3

DIGITAL VIDEO SIGNAL

AND HDTV STANDARDS
INTRODUCTION

Migration from analog to digital in TV production and transmission had begun in 1995.
Presently Digital video is used worldwide. Digital video is distributed within the studio in form
of Serial Digital Interface (SDI). SDI can carry Standard Definition TV which is designated as
SD-SDI and High Definition TV which is designated as HD-SDI. SDI videos have constant
data rates. For SD-SDI it is 270 Mbps and for HD-SDI it is 1.485 Gbps. These high speed
signals are distributed through high quality Co-axial cable and Optical fiber. For HDTV, fiber
cable is preferred for long distance. SDI carry raw digital video (uncompressed) and cannot
be supported by any transmission network. Therefore raw video is compressed using
various encoding standards like MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Compressed video is transported
using another interface called Asynchronous Serial Interface (ASI).

OBJECTIVES

After reading the chapter you will be able to:

 Have concept of conversion from analog to digital video

 Calculate bits rate for SD-SDI and HD-SDI signals,
 Know the technique of embedding audio into SDI signal
 Know the brief description of ASI and HD formats.

DIGITAL VIDEO

Uncompressed digital video signals have been used for some time in television studios.
Based on the original CCIR standard CCIR 601, designated as ITU-BT.R601 today, this data
signal is obtained as follows:

To start with, the video camera (Fig.1) supplies the analog Red, Green and Blue (R, G, B)
signals. These signals are mixed in a matrix of the camera to form luminance (Y) and
chrominance (color difference CB and CR) signals.

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Induction Course (Television)

Fig.1: Digitization of Luminance and chrominance

These signals are produced by simple addition or subtraction of R, G, B :

Y = 0.30 R + 0.59 G + 0.11 B

CB = 0.56 (B-Y)
CR = 0.71 (R-Y)

The luminance bandwidth is then limited to 5.75 MHz using a low-pass filter. The two color
difference signals are limited to 2.75 MHz, i.e. the color resolution is clearly reduced
compared with the brightness resolution. In analog television (NTSC, PAL, SECAM), too, the
color resolution is reduced to about 1.3 MHz. The low-pass filtered Y, CB and CR signals are
then sampled and digitized by means of analog/digital converters. The A/D converter in the
luminance branch operates at a sampling frequency of 13.5 MHz and the two CB and CR
color difference signals are sampled at 6.75 MHz each.

Fig. 2: Sampling of component in accordance of ITU-BT.R.601

This meets the requirements of the sampling theorem: There are no more signals
components above half the sampling frequency. The three A/D converters can all have a
resolution of 8 or 10 bits. With a resolution of 10 bits, this will result in a gross data rate of
270 Mbit/sec which is suitable for distribution in the studio but too high for TV transmission
via existing channels (terrestrial, satellite or cable). The samples of all three A/D converters

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 Digital Video Signal and HDTV Standards

are multiplexed in the following order: CB Y CR Y CB Y. In this digital video signal (Fig. 2),
the luminance value thus alternates with a CB or a CR value and there are twice as many Y
values as compared to CB or CR. This is called a 4:2:2 resolution, compared with the
resolution immediately after the matrix, which was the same for all components, namely
4:4:4.

This digital signal can be present in parallel form at a 25-pin sub-D connector or serially at a
75-Ohm BNC socket. The serial interface is called SDI which stands for serial digital
interface and has become the most widely used interface because a conventional 75-Ohm
BNC cable can be used.

Within the data stream (Fig. 3), the start and the end of the active video signal is marked by
special code words called SAV (start of active video) and EAV (end of active video),
naturally enough. Between SAV and EAV, there is the horizontal blanking interval which
does not contain any information related to the video signal, i.e. the digital signal does not
contain the sync pulse. In the horizontal blanking interval, supplementary information can be
transmitted such as audio signals or error protection information for the digital signal.

