This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No. 2004-157073 filed in Japan on May 27, 2004, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a burst frequency discrimination circuit for determining a broadcast system by determining the burst frequency of a broadcast signal for use in a picture signal process handling different types of broadcast signals such as NTSC signals and PAL signals, for example.
There are various color television broadcast systems such as NTSC and PAL. For example, the color subcarrier frequency is 3.579545 MHz in the NTSC system and 4.43361875 MHz in the PAL system. There are some regions in Europe where signals of different broadcast systems can be received, and there are products such as TV sets and VCRs that are capable of handling color television broadcast signals of different broadcast systems. A product of this type needs to be manually set to a certain broadcast system, or it needs to be provided with an automatic broadcast system determination device to automatically determine the broadcast system of the picture signal being received, so that the received signal is processed accordingly.
A method for discriminating NTSC and PAL from each other (among various color television broadcast systems) is to use the color subcarrier frequency.
A conventional broadcast system determination device of this type is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-65343, for example.
The APC circuit 111 includes: a phase detection circuit 103 for detecting the phase of the burst signal output from the ACC circuit 102 by using a signal output from a phase difference circuit 106; a low pass filter (LPF) 104 for removing high frequency components of the signal output from the phase detection circuit 103 to output a low frequency signal; a VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) 105 for controlling the oscillation frequency based on the low frequency signal output from the LPF 104; and the phase difference circuit 106 for adding a predetermined phase difference to the oscillation signal output from the VCO 105.
An operation of the conventional broadcast system determination device having such a configuration will now be described. When a Croma signal is received, the burst extracting circuit 101 extracts a burst signal therefrom and outputs the burst signal to the ACC circuit 102. The ACC circuit 102 detects the amplitude of the burst signal and controls the amplitude to a predetermined amplitude value, after which the ACC circuit 102 outputs the burst signal to the APC circuit 111. Thus, the color depth of the picture signal can be kept constant.
The APC circuit 111 performs a phase control operation so that a clock signal having the same frequency and the same phase as those of the burst signal from the ACC circuit 102 is output as an oscillation signal. First, the phase detection circuit 103 detects the phase of the burst signal output from the ACC circuit 102. The detected phase is filtered through the LPF 104, where high frequency components thereof are removed, and is output to the VCO 105. The VCO 105, being connected to the NTSC crystal oscillator 109 or to the PAL crystal oscillator 110 via the switch 108, controls the oscillation frequency of the oscillation signal output from the oscillator connected thereto according to the signal output from the LPF 104, and outputs the obtained signal to a color demodulation circuit as a reference subcarrier for color demodulation. Thus, the APC circuit 111 controls the oscillation frequency of the oscillator being selected by the switch 108 based on the burst signal from the ACC circuit 102 so that the phase error output from the phase detection circuit 103 is zero and outputs the reference subcarrier.
A burst lock ON/OFF signal S103 is output from the phase detection circuit 103 to the automatic discrimination circuit 107. The automatic discrimination circuit 107 determines whether or not the broadcast system of the input picture signal (Croma signal) coincides with that of the broadcast system determination device based on the burst lock ON/OFF signal S103. If it is determined that they coincide with each other, the position of the switch 108 is kept unchanged. If not, the automatic discrimination circuit 107 outputs a control signal to turn the switch 108 to the other side, thereby selecting the other crystal oscillator.
The method by which the automatic discrimination circuit 107 determines the broadcast system will now be described. For example, if the broadcast system of the input picture signal is the PAL system and the switch 108 is selecting the NTSC crystal oscillator 109, the APC circuit 111 is not burst-locked, whereby the burst lock ON/OFF signal S103 output from the phase detection circuit 103 indicates an OFF state. Therefore, the automatic discrimination circuit 107 determines that the broadcast system of the input picture signal does not coincide with that of the broadcast system determination device, and outputs a control signal to the switch 108 so that the other oscillator, i.e., the PAL crystal oscillator 110, is selected. Also if the broadcast system of the input picture signal is the NTSC system and the switch 108 is selecting the PAL crystal oscillator 110, the burst lock ON/OFF signal S103 indicates a lock OFF state. Therefore, the automatic discrimination circuit 107 determines that the broadcast system of the input picture signal does not coincide with that of the broadcast system determination device, and outputs a control signal to the switch 108 so that the other oscillator, i.e., the NTSC crystal oscillator 109, is selected.
