Lecture 3

Characterization of messages
and related signals

Types of messages (recapitulation)

Audio and speech
Still images
Video
Text messages
Digital data
 Types of messages

• script letters
• speech
• music and other sounds
• still pictures
• movies
• alphanumeric data
• measurements
Signals of audio messages
 Sounds

excitation response

Sound Ear Neural Receptor Neural

waves membrane receptors responsitivity pulse
 Sounds

Pressure acoustic signal

dynamics bandwidth
Frequency range may extend
from 0 Hz to 5MHz
Course of acoustic pressure
 Sounds - dynamics

Source of sound Pressure relative

[Pascal] [dB]
Pain threshold 100 134
Jet engine 6 – 200 110 – 140
Disco 2 100
Road traffic 0.2 – 0.6 80 – 90
Car 0.02 – 0.2 60 – 80
Talk 0.002 – 0.02 40 – 60
Very silent room 0.0002 – 0.0006 20 – 30
Leaves noise 0.00006 10
Audibility threshold 0.00002 0
 Sounds

Dynamic and frequency range of acoustic

pressure may exceed well the range of
audibility
 Properties of human audibility

Simple approach:
• Reproduction of acoustic signal within limited
frequency band and with limited dynamics – may
satisfy some application requirements
– speech recognition
– remote reproduction of music (radio)
Properties of human audibility - sounds in
telecommunications
Average range of speech audibility
The simplest idea to deliminate speech
signals from other accoustic vibrations

telephony: 300 Hz – 3400 Hz

Dynamic range: 45 dB
 Properties of human audibility - sounds in
telecommunications
Average range of sounds audibility
HiFi radio band

telephony band

– FM radiophony 30 Hz – 15 kHz; D=60dB

– CD records 20 Hz – 20 kHz; D=95dB
The simplest idea to deliminate audible signals
from other accoustic vibrations
 Sounds in telecommunications

More advanced approach …

a) exploit properties of sound perception by humans
•b)Audible
exploit signals
physicswithin Hz … 20 class
of how20particular of sounds is
kHz frequency
generated
range
• Loudness impression - function of sound intensity
and frequency
• Audibility threshold
• Sound masking:
– foreward masking (to 200 ms)
– backward masking (to 10 ms)
 Properties of human audibility

More advanced approach:

• Loudness impression - function of sound intensity
and frequency
• Audibility threshold
• Sound masking:
– foreward masking (to 200 ms)
– backward masking (to 50 ms)
 Properties of human audibility
SPL [dB] (Sound Pressure Level)

Loudness [dB]

Frequency [Hz]
 Audio masking features

masking tone
Acoustic pressure [dB]

masked tone

masking threshold

threshold in silence

frequency [Hz]
 Audio masking features

backward co-masking foreward masking

masking

masking signal
 Sounds - representation

BN DN=D(t)

BN-1 DN-1=D(t)
s(t)

…..

B0 D0=D(t)

…..
f
f0 f0 +f f0 +2f
 Sounds - representation

1) Simplest representation – course of an analog

electrical equivalent of acoustic pressure

2) Sampled and digitized version of the above

(fs2fu, 20log(2N)D)

3) Sub-band codes – sub-bands with different

dynamic range quantized with different
number of levels
 Sound signal spectra

Analog signals

• Voice:
(telephony) 300Hz-3,400Hz (BW=3,100Hz)

• Audio:
(low quality) 30Hz-4,500Hz (BW=4,470Hz)
(high quality) 30Hz-15kHz (BW=14,970Hz)
 Sound signal spectra

Digital variants

• Voice:
 telephony: 64kbps (BW=64kHz; 8kHz sampling,
8 bit ADC)
• Audio:
 CD quality: 1.4112 Mbps (BW=1.4112MHz; 44,1kHz
sampling, 16 bit ADC, L&R stereo channels)
 basic Dolby System: 320kbps (BW=320kHz)
Signals of still image messages
 Still images

Possible sources of a still image message for

communication – direct image recording
 Still images

Possible sources of a still image message for

communication – a photo, a printed document, a
hand drawn sketch,…
 y - vertical displacement Still images

=f(x,y)
I=f(x,y)