TRS-ID TRS-ID

E S E S
A A Cb Y Cr Y Cr A A
V V V V

Active Line Pixel Data

Blanking or Blanking or
Ancillary data (Audio signal, or error protection information) Ancillary data

TRS - ID : Timing reference sequence – identification

SAV - Start of active video
EAV – End of active video

Code pattern of SAV & EAV

11111111 (11) 00000000 (00) 00000000 (00) 1F V H P3 P2 P1 P0 (00)

IIst 2nd 3rd 4th Word

Fig. 3: SAV and EAV Code Words in the ITU-BR.R601

The SAV and EAV code words consist of four 8- or 10-bit code words each. SAV and EAV
begins with one code word in which all bits are set to one, followed by two words in which all
bits are set to zero. The fourth code word contains information about the respective field or
the vertical blanking interval, respectively. This fourth code word is used for detecting the
start of a frame, field and active picture area in the vertical direction. The most significant bit
of the fourth code word is always 1. The next bit (bit 8 in a 10-bit transmission or bit 6 in an
8-bit transmission) flags the field ; if this bit is set to zero, it is a line of the first field and if it is
set to one, it is a line of the second field. The next bit (bit 7 in a 10-bit transmission or bit 5 in
an 8-bit transmission) flags the active video area in the vertical direction. If this bit is set to
zero, then this is the visible active video area and if not, it is the vertical blanking interval. Bit
6 (10 bit) or bit 4 (8-bit) provides information about whether the present code word is an SAV
or an EAV. It is SAV if this bit is set to zero and EAV if it is not. Bits 5...2 (10-bit) or 3…0 (8-
bit) are used for error protection of the SAV and EAV code words. Fourth Code word of the
timing reference sequence (TRS) is.

 F = Field (0 = 1st field, 1 = 2nd field)

 V = Vertical blanking (1 = vertical blanking interval)

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Induction Course (Television)

 H = SAV/EAV identification (0 = SAV, 1 = EAV)

 P0, P1, P2, P3 = Protection bits (Hamming code)

Neither the luminance signal (Y) nor the color difference signals (CB ,CR ) use the full
dynamic range which is 255 for 8 bit and 1023 for 10 bit case of Y signal (Fig. 4). There is a
prohibited range which is reserved as headroom, on the one hand, and, on the other hand
allows SAV and EAV to be easily identified. A Y signal ranges between 16 and 235 decimal
(8 bits) or 64 and 960 decimal (10 bits).

255 / 1023 255 / 1023

700mv 235 / 940 350mv 240 / 960

Y 0mv 128 / 512

Cb / Cr

0mv 16 / 64 -350mv 16 / 64

0/0 0/0

The video signal conforming to ITU – BT – R601, (Normally available

Level
As a SDI signal), form the Diagram
inputs signal to an MPEG encoder

Fig. 4: toLevel
The video signal conforming ITU – BT Diagram
– R601, (Normally available
as a SDI signal), forms the input signal to an MPEG encoder.

The dynamic range of CB and CR is 16 to 240 decimal (8 bits) or 64 to 960 decimal (10 bits).
The area outside this range is used as headroom and for sync identification purposes.

This video signal conforming to ITU-BT.R 601, which is normally available as a SDI signal,
forms the input signal to an MPEG encoder.

CRITERIA FOR CHOOSING THE SAMPLING FREQUENCY FOR VIDEO SIGNAL

1. Sampling frequency, f s , is greater than Nyquist Frequency, f N (= 2 f max )

2. Sampling frequency is the integer multiple of horizontal scanning frequency, f h
3. Sampling frequency is chosen to be 13.5 Mhz which is compatible to PAL and
NTSC system and computed from the following relation:

f s  858 f h, NTSC  864 f h , PAL

= 858  15750  864  15625  13.5MHz

Where 858 and 864 are total number of samples in horizontal duration of NTSC and PAL
signal respectively. f h , NTSC , f h , PAL are horizontal scanning frequencies for NTSC and PAL

SERIAL DIGITAL INTERFACE (SD-SDI)

Uncompressed SDTV video signals have a data rate of 270 M bits/s. They are distributed
either paralleled signals via twisted pair lines or serially via 75 ohm coaxial cables. In most
cases, however, only the serial CCIR 601 interface is used today. It is called the serial
digital interface (SDI) and uses waveform that is symmetrical about ground and has an initial
amplitude of 800 mVpp across 75 ohm load. This signal can be fed down 75 ohm coaxial

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 Digital Video Signal and HDTV Standards

cable having BNC connectors. Unlike analog video, serial digital receivers contain correct
termination that is permanently present and passive loop through is not available. In
permanent installations, no attempt should be made to drive more than one load using T-
connectors, as this will result in signal reflections that seriously compromise the data
integrity.