Thus, where the circuit operation is performed in the NTSC system, if an NTSC signal is received, the signal is properly processed and a normal signal can be output to the outside. If a PAL signal is received, the lock comes off and the broadcast system is determined. Then, based on the determination result, the circuit operation is switched to the PAL system, whereby a normal signal can be output.
However, the conventional broadcast system determination device requires a long time for determining whether or not the APC circuit 111 is locked. Although a blue screen or a black screen is displayed so that no video image is displayed during a period in which the broadcast system is being determined, i.e., during a period in which an abnormal signal is being output, such a period being long lowers the grace of the product.
An object of the present invention is to provide a burst frequency discrimination circuit capable of instantaneously determining the burst frequency of an input signal to determine the broadcast system of the input signal.
In order to achieve the object set forth above, the present invention focuses on the FM demodulation circuit included in the picture signal processing circuit, which can demodulate an input picture signal to obtain a frequency component. In the present invention, a demodulated frequency component signal obtained by the FM demodulation circuit is compared with a predetermined value to determine the burst frequency and to thereby determine whether the input signal is a PAL signal or an NTSC signal.
Specifically, the present invention provides a burst frequency discrimination circuit to which a single operating clock is input, including: a bandpass filter circuit for separating a chroma signal from an input picture signal; a line synchronizing separation circuit for separating a horizontal synchronizing signal from the input picture signal; a burst gate pulse generation circuit for generating a burst gate pulse based on the horizontal synchronizing signal separated by the line synchronizing separation circuit; an FM demodulation circuit for demodulating the chroma signal output from the bandpass filter circuit to obtain a frequency component; a SECAM color-difference demodulation circuit for demodulating the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit to obtain a SECAM color-difference signal; a burst extracting circuit for extracting a burst signal portion as a burst demodulated signal from the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit using the burst gate pulse output from the burst gate pulse generation circuit as a reference; and a comparison circuit for comparing the burst demodulated signal output from the burst extracting circuit with a predetermined value.
In one embodiment of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the FM demodulation circuit includes: a Hilbert conversion circuit for converting the chroma signal from the bandpass filter circuit to a signal whose phase is shifted by 90° with respect to that of the chroma signal; an arc tangent circuit for receiving an output from the Hilbert conversion circuit; a differentiation circuit for differentiating an output signal from the arc tangent circuit; and a deviation circuit for converting an output signal from the differentiation circuit to a signal having a predetermined mean frequency.
A burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention includes: a clock switching circuit for receiving a clock switching signal and switching an operating clock of the burst frequency discrimination circuit between a 17.7-MHz clock and a 14.3-MHz clock based on the received clock switching signal; a bandpass filter circuit for separating a chroma signal from an input picture signal; a line synchronizing separation circuit for separating a horizontal synchronizing signal from the input picture signal; a burst gate pulse generation circuit for generating a burst gate pulse based on the horizontal synchronizing signal separated by the line synchronizing separation circuit; a variable-type FM demodulation circuit for demodulating the chroma signal output from the bandpass filter circuit to obtain a frequency component, wherein a demodulation mean frequency can be varied by the clock switching signal in the demodulation process; a SECAM color-difference demodulation circuit for demodulating the demodulated signal output from the variable-type FM demodulation circuit to obtain a SECAM color-difference signal where the input picture signal is a SECAM signal; an NTSC/PAL color-difference demodulation circuit for demodulating the input picture signal where the input picture signal is an NTSC signal or a PAL signal; a burst extracting circuit for extracting a burst signal portion as a burst demodulated signal from the demodulated signal output from the variable-type FM demodulation circuit using the burst gate pulse output from the burst gate pulse generation circuit as a reference; and a comparison circuit for comparing the burst demodulated signal output from the burst extracting circuit with a predetermined value.
