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US4777648A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Line tilt compensation method and apparatus

Assignee: Northrop Grumman Space and Mission Systems Corp
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Filing: 1986-12-15
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Granted: 1988-10-11
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Expires: 2006-12-15
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Abstract

Abstract An improved technique for removing line tilt and other types of line rate correlated noise interjected into the active portions of a video signal during transmission and reception of the video signal. The improved technique involves measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in a received video signal at points sampled across the active portions of a plurality of lines in the video signal. The video lines used for measurement are preferably constant-amplitude dummy video lines inserted into the video signal at the bottom of each video field prior to transmission of the video signal. A complementary line-rate-correlated noise waveform, based on the amplitude measurements, is then generated and summed with the active portions of the received video signal to remove the line rate correlated noise from the video signal.

Inventors

  • 👤 David L. Gardner

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-31 12:57
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N7/00; H04N7/16; H04N7/167; H04N7/169; H04N7/1696

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 28
Claim 1
Independent Claim 90 words
A method that removes line rate correlated noise interjected into the active portions of a video signal during transmission and reception of the video signal, comprising the steps of: measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in a received video signal at a plurality of points sampled across the active portions of each of a plurality of lines in the video signal; generating a complementary line-rate-correlated noise waveform based on the amplitude measurements; and summing the complementary noise waveform with the active portions of the received video signal.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 90 words
A method that removes line rate correlated noise interjected into the active portions of a video signal during transmission and reception of the video signal, comprising the steps of: measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in a received video signal at a plurality of points sampled across the active portions of each of a plurality of lines in the video signal; generating a complementary line-rate-correlated noise waveform based on the amplitude measurements; and summing the complementary noise waveform with the active portions of the received video signal.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 77 words
The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the step of measuring the amplitude includes the steps of: inserting a constant-amplitude dummy video line at the bottom of each video field prior to transmission of the video signal; demultiplexing the dummy video lines from the received video signal; and measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in the demultiplexed dummy video lines at points sampled across the active portions of the dummy video lines.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 112 words
The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the step of measuring the amplitude includes the steps of: inserting a constant-amplitude dummy video line at the bottom of each video field prior to transmission of the video signal; digitizing the received video signal; demultiplexing the digitized dummy video lines from the digitized video signal; selecting a plurality of the dummy video line samples; and subtracting the amplitude of each of the selected dummy video line samples from the amplitude of the dummy video line prior to transmission, thereby forming a stream of complemented amplitude measurements, wherein the complemented amplitude measurements from each dummy video line form a single complementary waveform element.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 31 words
The method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the step of selecting further includes the step of: filtering the selected dummy video line samples to remove non-line-rate-correlated, high frequency noise.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 35 words
The method as set forth in claim 4, wherein the step of filtering includes the steps of: accumulating a plurality of consecutive selected dummy video line samples; and averaging the accumulated dummy video line samples.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method as set forth in claim 3, wherein the step of generating a complementary noise waveform includes the step of: filtering the complementary waveform elements over a plurality of video fields to remove non-line-rate-correlated, low frequency noise.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 27 words
The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the step of filtering includes the step of: filtering the waveform elements with a leaky accumulator waveform filter.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 31 words
The method as set forth in claim 6, wherein the step of filtering includes the step of: separately filtering each of the complemented amplitude measurements over a plurality of video fields.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 34 words
The method as set forth in claim 2, wherein the step of generating further includes the step of: scaling the complementary noise waveform to reduce nonlinear amplitude dependencies of the line rate correlated noise.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 40 words
The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the step of scaling includes the steps of: measuring the nonlinear amplitude dependencies of the line rate correlated noise; and scaling the complementary noise waveform based on the nonlinear amplitude measurements.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 52 words
The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the step of measuring the nonlinear amplitude dependencies includes the steps of: varying the amplitude of the dummy video line from one video field to the next; and measuring amplitude differentials between the complementary noise waveforms generated from the different dummy video lines.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 53 words
