Chapter 6

Television Signal Transmission & Propagation

Contents
Picture Signal transmission
Positive and negative modulation
Vestigial sideband transmission
Standard channel BW
Television transmitter
TV Signal propagation
Interference suffered by TV channels
TV broadcast channels for terrestrial

transmission

Picture Signal
transmission
In AM transmitters where efficiency is the

prime requirement, amplitude modulation is

effected by making the output current of a
class C amplifier proportional to the
modulating voltage
This amounts to applying a series of current

pulses at the frequency of the carrier to the

output tuned (tank) circuit where the
amplitude of each pulse follows the variations
of the modulating signal

Picture Signal
transmission
The resonant frequency of the tuned circuit is

set equal to the carrier frequency

The accumulative effect of this action of the
resonant circuit is generation of a continuous
sine wave voltage at the output of tank circuit
The frequency of this voltage is equal to
carrier frequency having amplitude variations
proportional to magnitude of the modulating
signal

Picture Signal
transmission

Positive and negative modulation

When the intensity of picture brightness

causes increase in amplitude of the

modulated envelope, it is called positive
modulation
When the polarity of modulating video signal
is so chosen that sync tips lie at the 100 per
cent level of carrier amplitude and increasing
brightness produces decrease in the
modulation envelope, it is called negative
modulation

Positive and negative modulation

Positive and negative modulation

Effect of Noise Interference on Picture Signal:
In negative system of modulation, noise pulse
extends in black direction of the signal when they
occur during the active scanning intervals
They extend in the direction of sync pulses when
they occur during blanking intervals
In the positive system, the noise extends in the
direction of the white during active scanning i.e., in
the opposite direction from the sync pulse during
blanking
Obviously the effect of noise on the picture itself is
less pronounced when negative modulation is used

Positive and negative modulation

Positive and negative modulation

Positive and negative modulation

Effect of Noise Interference on Synchronization:
Sync pulses with positive modulation being at a
lesser level of the modulated carrier envelope
are not much affected by noise pulses
However, in the case of negatively modulated
signal, it is sync pulses which exist at maximum
carrier amplitude, and the effect of interference
is both to mutilate some of these, and to produce
lot of spurious random pulses
This can completely upset the synchronization of
the receiver time bases unless something is done
about it

Positive and negative modulation

Peak Power Available from the Transmitter:
With positive modulation, signal corresponding
to white has maximum carrier amplitude
The RF modulator cannot be driven harder to
extract more power because the non-linear
distortion thus introduced would affect the
amplitude scale of the picture signal and
introduce brightness distortion in very bright
areas of the picture

Positive and negative modulation

Peak Power Available from the Transmitter:
In negative modulation, the transmitter may be
over-modulated during the sync pulses without
adverse effects, since the non-linear distortion
thereby introduced, does not very much affect
the shape of sync pulses
Consequently, the negative polarity of
modulation permits a large increase in peak
power output and for a given setup in the final
transmitter stage the output increases by about
40%

Positive and negative modulation

Use of AGC (Automatic Gain Control) Circuits

in the Receiver:
In negative system of modulation, peak level of

incoming carrier is the peak of sync pulses

which remains fixed at 100 per cent of signal
amplitude and is not affected by picture details
This level may be selected simply by passing
the composite video signal through a peak
detector

Positive and negative modulation

Use of AGC (Automatic Gain Control) Circuits in

the Receiver:
In the positive system of modulation the
corresponding stable level is zero amplitude at
the carrier and obviously zero is no reference,
and it has no relation to the signal strength
The maximum carrier amplitude in this case
depends not only on the strength of the signal
but also on the nature of picture modulation
and hence cannot be utilized to develop true
AGC voltage