In one embodiment of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the line synchronizing separation circuit is of a rising-edge-detecting type, and separates a horizontal synchronizing signal from the input picture signal and detects a rising edge of the separated horizontal synchronizing signal; and the burst gate pulse generation circuit generates the burst gate pulse based on the rising edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal detected by the line synchronizing separation circuit.
In one embodiment of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the line synchronizing separation circuit and the burst gate pulse generation circuit operate using a fixed clock as an operating clock, the fixed clock being not switched from one to another by the clock switching signal input to the clock switching circuit.
A burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention includes: a clock switching circuit for receiving a clock switching signal and switching an operating clock of the burst frequency discrimination circuit between a 17.7-MHz clock and a 14.3-MHz clock based on the received clock switching signal; a bandpass filter circuit for separating a chroma signal from an input picture signal; a line synchronizing separation circuit for separating a horizontal synchronizing signal from the input picture signal; a pre-burst edge detection circuit for detecting a start position of a burst signal from the line synchronizing separation circuit to output a pre-burst edge detection signal; a trace-type burst gate pulse generation circuit for generating a burst gate pulse following a burst signal position using the pre-burst edge detection signal output from the pre-burst edge detection circuit as a reference; a variable-type FM demodulation circuit for demodulating the chroma signal output from the bandpass filter circuit to obtain a frequency component, wherein a demodulation mean frequency can be varied by the clock switching signal in the demodulation process; a SECAM color-difference demodulation circuit for demodulating the demodulated signal output from the variable-type FM demodulation circuit to obtain a SECAM color-difference signal; a burst extracting circuit for extracting a burst signal portion as a burst demodulated signal from the demodulated signal output from the variable-type FM demodulation circuit using the burst gate pulse output from the trace-type burst gate pulse generation circuit as a reference; and a comparison circuit for comparing the burst demodulated signal output from the burst extracting circuit with a predetermined value.
In one embodiment of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the burst frequency discrimination circuit further includes: an additional bandpass filter circuit, provided in addition to the bandpass filter circuit, for separating a broad-band chroma signal from the input picture signal; and a bandpass filter switching circuit for switching between the bandpass filter circuit and the additional bandpass filter circuit by using a clock switching signal.
In one embodiment of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the bandpass filter switching circuit selects the bandpass filter circuit when the clock switching circuit selects the 17.7-MHz clock and selects the additional bandpass filter circuit when the clock switching circuit selects the 14.3-MHz clock.
In one embodiment of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the variable-type FM demodulation circuit includes: a Hilbert conversion circuit for converting the chroma signal from the bandpass filter circuit to a signal whose phase is shifted by 90° with respect to that of the chroma signal; an arc tangent circuit for receiving an output from the Hilbert conversion circuit; a differentiation circuit for differentiating an output signal from the arc tangent circuit; and a mean-frequency-switching-type deviation circuit for, when the clock switching circuit selects the 14.3-MHz clock, variably setting the demodulation mean frequency so that the demodulation mean frequency is lowered as compared with a case where the 17.7-MHz clock is selected, and converting an output signal from the differentiation circuit to a signal of the variably-set demodulation mean frequency.
As described above, a burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention uses the line synchronizing separation circuit, the burst gate pulse generation circuit and the burst extracting circuit to obtain a demodulated signal of a burst signal portion of the input signal, and the demodulated signal is compared with a predetermined value by the comparison circuit, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, unlike in the prior art, it is not necessary to determine whether or not the clock is locked to the burst signal, and it is possible to instantaneously determine, based on the output burst frequency discrimination signal, whether the input signal is an NTSC signal or a PAL signal to appropriately change the settings of the product. Moreover, the bandpass filter circuit and the FM demodulation circuit can be used also as a portion of the circuit having the SECAM color demodulation function, whereby the circuit scale can be reduced.