The method as set forth in claim 10, wherein the step of measuring the nonlinear amplitude dependencies includes the steps of: inserting additional dummy video lines having varying amplitudes into each video field; and measuring amplitude differentials between the complementary noise waveforms generated from the different dummy video lines in each video field.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 76 words
The method as set forth in claim 9, wherein the step of scaling includes the steps of: doubling the amplitude of the complementary noise waveform when a satellite transmission system is used; and halving the amplitude of the complementary noise waveform when a cable transmission system is used; wherein the scaling is performed for those video lines in which the amplitude at the beginning of the active portion of the video line exceeds a selected value.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 90 words
Apparatus for removing line rate correlated noise interjected into the active portions of a video signal during transmission and reception of the video signal, comprising: means for measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in a received video signal at a plurality of sampled across the active portions each of a plurality of lines in the video signal; means for generating a complementary linerate-correlated noise waveform based on the amplitude measurements; and means for summing the complementary noise waveform with the active portions of the received video signal.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 90 words
Apparatus for removing line rate correlated noise interjected into the active portions of a video signal during transmission and reception of the video signal, comprising: means for measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in a received video signal at a plurality of sampled across the active portions each of a plurality of lines in the video signal; means for generating a complementary linerate-correlated noise waveform based on the amplitude measurements; and means for summing the complementary noise waveform with the active portions of the received video signal.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim 58 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein the means for measuring the amplitude includes: means for demultiplexing constant-amplitude dummy video lines from the received video signal; and means for measuring the amplitude of the line rate correlated noise in the demultiplexed dummy video lines at points sampled across the active portions of the dummy video lines.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim 99 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 14, wherein the means for measuring the amplitude includes: an analog-to-digital converter for digitizing the received video signal; means for demultiplexing digitized constant-amplitude dummy video lines from the digitized video signal; means for selecting a plurality of the dummy video line samples; and means for subtracting the amplitude of each of the selected dummy video line samples from the amplitude of the dummy video line prior to transmission, thereby forming a stream of complemented amplitude measurements, wherein the complemented amplitude measurements from each dummy video line form a single complementary waveform element.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim 31 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the means for selecting further includes: a filter for filtering the selected dummy video line samples to remove non-line-rate-correlated, high frequency noise.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim 16 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 17, wherein the filter includes: a dumping accumulator filter.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim 38 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 16, wherein the means for generating a complementary noise waveform includes: a filter for filtering the complementary waveform elements over a plurality of video fields to remove non-line-rate-correlated, low frequency noise.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 9, wherein the filter includes: a leaky accumulator waveform filter.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim 28 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 19, wherein the filter includes: means for separately filtering each of the complemented amplitude measurements over a plurality of video fields.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim 33 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 15, wherein the means for generating further includes: means for scaling the complementary noise waveform to reduce nonlinear amplitude dependencies of the line rate correlated noise.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim 41 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the means for scaling includes: means for measuring the nonlinear amplitude dependencies of the line rate correlated noise; and means for scaling the complementary noise waveform based on the nonlinear amplitude measurements.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim 43 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 23, wherein the means for measuring the nonlinear amplitude dependencies includes: means for measuring amplitude differentials between complementary noise waveforms generated from dummy video lines transmitted with varying amplitudes from one video field to the next.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim 40 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 23, wherein the means for measuring the nonlinear amplitude dependencies includes: means for measuring amplitude differentials between complementary noise waveforms generated from dummy video lines transmitted with varying amplitudes in each video field.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim 77 words
The apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein the means for scaling includes: means for doubling the amplitude of the complementary noise waveform when a satellite transmission system is used; and means for halving the amplitude of the complementary noise waveform when a cable transmission system is used; wherein the scaling is performed for those video lines in which the amplitude at the beginning of the active portion of the video line exceeds a selected value.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 1991-10-11 1992-04-11 1992-10-11 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 1995-10-11 1996-04-11 1996-10-11 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 1999-10-11 2000-04-11 2000-10-11 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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