Vestigial sideband
transmission

Vestigial sideband
transmission
In the 625 line TV system where the

frequency components present in the video

signal extend from dc (zero Hz) to 5MHz
A double sideband AM transmission would
occupy a total bandwidth of 10 MHz
The actual band space allocated to the
television channel would have to be still
greater, because with practical filter
characteristics it is not possible to terminate
the bandwidth of a signal abruptly at the
edges of the sidebands

Vestigial sideband
transmission
Therefore, an attenuation slope of 0.5 MHz is

provided at each edge of the two sidebands

This adds 1 MHz to the required total band space
In addition to this, each television channel has its
associated FM (frequency modulated) sound signal,
the carrier frequency of which is situated just outside
the upper limit of 5.5 MHz of the picture signal
This, together with a small guard band, adds another
0.25 MHz to the channel width, so that a practical
figure for the channel bandwidth would be 11.25 MHz

Vestigial sideband
transmission
Such a bandwidth is too large, and if used,

would limit the number of channels in a given

high frequency spectrum allocated for TV
transmission
In the video signal very low frequency
modulating components exist along with the
rest of the signal
Therefore, as a compromise, only a part of the
lower sideband, is suppressed, and the
radiated signal then consists of a full upper
sideband together with the carrier, and the
vestige (remaining part) of the partially

Vestigial sideband
transmission
This pattern of transmission of the modulated

signal is known as vestigial sideband or A5C

transmission
In the 625 line system, frequencies up to 0.75
MHz in the lower sideband are fully radiated

Vestigial sideband
transmission
The picture signal is seen to occupy a

bandwidth of 6.75 MHz instead to 11 MHz

Standard channel BW
The sound carrier is always positioned at the

extremity of the fully radiated upper sideband and

hence is 5.5 MHz away from the picture carrier
The FM sound signal occupies a frequency spectrum
of about 75 KHz around the sound carrier
However, a guard band of 0.25 MHz is allowed on the
sound carrier side of the television channel to allow
for adequate inter-channel separation
The total channel bandwidth thus occupies 7 MHz and
this represents a band space saving of 4.25 MHz per
channel, when compared with the 11.25 MHz space

Standard channel BW

Standard channel BW
Figure shows allocation of two channel on

spectrum band

Channel bandwidth for colour

transmission
Following figure shows location of colour

signal band in video signal spectrum

Television transmitter

TV Signal propagation
Radio waves are electromagnetic waves, which

when radiated from transmitting antennas, travel

through space to distant places, where they are
picked up by receiving antennas
Although space is the medium through which
electromagnetic waves are propagated, but
depending on their wavelengths, there are three
distinctive methods by which propagation takes
place
These are: (a) ground wave or surface wave
propagation, (b) sky wave propagation, and (c)
space wave propagation

TV Signal propagation
(a) ground wave or surface wave propagation:
Vertically polarized electromagnetic waves

radiated at zero or small angles with ground,

are guided by the conducting surface of the
ground, along which they are propagated
Such waves are called ground or surface
waves
The attenuation of ground waves, as they
travel along the surface of the earth is
proportional to frequency, and is reasonably
low below 1500 kHz

TV Signal propagation
(b) Sky Wave Propagation:
Most radio communication in short wave bands up

to 30 MHz (11 meters) is carried out by sky waves

When such waves are transmitted high up in the
sky, they travel in a straight line until the
ionosphere is reached
This region which begins about 120 km above the
surface of the earth, contains large concentrations
of charged gaseous ions, free electrons and
neutral molecules
The ions and free electrons tend to bend all
passing electromagnetic waves

TV Signal propagation
The angle by which the wave deviates from its

straight path depends on

(i) frequency of the radio wave
(ii) angle of incidence at which the wave enters

the ionosphere
(iii) density of the charged particles in the
ionosphere at the particular moment
(iv) thickness of the ionosphere at the point

TV Signal propagation

TV Signal propagation
With increase in frequency, the allowable

incident angle at the ionosphere becomes

smaller until finally a frequency is reached,
when it becomes impossible to deflect the
beam back to earth
For ordinary ionospheric conditions this
frequency occurs at about 35 to 40 MHz
Above this frequency, the sky waves cannot
be used for radio communication between
distant points on the earth