Moreover, in the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, an operating clock of 17.7 MHz for processing a PAL signal or an operating clock of 14.3 MHz for processing an NTSC signal is selected based on clock switching signal. The picture signal processing circuit including the burst frequency discrimination circuit is operated by using the selected clock, and the burst gate pulse signal is generated by the burst gate pulse generation circuit using the horizontal synchronizing signal output from the line synchronizing separation circuit as a reference. Furthermore, the demodulated signal of the burst signal portion of the input picture signal is extracted by the burst extracting circuit, and the demodulated signal is compared with a predetermined value by the comparison circuit, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously output a burst frequency discrimination signal without an erroneous determination even if noise is contained. Moreover, a single NTSC/PAL color-difference demodulation circuit can be commonly used for demodulating an NTSC color signal and a PAL color signal by switching the operating clock from one to another, whereby the circuit scale can be further reduced.
Particularly, according to the present invention, the burst gate pulse generation circuit generates the burst gate pulse signal using the rising edge signal of the horizontal synchronizing signal output from the rising-edge-detecting-type line synchronizing separation circuit as a reference, whereby it is possible to accurately extract the burst signal portion even if the operating clock is switched from one to another.
Moreover, with the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the line synchronizing separation circuit and the burst gate pulse generation circuit are operated by using a fixed clock that is not switched from one to another by the clock switching signal, whereby the burst extracting circuit can accurately extract the burst signal portion even if the input picture signal is switched between an NTSC signal and a PAL signal. Then, the demodulated signal of the burst signal portion output from the burst extracting circuit is compared with a predetermined value by the comparison circuit, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to output a burst frequency discrimination signal with an even higher precision without an erroneous determination even if noise is contained.
In addition, in the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention, the line synchronizing separation circuit detects the horizontal synchronizing signal from the input picture signal, and the pre-burst edge detection circuit outputs the pre-burst edge detection signal using the detected horizontal synchronizing signal as a reference, thus detecting the start position of the burst signal. The input picture signal is also demodulated by the FM demodulation circuit, and the trace-type burst gate pulse generation circuit generates the burst gate pulse signal starting from a start position of the burst signal portion that is determined as a position at which the demodulated signal becomes greater than a predetermined value during the period in which the pre-burst edge detection signal is high. Furthermore, the burst extracting circuit extracts the burst signal portion even more accurately from the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit, and the demodulated signal of the burst signal portion is compared with a predetermined value by the comparison circuit, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously output a burst frequency discrimination signal with a high precision without an erroneous determination even if noise is contained and even if there is a shift in the position at which the burst signal is superimposed such as in a signal reproduced from a VCR.
Furthermore, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present invention includes, in addition to the bandpass filter circuit for separating a chroma signal from an input picture signal, the additional bandpass filter circuit for separating a broad-band chroma signal, wherein the normal bandpass filter circuit is selected when the operating clock is switched to 17.7 MHz by the clock switching signal, while the additional broad-band bandpass filter circuit is selected when the operating clock is 14.3 MHz, whereby a demodulation operation is performed by the FM demodulation circuit without attenuating the frequency component of the burst signal through the bandpass filter circuit section. Using the burst gate pulse signal output from the trace-type burst gate pulse generation circuit, the burst extracting circuit extracts the burst signal portion, and the demodulated signal of the burst signal portion is compared with a predetermined value by the comparison circuit, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously determine the burst frequency and output a burst frequency discrimination signal with a high precision even if the input picture signal has a low amplitude or a shifted burst position.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.
Referring to
The configuration and the operation of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment as described above will now be described in detail with reference to
Where SECAM Signal is Received
First, a case where a SECAM signal is input to the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment will be described with reference to
An input SECAM signal as shown in
The FM demodulation circuit 100 operates as follows. The received output signal X(t) from the SECAM BPF circuit 20
X(t)=Asin ωt (S1)
is converted through the Hilbert conversion circuit 10 into a signal Y(t) whose phase is shifted by 90°
Y(t)=Acos ωt (S2).
These signals are passed to the arc tangent circuit 11, which outputs ωt based on an expression as shown below.
Then, the differentiation circuit 12 obtains ω. Thus, the FM demodulation circuit 100 can obtain the frequency of the signal output from the SECAM BPF circuit 20.
Then, the deviation circuit 13 converts the obtained signal into, for example, a signal whose mean frequency is 4.33 MHz being in the middle between 4.25 MHz and 4.40625 MHz, which are carrier frequencies of the SECAM color signal.