I,,x,y  

x - horizontal displacement
A natural view as seen by a single eye - a 2D picture with
infinite spatial (horizontal and vertical) resolution and full
colour palette
 Still images

Simple still images preserve only brightness

(luminance) features of an original picture
 Signal representing a still image
y - vertical displacement

I=f(x,y) – brightness level, luminance

I,x,y  

x - horizontal displacement
 Signal representing a still image

y
vertical subdivision into lines

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Conversion of a 2D function to
its 1D (time) finite domain
(finite time) representative
cannot be made without loss

either y or x cannot be
x - horizontal displacement
infinitesimal
 Signal representing a still image

y
vertical subdivision into lines

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

t0 t1 t2 time

x - horizontal displacement
Signal representing a still image

BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK

The signal representing

a single line

Scanning time [s]

Signal representing a still image

Tmin=dmin/vscan

D typ. 100dB
Signal representing a still image

fh<fu

dmin=vscan/fh
Limiting horizontal resolution
 Signal representing a still image

CCD image sensor

More modern image sensors limit image spatial (vertical and

horizontal) resolution due to their construction
 Still images

Specific properties of human vision allows to

reproduce a still image with limited spatial
(horizontal&vertical) resolution with no loss to
recognition of image contents
Still images
Structure of a still image (representation)

Example:

Fax (CCITT Group 3):

- a 20 x 28 cm area split
into 3.6 mln pixels
- each pixel corresponds
to a 0.12  0.13 mm
rectangle
Signal representing
a still image

Line blanking

Level of black

Level of white

Blanking level
Line
synchronisation
 Still image signal spectrum (BW)

f [Hz]
fmax
fsyncl
Line synchro
 Structure of a still image (representation)

Image representation:
• 2-D matrix of pixels
• every pixel has following
features:
• colour intensity and
luminance or,
• intensity of colour
components
Intensities of features
expressed as corresponding
signals

Lena – a test image

 Structure of a still image (representation)

brighter

colour
darker
luminance
 Colour images

Violet 380-450 nm
Blue 450-495 nm
Green 495-570 nm
Yellow 570-590 nm
Orange 590-620 nm
Red 620-750 nm
Sensitivity of human vision to colours
Colour components

R-G-B components

C-M-Y components
 Colour components

..R

R-G-B components
..G

..B
Colour components

..R
..G
..B
Still image signals spectra (colour)

Vector signal: 3 (simultaneous) colour

components
 Still image signals spectra (example)

1728 pix/line CCITT Group 1: 6 minutes

transmission per A4 page
1188
lines/page

BW=2 850Hz

Digitized, 8-bit per pixel luminance resolution, no

compression, 6 minutes transmission per A4 page

Data rate Rb=22 800bps BW=22 800 Hz

Signals of video messages
 Video
y – vertical displacement

I=f1(x,y,t)
=f2(x,y,t)

x – horizontal displacement
 Video

y=f(t)

y,t  
t1 t2 t3 t
 Video

Eye inertia  steady picture compound from distinct frames:

not less than 16 reproductions/s (75 reprod/s ?)
 Video

Inertia effects in human

vision allows to
reproduce a video as a
sequence of a limited
number of still images reprod./s frames/s
movie 48.72 24
TV-50Hz 50 25
TV-60Hz 60 30
 Video

Numerous images per second  fast scanning required (200 ns per

line)  high-frequency components

Parameter 525/60 625/50 unit

Lines per frame 525 625 lines
Lines per half-frame 262.5 312.5 lines
Frames per second 29.97 25 1/s
Half-frames per sec. 59.94 50 1/s
Line duration ~52.9 64 s
Video signal 4.28 6.0 MHz
bandwidth
half-frames  interleaved
scanning (odd/even)
 Video

Video signal
 Video

Example: bandwidths for black-white video

luminance
576i720 – 5.15MHz
720i 1280 – 11.44MHz
1080i 1920 – 25.45MHz

576p720 – 10.30MHz
720p 1280 – 22.88MHz
1080p 1920 – 50.90MHz

For colour video (without coding)  3 signals of identical bandwidth

 Colour video

• Standard representation : Red (R), Green (G), Blue (B)