MSB LSB

Parallel data
SD / HD
NRZ Scrambled
Shift Encoder
Data 1
Register Scrambler SDI

Load
Clock
Shift
Clock

X10
F Clock 10x F

Fig. 5a: Conversion of parallel data to SDI Stream

In Fig. 5, we can see the process of serializing the parallel data into a single data stream.
The 10-bit data is formed to Non-return to Zero and then scrambled to prevent long runs of
zeros or ones in the data stream. The same scrambling techniques are used for SD and
HD. Scrambling is used to randomize the data and prevent long string of 1’s or 0’s. Since
the clock is embedded within the data stream and in order to recover the clock successfully
a large number of transition are required.\]

10
SDI Shift LATCH Parallel
Equalizer Descrambler
Register Register Data out

PLL  10
Regenerated
clock

Fig. 5b: Conversion of serial data to parallel stream

The essential parts of a serial link are shown in Fig. 5. Parallel data having a word length of
up to ten bits forms the input. These are fed to a ten-bit shift register which is clocked at ten
times the input word rate.

EMBEDDED AUDIO IN SDI

In component SDI, there is provision for ancillary data packets to be sent during blanking.
There is capacity for up to 16 audio channels sent in four groups.

The data content of the AES/EBU digital audio subframe consists of validity (V), user (U) &
channel (C ) status bits, a 20 bit sample and four auxiliary bits which optionally may be
appended to the main sample to produce a 24-bit sample. The AES recommends sampling
rates of 48, 44.1 and 32 kHz, but the interface permits variable sampling rates.

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Induction Course (Television)

ASYNCHRONOUS SERIAL INTERFACE (ASI)

The asynchronous serial interface is designed to allow MPEG transport streams to be

transmitted over standard SDI cabling and routers. Transport stream data do not have the
same statistics as PCM video and so the scrambling technique of SDI cannot be used.
Instead ASI uses an 8/10 group code to eliminate DC components and ensure adequate
clock contents.

SDI equipment is designed to run at a closely defined bit rate of 270 Mbits/s and has phase-
locked loops in receiving and repeating devices which are intended to remove jitter. These
will lose lock if the channel bit rate changes. Transport streams are fundamentally variable
in bit rate and to retain compatibility with SDI routing equipment ASI uses stuffing bits to
keep the transmitted bit rate constant.

The use of an 8/10 code means that although the channel bit rate is 270 Mbits/s, the data bit
rate is only 80% of that, that is, 216 Mbits/s. A small amount of this is lost to overheads.

SERIAL DIGITAL INTERFACE FOR HDTV (HD-SDI)

HD-SDI has almost the similar interface as SD-SDI. ITU designated as ITU-BT.R609 signal.
The data rate is 1.485 Gbps. HD-SDI format is shown in Fig.6

TRS-ID TRS-ID

E S E S
A A Cb Y Cr Y Cr A A
V V V V

Active Line Pixel Data

Blanking or Blanking or
Ancillary data (Audio signal, or error protection information) Ancillary data

TRS - ID : Timing reference sequence – identification

SAV - Start of active video
EAV – End of active video

Code pattern of SAV & EAV

11111111 (11) 00000000 (00) 00000000 (00) 1F V H P3 P2 P1 P0 (00)

Fig. 6: SAV and EAV Code Words in the ITU-BR.R609 signal

The high speed signal is generally distributed through optical fiber. For short distances,
coaxial cable can be used. The HD-SDI signal is compressed in similar way as SD-SDI
signal is compressed. It uses various compression techniques i.e. MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DV
compression which results in different HD formats and standards. Following are the various
HD formats:

 DV100 (DVPRO HD, D-12) with 4:2:2 chroma sampling is based on DV compression
developed by Panasonic. This also supports 3:1:1 and 3:1:0 chroma subsampling.