Thus, where a SECAM picture signal is received, the picture signal processing circuit including the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment can serve as a SECAM color demodulation circuit to output a SECAM color-difference signal.
Where PAL Signal is Received
Next, a case where a PAL signal is input to the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment will be described with reference to
An input PAL signal as shown in
The BGP generation circuit 18 generates a burst gate pulse (BGP) for extracting the burst signal portion using the falling edge position of the horizontal synchronizing signal as a reference (
Where NTSC Signal is Received
Next, a case where an NTSC signal is input to the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment will be described. In the NTSC system, the burst frequency is 3.58 MHz. Therefore, the signal obtained by extracting only the burst signal portion from the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 100 will have a value less than 4.33 MHz being the center value (
As described above, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment includes the SECAM BPF circuit 20 and the FM demodulation circuit 100, and uses the line synchronizing separation circuit 17, the BGP generation circuit 18 and the burst extracting circuit 14 to obtain a demodulated signal of the burst signal portion of the input signal, which is passed through the integration circuit 16 and the comparator 19, where it is compared with the predetermined value 15, and the comparison result is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Thus, without requiring a determination as to whether or not the clock is locked to the burst signal, it is possible to instantaneously determine whether the broadcast system of the input signal is the NTSC system or the PAL system based on the burst frequency discrimination signal, according to which the settings of the product can be changed appropriately. Moreover, since FM demodulation is typically more tolerant of noise, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment is unlikely to make an erroneous determination.
Furthermore, in the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment, the SECAM BPF circuit 20 and the FM demodulation circuit 100 are also used as a portion of the circuit having the SECAM color demodulation function, whereby the circuit scale can be reduced.
Next, a burst frequency discrimination circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
Referring to
It is commonly known that when an NTSC chroma signal and a PAL chroma signal are demodulated into color-difference signals, the NTSC signal is processed at 14.3 MHz and the PAL signal is processed at 17.7 MHz, as described above, and the process in the PAL system requires a phase alternating operation. However, the other demodulation circuits used for obtaining a color-difference signal can be shared between the NTSC system and the PAL system by only switching the operating clock from one to another.
Referring to
Where the same line synchronizing separation circuit 17 as that of the first embodiment is used as the line synchronizing separation circuit, the BGP generation circuit 18 outputs a BGP signal at a position reached after counting a predetermined number of operating clock signals starting from the falling edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal output from the line synchronizing separation circuit 17, e.g., a position reached after counting 17.7 MHz×80 clocks where the operating clock is 17.7 MHz, or a position reached after counting 14.3 MHz×80 clocks where the operating clock is 14.3 MHz. Thus, the BGP signal will be output at a position as shown in
In view of this, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment uses the rising-edge-detecting-type line synchronizing separation circuit 29. Since the amount of time from the rising edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal to the burst signal is short, the timing of the BGP signal and that of the burst signal portion will not be substantially shifted from each other even when the operating clock is switched from one to another, as shown in
Next, the FM demodulation circuit 200 will be described. The signal input to the FM demodulation circuit 200 is expressed as shown below.
In Expression S(4), f0 is the frequency shift, fs is the sampling frequency, Df is the deviation frequency, X(i·T) is the modulated signal at the ith point. This signal is processed through the Hilbert conversion circuit 10, the arc tangent circuit 11 and the differentiation circuit 12 to yield the following signal.
Where a SECAM signal is processed, if the operating clock is 17.7 MHz, the mean frequency is set to 4.33 MHz as described above. With this circuit, if only the operating clock is switched to 14.3 MHz, the mean frequency will be as shown in the expression below.
Thus, when the operating clock is switched to 14.3 MHz, either an input NTSC signal whose burst frequency is 3.58 MHz or an input PAL signal whose burst frequency is 4.43 MHz will result in a frequency greater than 3.5 MHz being the mean frequency, thus failing to normally detect the burst frequency.
In view of this, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment uses the mean-frequency-switching deviation circuit 28, whereby the mean frequency is switched to 4.0 MHz being in the middle between 3.58 MHz and 4.43 MHz, for example, when the operating clock is switched to 14.3 MHz by a clock switching signal.
