TIMING IS EVERYTHING

Over the years ‘Black Burst’ has been the primary video synchronization signal. The
simple analog black signal is a real workhorse. It provides vertical timing that allows
switching between two video signals. Without this, whenever a signal was switched,
the picture would roll until the new signal locked up. I hate it when that happens.
In addition this signal locks the color phase between the switched signals. Using the
sine wave in the Burst portion of the waveform, the phase relationship of the two
signals can be locked. Without this, whenever a signal was switched, the colors would
rainbow until it relocked.

Figure 1

Black Burst was so good that when digital video came along it was still working hard.
The primary use in digital video signals is to give a reference for horizontal alignment.
Since digital video is a component format, the burst phase was no longer important.
As long as the frame rate (29.97 or 25) and line number (525 or 625) was the same
for black burst and SDI, everything was fine.
Unfortunately for black burst, high definition video was riding into town. Just one of
the standards (SMPTE 274) added almost a dozen new frame rates and active line
combinations.
 Table 1

Black burst still gave it a good try. In cases where the frame rate coincided with the
HD frame rate, it could still be used for vertical timing. PAL black burst at 25 fps, still
lined up quite well with 1125/50/I, 25/PsF, 25P, 750/50/P, 625/50/P and 625/50/P.
NTSC at 29.97 fps worked well, with a minor adjustment, in 1125/59.94, 29.97/PsF,
29.97/P, 750/59.94/P, 525/59.94/P and 525/59.94/I. The minor adjustment is that
the horizontal reference points of line 1 of 1125-line, line 1 of 750-line aligns with line
4 of 525-line black burst signals. Additionally in mixed format studios, the line count
disparity can cause problems in the line phase relationship. Some adjustments may
be required. This is dependent on the studio system architecture.

Figure 2
Further details of switch point location are available in SMPTE RP-168 ‘Definition of
Vertical Interval Switching Point for Synchronous Video Switching’. This
Recommended Practice “defines the line number and line timing for the switching
point of serial digital and analog interfaces carrying television and data payloads to
minimize any disturbance in the active payload area”. Table 2 shows black burst
compatibility with some line and field/frame rates.

Table 2

You may also notice that in the vertical interval where these counts are being
calculated, black burst moves between two voltage levels. This is why black burst,
when used to time digital signals, is sometimes referred to as bi-level sync. Tri-level
sync uses three voltage levels.

EAV - SAV

In the digital video data stream itself there is no analog reference to either black
burst or tri-level. The timing information is included in the ancillary data as four
consecutive code words. These code words are called either EAV (End Active Video) or
SAV (Start Active Video).
The first word is all ‘ones’, the second is all ‘zeros’ and the third is again all ‘zeros’.
The fourth word bits include:
F-bit (field/frame) – Always 0 in progressive systems, 0 = field one and 1 for field two
in interlaced systems.
V-bit – Shows a 1 during vertical blanking and 0 during active video lines.
H-bit (horizontal) – Shows a 1 for EAV sequence and 0 for SAV sequence.
Parity bits – Error correction data

Table 3
 Figure 3

The frame rate and number of lines determine the exact placement of the EAV first
word in relation to the analog 0H.
A line of digital video extends from the first word of EAV through the last word of
video data. 0H is the analog horizontal timing reference point and in the analog
domain is regarded as the start of the line.

TRI-LEVEL SYNC

Tri-level sync is becoming a required part of HD system timing.

One reason is that tri-level sync can be created to exactly match any of the standard
formats. Black burst only comes in two flavors 29.97 fps (525 line) and 25 fps (625
line).
Another reason is that black burst (gen-lock) is measured at the halfway point of the
leading (falling) edge of the pulse. Tri-Level sync uses the halfway point of the trailing
(rising) edge of the pulse. These points are used to time the digital video. They are
determined by means of a sync separator and voltage comparator.
 Figure 4

Usually determining the 50% point of the falling edge entails measuring the total
height and divide by two. Unfortunately, the trigger point has past by that time.
Another method is to infer the total height from previous sync pulses. This involves
some averaging process. In addition, the amplitude of the pulse can vary due to
attenuation in the cables. These effects cause some uncertainty in the final
positioning. This uncertainty leads to jitter in the output of the sync separator /
comparator.
Tri-level sync was created to avoid this uncertainty. The target 50% point is on the
rising edge of the pulse. This point corresponds to the original blanking level. This
means that the 50% voltage level is a known voltage. There is no integration or
averaging involved. This leads to lower jitter from the sync separator / comparator.

CONCLUSION

Tri-level sync has advantages and should be used whenever possible in all digital
facilities. But that workhorse ‘Black Burst’ will be around as long as standard
definition analog equipment is in use and requires timing.