 HDV format which records at a constant data rate and stores data on the DV tape
with Sampling 4:2:0, compression MPEG-2, Audio MPEG-1 Layer 2, Resolution
1280X720 and 1440X1080, quantization 8-bit, Data rate 25Mbps.

 HDCam records on to similar style cassette shells as DigiBeta with Sampling 3:1:1,
compression MPEG-2(Intra), Audio 4 uncompressed 20 bit/48KHz, Resolution

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 Digital Video Signal and HDTV Standards

1280X720 and 1440X1080, quantization 8-bit, Data rate 112Mbps to 142 Mbps,
Frame rates:1080/23.98, 1080/24PsF, 1080/59.94i, 50i, 29.97PsF, and 25 PsF.

 HDCam SR records onto similar style cassette shells as DigiBeta with Sampling
4:2:2/4:4:4, compression MPEG-4 Studio Profile(not H.264), Audio 12 uncompressed
24 bit/48KHz, Resolution 1280X720 and 1920X1080, quantization 10-bit, Data rate
440 Mbps., Frame rates: 60P, 59.94P, 50P, 60i, 59.94i, 50i, 30PsF, 29.94PsF,
25PsF, 24PsF, 24p and 23.98PsF.

 DVCProHD (DVCPro 100) Sampling 4:2:0, compression DV, Audio 8 uncompressed

16 bit/48KHz, Resolution 960X720 and 1440X1080, quantization 8-bit, Data rate 100
Mbps.

 D5HD uses D5 format to record HD. Sampling 4:2:2, compression 4.5 Intra coded,
Audio uncompressed 4/8 20/24bits/48KHz, Resolution 1280X720 and 1920X1080,
quantization 10-bit, Data rate 235 Mbps.

 XDCAM is a tapeless professional video system introduced by Sony in 2003.

XDCAM HD (XDCAM HD420) this supports multiple quality-modes. The HQ-mode
records at up to 35 Mbit /s (HQ mode), using variable bit rate (VBR) MPEG-2 long-
GOP compression. The optional 18 Mbit/s (VBR) and 25 Mbit/s (CBR) modes offer
increased recording-time.
 XDCAM EX Codec of this format is employed at either 25 Mbit/s CBR for SP mode
(1440x1080) or 35 Mbit/s VBR for HQ mode (1920x1080). The recorded video is
carried in an MP4 file wrapper, versus XDCAM HD's MXF file wrappers.
 XDCAM HD422 (MPEG HD422) Third generation XDCAM uses the 4:2:2 profile of
the MPEG-2 codec, which has double the chroma-resolution of the previous
generations. To accommodate the chroma-detail, the maximum video-bit rate has
been increased to 50 Mbit/s.
 P2 format (Tapeless) P2 (Professional Plug-In) is a professional digital recording
solid-state memory storage media format introduced by Panasonic in 2004, specially
tailored for ENG. Supports recording of DV, DVCPRO, DVCPRO25, DVCPRO50,
DVCPRO-HD, or AVC-Intra

ACTIVITIES

Observe the SDI signal from studio to Master Switching Room and VTR room using digital
waveform monitor. If there is some deterioration in the signal, find the cause and improve the
quality.

RECAP

The chapter has described the method of converting component analog video to digital form.
Digitally converted colour component are further multiplexed to form SDI format. For both
SD-SDI / HD-SDI signals. The data rate is 270 Mbps for SDTV and 1.485 Gbps for HDTV.
Uncompressed audio is then embedded into the horizontal blanking of SDI stream as
embedded SDI. SDI is an uncompressed data stream. SDI data is further compressed using
MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 encoders. The compressed signal is then become an ASI stream for
final transmission.

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Induction Course (Television)

FURTHER READINGS:

1. Digital Video and Audio Broadcasting Technology, A Practical Engineering Guide by

W. Fischer, Publisher: Springer.
2. Watkinson, John (2008). The Art of Digital Video. Amsterdam: Focal.
3. Digital Video and Audio Broadcasting Technology, Fischer, W. (2008), Berlin,
Shrinagar.
4. Digital Television London; Benoit, H (2008), Focal Press.
5. Digital Television; Technology and standard, Arnold, J (2007), New York; John Wiley.
6. Digital Television, Fischer, WA (2004), Berlin, Shrinagar.

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