As described above, with the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment, the operating clock is switched between 17.7 MHz and 14.3 MHz with the clock switching signal, and the picture signal processing circuit including the burst frequency discrimination circuit is operated using the clock signal. Moreover, the BGP signal is generated by the BGP generation circuit 18 by using the rising edge signal of the horizontal synchronizing signal output from the rising-edge-detecting-type line synchronizing separation circuit 29 as a reference. Furthermore, a demodulated signal of the burst signal portion of the input signal is extracted by the burst extracting circuit 14, and the demodulated signal of the burst signal portion is integrated by the integration circuit 16, after which the value of the obtained signal is compared with the predetermined value 15 by the comparator 19, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously output a burst frequency discrimination signal without an erroneous determination. Moreover, the NTSC/PAL color-difference demodulation circuit 23 can be used commonly for demodulating an NTSC color signal and a PAL color signal by switching the operating clock from one to another, whereby the circuit scale can be further reduced.
A burst frequency discrimination circuit according to a third embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
Other than this, the configuration is the same as that of the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the second embodiment. Therefore, like elements to those of the second embodiment will be denoted by like reference numerals, and will not be further described below.
In the line synchronizing separation circuit 30 for separating a horizontal synchronizing signal and generating the horizontal synchronizing signal as a reference signal, the falling edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal is used as a reference as described above in some cases and the rising edge is used as a reference in others. The burst signal is present near the rising edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal, and noise is likely to be introduced in the rising edge due to attenuation of the burst signal, a shift in the signal position thereof, etc. In view of this, the falling edge is often used.
Referring to
As described above, with the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment, the line synchronizing separation circuit 30 and the BGP generation circuit 31 are operated with a fixed clock that is not switched to another by the clock switching signal, whereby it is possible with the burst extracting circuit 14 to accurately extract the burst signal portion even if the input clock signal is switched to another. Then, the demodulated signal of the burst signal portion output from the burst extracting circuit 14 is integrated by the integration circuit 16 and compared with the predetermined value 15 by the comparator 19, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously output a burst frequency discrimination signal with an even higher precision without an erroneous determination even if noise is contained.
A burst frequency discrimination circuit according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
Referring to
An input picture signal is filtered through the SECAM BPF circuit 20, where the chroma signal thereof is separated, and frequency-demodulated by the FM demodulation circuit 200 whose demodulation mean frequency is switched from one to another by a clock switching signal. The input picture signal is also passed to the line synchronizing separation circuit 40, where the falling edge portion thereof is detected (
In a picture signal, particularly a signal reproduced from a VCR, or the like, the position of the superimposed burst signal is often shifted forward or backward from the position as specified in the NTSC or PAL standard. With the trace-type BGP generation circuit 42, even if a burst signal is shifted from the position as specified in a standard, it is possible to detect the burst signal and output a BGP signal while following the shifting burst signal.
The burst extracting circuit 14 even more accurately extracts the burst signal portion from the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 200, and the modulated signal of the burst signal portion is integrated by the integration circuit 16 and compared with the predetermined value 15 by the comparator 19, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal.
As described above, with the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment, the line synchronizing separation circuit 40 detects the falling edge of the horizontal synchronizing signal from an input picture signal, and the pre-burst edge detection circuit 41 outputs the pre-burst edge detection signal with the falling edge signal being the reference, thereby detecting the start position of the burst signal. Moreover, the input picture signal is demodulated by the FM demodulation circuit 200, and the trace-type BGP generation circuit 42 generates the BGP signal at the start position of the burst signal portion, which is obtained as a position at which the demodulated signal becomes greater than the predetermined value 43 during the period in which the pre-burst edge detection signal is high. Moreover, the burst extracting circuit 14 even more accurately extracts the burst signal portion from the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 200, and the modulated signal of the burst signal portion is integrated by the integration circuit 16 and compared with the predetermined value 15 by the comparator 19, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously output a burst frequency discrimination signal with a high precision without an erroneous determination even if noise is contained and even if there is a shift in the position at which the burst signal is superimposed such as in a signal reproduced from a VCR.
