate, Compression-Free, Video Recorder for Universal DTV Mastering in High Resolution, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( July 1999); SMPTE, 1999. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/M001227

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David J. Bancroft; A Multi-Frame Rate, Compression-Free, Video Recorder for Universal DTV Mastering in High Resolution, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( July 1999); SMPTE, 1999. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/M001227

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<span class="citation">David J. Bancroft; <cite>A Multi-Frame Rate, Compression-Free, Video Recorder for Universal DTV Mastering in High Resolution</cite>, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( July 1999); SMPTE, 1999. Available at <a href="https://doi.org/10.5594/M001227" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://doi.org/10.5594/M001227</a></span>

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David J. Bancroft; <cite id="bib-10-5594-m001227">A Multi-Frame Rate, Compression-Free, Video Recorder for Universal DTV Mastering in High Resolution</cite>, SMPTE Meetings and Conferences ( July 1999); SMPTE, 1999
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