TV Signal propagation
(c) Space Wave Propagation
The only alternative for transmission in the

VHF and UHF bands, despite large

attenuation, is by radio waves which travel in
a straight line from transmitter to receiver
This is known as space wave propagation
For not too large distances, the surface of the
earth can be assumed to be flat and different
rays of wave propagation can reach the
receiver from transmitter

TV Signal propagation

TV Signal propagation

TV Signal propagation
Effect of Earths Curvature:
Earths curvature limits the maximum

distance between the transmitting and

receiving antennas
The maximum line of sight distance d
between the two antennas can be easily found
out
Neglecting (hr)2 and (ht)2, being very small as
compared to R, the radius of the earth, the
line-of-sight distance d 4.22(ht + hr ) km

TV Signal propagation
Range of Transmission
A sample calculation shows that for a

transmitting antenna height of 225 meters above

ground level the radio horizon is 60 km
If the receiving antenna height is 16 meters
above ground level the total distance is increased
to 76 km
Depending on the transmitter power and other
factors the service area may extend up to 120 km
for the channels in the VHF band but drops to
about 60 km for UHF channels

TV Signal propagation
Booster Stations
Some areas are either shadowed by

mountains or are too far away from the

transmitter for satisfactory television
reception
In such cases booster stations can be used. A
booster station must be located at such a
place, where it can receive and rebroadcast
the program to receivers in adjoining areas

TV Signal propagation
Signal strength is a function of power

radiated, transmitting and receiving antenna

heights
The acceptable signal to noise ratio at the
picture tube screen is measured in terms of
peak-to-peak video signal voltage (half tone),
injected at the grid or cathode of the picture
tube versus the r.m.s. random noise voltage at
that point
A peak signal to r.m.s. noise ratio of 45 db is
generally considered adequate to produce a
good quality picture

TV Signal propagation
Field strength is indicated by the amount of

signal received by a receiving antenna at a height

of 10 meters from ground level, and is measured
in microvolts per meter of antenna dipole length
The field strength for very good reception in
thickly populated and built-up areas is 2500 V/
meter for channels 2 to 4 (47 to 68 MHz), and
3550 V/meter for channels 5 to 11 (174 to 223
MHz)
For channels in the UHF band, a field strength of
about 5000 V/meter becomes necessary

Interference suffered by TV
channels
(a) Co-channel Interference
Two stations operating at the same carrier

frequency, if located close by, will interfere

with each other
This phenomenon which is common in fringe
areas is called co-channel interference
As the two signal strengths in any area almost
equidistant from the two co-channel stations
become equal, a phenomenon known as
venetian-blind interference occurs

Interference suffered by TV
channels

Interference suffered by TV
channels
(b) Adjacent Channel Interference
Stations located close by and occupying adjacent

channels, present a different interference problem

Adjacent channel interference may occur as a
result of beats between any two of these
frequencies or between a carrier and any
sidebands
A coarse dot structure is produced on the screen
if picture carrier of the desired channel beats with
sound carrier of the lower adjacent channel

Interference suffered by TV
channels
(c) Ghost Interference
Ghost interference arises as a result of

discrete reflections of the signal from the

surface of buildings, bridges, hills, towers etc

Interference suffered by TV
channels

Interference suffered by TV
channels
The direct signal is usually stronger and

assumes control of the synchronizing circuitry

and so the picture, due to the reflected signal
that arrives late, appears displaced to the
right
Such displaced pictures are known as trailing
ghost pictures
The effect of such reflected signals (ghost
images) can be minimized by using directional
antennas and by locating them at suitable
places on top of the buildings

TV broadcast channels for terrestrial

transmission
Below are the band rages approved by

Consultative Committee on International

Radio(CCIR)