A burst frequency discrimination circuit according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to
The SECAM BPF circuit 20 is a bandpass filter for separating a chroma signal from a SECAM signal. The band of a chroma signal superimposed on a SECAM signal is 3.9 MHz to 4.75 MHz, and the SECAM BPF circuit 20 is a filter having frequency characteristics suitable for separating this band.
Where the input picture signal is a PAL signal, 17.7 MHz is selected by the clock switching signal, which is the same frequency as that when a SECAM signal is input. Therefore, as in a case where a SECAM signal is processed, the SECAM BPF circuit 20 functions as a bandpass filter whose passband is 3.9 MHz to 4.75 MHz, through which the burst signal of the PAL system having a frequency of 4.43 MHz can pass.
If an NTSC signal is input, whose burst signal frequency is 3.58 MHz, the amplitude thereof is attenuated through the SECAM BPF circuit 20. Particularly, if the amplitude of the input NTSC signal is very small, the SECAM BPF circuit 20 may attenuate the amplitude to remove the amplitude component thereof so that the signal is out of the demodulation range of the FM demodulation circuit 200, in which case the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 200 may have a frequency close to 0 MHz. In such a case, however, the mean frequency is 4.33 MHz, as described above, whereby even if the frequency of the demodulated signal is 0 MHz, being less than 3.58 MHz, the burst frequency discrimination signal output from the burst frequency discrimination circuit exhibits a normal value.
Where the input picture signal is an NTSC signal, 14.3 MHz is selected by the clock switching signal. Then, since the operating clock of the SECAM BPF circuit 20 is also 14.3 MHz, the frequency characteristics change to such characteristics that 3.8 MHz is separated from 3.15 MHz. If a PAL signal is input whose signal amplitude is very small, the SECAM BPF circuit 20 may attenuate the amplitude to remove the amplitude component thereof so that the signal is out of the demodulation range of the FM demodulation circuit 200, in which case the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 200 may have a frequency close to 0 MHz. When the operating clock is 14.3 MHz, the demodulation mean frequency of the FM demodulation circuit 200 is set to 4.0 MHz, for example. Since the burst signal is originally 4.43 MHz and is higher than the mean frequency, the burst frequency discrimination signal output from the burst frequency discrimination circuit is supposed to be high. However, if a PAL signal having a very low signal amplitude is input, the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 200 will have a frequency of 0 MHz, and the burst frequency discrimination signal will be low, thus resulting in an erroneous determination.
In view of this, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment uses the clock switching signal so that the SECAM BPF circuit 20 is selected when the operating clock is 17.7 MHz and the broad-band BPF circuit 50 is selected when the operating clock is 14.3 MHz.
The broad-band BPF circuit 50 has frequency characteristics such that it passes signals having frequencies from 2.45 MHz to 4.5 MHz, for example. Thus, where the operating clock is 14.3 MHz, even if a PAL signal having a very low signal amplitude is input, the amplitude is not attenuated through the broad-band BPF circuit 50, whereby the demodulated signal output from the FM demodulation circuit 200 has a frequency of 4.43 MHz, and the burst frequency discrimination signal output from the burst frequency discrimination circuit indicates a normal value.
As described above, the burst frequency discrimination circuit of the present embodiment additionally includes the broad-band BPF circuit 50 as a bandpass filter for separating the chroma signal from the input picture signal. Using the clock switching signal, the SECAM BPF circuit 20 is selected when the operating clock is 17.7 MHz and the broad-band BPF circuit 50 is selected when the operating clock is 14.3 MHz, whereby a demodulation operation is performed by the FM demodulation circuit 200 without attenuating the frequency component of the burst signal through the bandpass filter section. Using the BGP signal output from the trace-type BGP generation circuit 42, the burst extracting circuit 14 extracts the burst signal portion, and the demodulated signal of the extracted burst signal portion is integrated by the integration circuit 16 and compared with the predetermined value 15 by the comparator 19, the result of which is output as the burst frequency discrimination signal. Therefore, it is possible to instantaneously make a determination and output a burst frequency discrimination signal with a high precision even if the input signal has a low amplitude or a shifted burst position.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2004-157073 | May 2004 | JP | national |