• Equivalent representation: luminance (Y) and two
differential signals (U, V)

Y = 0.299 R + 0.587 G + 0.114 B

differential
components
U = 0.564 (B - Y)
V = 0.713 (R - Y)
Differential images (signals)

luminance

chrominance A

chrominance B
Differential signals

U
DV, DU appr. 50 dB
Y
DY appr. 100 dB
 Video signal

filtration

Narrowing bandwidth of video signals

Limited resolution of colour content
 Video signal

Digitized:
13.50 MHz – luminance component sampling
3.375 MHz – differential chrominance components
sampling
8 bit per pixel resolution, no compression

Data rate Rb=162 Mbps BW=162 MHz

 Text - representation

Text characteristics:
• Sentences build of words
• Words build of letters
• Some extra symbols represent digits,
logographic signs, etc.
• Finite number of symbols – an alphabet

A text is equivalent to a sequence of alphabet

symbols
 Text - representation

Need represent every alphabet symbol

A text code is a sequence of alphabet codes

Example:
the Morse code
(dots and dashes)
 Text - representation

Example continued: the Morse code

voltage or current

time
 Text - representation

The ASCII code

 Text - representation

The ASCII code continued:

Char #1 Char #2 Char #N

byte #1 byte #2 byte #N

 Text – related signal

Signal representing a text (sequence of

alphabet codes) is a digital signal

…. will be characterized in more detail when

discussing digital data messages
 Digital data

•Texts • Images
• Audio • Video
• Data generated by digital systems (computers)

Binary coding format is common in digital systems

i  bk-1,bk, ….., b0 i=0,..,I-1

bl ={0,1} l=0,…,k-1

k - the length of a sequence (code)

2k unique messages
 Binary symbols (code) representation by signals

.. remind that …
Every bit can be associated with an analog (pulse) signal

High state

Forbidden state

Low state
Digital data source, message stream

b7 b7 b7
b6 b6 b6
b5 b5 b5
b4 b4 b4
……………
b3 b3 b3
b2 b2 b2
b1 b1 b1
b0 b0 b0

t0 t1 t2 t

T – (minimum) message signalling time interval

 Data serialization

.. parallel data (bit sequences,

words) have to be serialized for
A3 transmission ….

A2
…
A0

=T/N

Bit rate Rb = number of bits per second

 Signal representing digital data

bk-1 bk ………………………….. b0 ………

time

representation of one block next block

 Signal representing digital data
value

time
value

Bit Rate =
number of bits transmitted

Amplitude spectrum
 Bit rates for typical messages

Text: 10,000 chars, 70,000 bits

T=1s T=60s
70kbps 1.2kbps

Image: 200,000 pixels, 8 bits/pixel = 1,6Mb

T=1s T=60s
1,6Mbs ~27kbps
 Bit rates for typical messages

Telephony: 8kHz sampling, 8 bits/sample:

64kbps

Video: 200,000 pixels, interleaving, 50 half-frames,

8 bits/pixel, black-white:

40Mbps
 Bit rates for typical messages

Colour video:
 General forms of data

. 0 1 1 0 1 0 . . 0 0 1 1 0 1 . . 0 1 1 0 1 0 .

czas
time
1) Bit stream
•Bit stream (continuous)
Bit/s •Fixed bit rate
•Telephony, uncompressed video

time
 General forms of data streams, VBR stream

Variable bit rate data stream

Messages emitted at
irregular time intervals
…how to signall such messages?
Digital data source, message stream

N bytes,
N8 bits (after
serialization)
 General forms of data ...0101011101..

bl. #n-1 bl. #n bl. #n+1 bl. #n+2

czas
time
2) Blocks of bits (frames, cells, packets)
•bits organized in blocks; spare intervals between blocks
•Variable bit rate
Bit/s
•Compressed video, VoIP, computer data

time
 CBR, VBR - consequences

VBR
time

CBR
time

ISSUE!
VBR – poor utilization of transport media & commutators
 Recapitulation

Issue Description
Texts
Audio (sounds)
Speech
Still images
Video
Digital data
Next lecture:
„Physical transmission media”