Consumer
Television Consumer Video : Television Features
In the early days of
television, consumers had limited control over their television sets
with adjustments to the picture consisting of brightness and
contrast levels while channel selection was a manual process. Few
other comfort or feature selections were possible.
Gradually,
enhancements have been added over the years until today, where we
have an array of user selectable features all controlled from our
wireless remote and displayed via on screen menus.
The following are
features available with CRT direct view and projection television
sets of the NTSC format. Most should also be available with
television systems of the ATSC format along with additional
features.
SAP or Secondary Audio
Program: A feature on almost every stereo TV set that has been purchased since about 1990. It is commonly used in the U.S. to provide
Spanish language audio for English language television programs. SAP is an additional audio channel that can be received by all viewers with
stereo television sets in markets where SAP is available. It can be used for any
audio signal, but is most often used as a vehicle for a secondary language for
English language programming. If your TV set is a stereo TV set, you can select SAP by pressing the menu
button on your TV or on your remote control, selecting the audio function from
the menu, and switching to SAP from mono or stereo.
Many
modern stereo television sets have a feature in their audio equipment that
allows the reception of sound other than the main audio for the program.
This feature is called Multi-channel Television Sound (MTS). A TV
set with MTS can receive mono sound, stereo sound, or Secondary
Audio Programs (SAP).
The
SAP feature allows a TV station to broadcast other information to
the viewer through the audio receive system. That other information could
be the same program audio in another language, or something completely
different, such as weather information or Descriptive Video Services (DVS)
for the visually impaired.
As
an example, ABC regularly provides Spanish audio commentary during
"World News Tonight" and "Monday Night Football" as
well as other selected sporting events and specials. They do this
using the Secondary Audio Program (SAP). Viewers who had the SAP
feature turned on could hear the game in Spanish.
Activating
or deactivating the SAP is done on most television sets through a menu
using the remote control.
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The
SAP feature is only on television sets that are stereo. Even if
you have a newer model TV, SAP will not be available if your set has mono
sound.
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Before
trying to change the SAP, be sure you're controlling your TV set with
the remote and not the VCR.
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Some
remote controllers have a button on them labeled "MTS",
"SAP", or "Audio Select". Try pressing this
button in succession to cycle through the various audio modes.
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If
there is no button on the remote control, press the "MENU"
button to bring up your television's on-screen menu and look for
options like "Setup", "Audio Setup", or
"Audio" to find the selections available for MTS, or SAP.
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V-chip: The V-chip is a form of censorship
and a way to allow parents to control the amount of sexual,
violent or other inappropriate material their children may see on television. The Violence Chip is a chip installed in all
television sets as mandated by the Telecommunications Act of
1996. This is a programmable chip, meaning when parents buy their television sets
they can program in certain criteria (such as amounts of violence, sex or
explicit language) of the programs they do not want to see, or their children to
see. Programs that have been predetermined of having any of these attributes
will be blocked out of the TV set. In 2001
the FCC adopted rules requiring all television sets with picture screens 33
centimeters (13 inches) or larger to be equipped with features to block the
display of television programming based upon its rating. This technology is
known as the "V-Chip." The V-Chip reads information encoded in the
rated program and blocks programs from the set based upon the rating selected by
the parent.
The industry established a system for rating programming that contains
sexual, violent or other material parents may deem inappropriate and committed
to voluntarily broadcast signals containing these ratings. The rating system, also known as "TV Parental Guidelines," was
established by the National
Association of Broadcasters, the National Cable Television Association and
the Motion
Picture Association of America.
Picture In Picture:
Picture-in-picture (PIP)
allows you to watch more than one channel at the same time. With PIP, one
channel will be displayed on the entire TV screen, and another channel or
channels will be displayed in smaller squares on the screen.
Comb Filter:
There are several types of
comb filters. In all cases, the comb filter helps to separate the color signals
from the black and white, providing a higher resolution, or sharper, picture. Of
the three types, the 3DYC provides the sharpest picture, then the digital comb
filter, then the analog.
Color Temperature Control:
Most televisions provide three user-selectable Color Temperature
settings which affect the sets overall white balance. The "Warm" setting
reduces the color temperature to an NTSC standard 6500 degrees Kelvin and
delivers a redder image that is ideal for display in a dimly lit room.
"Medium" and "Cool" provide a progressively bluer image for
the best picture as room light levels are increased.
- The viewer can adjust white
balance to achieve the best television picture possible in any viewing
environment, or they can simply adjust the picture to suit their personal
tastes.
Channel Lock: Selected channels can be locked out to prevent viewing. Channels can be
unlocked by entering a secret code.
- Keeps children from viewing
channels you feel are inappropriate.
Closed Captioning on Mute: This feature automatically displays captioned information (if available)
on-screen when the MUTE button is pressed. Captions disappear when the volume
is restored.
- Without ever accessing the
Caption menu, the viewer can mute the volume and take a phone call while
following the captions on-screen.
Remote Control
Automatic brightness
control
Contrast adj.
S-Video connection
Sleep Timer
Auto Program
Closed Captions: A dynamic
on-screen text presentation of the audio portion of a television program.
Captions are text versions of the spoken word. The text content
should appear on-screen at approximately the same time that audio
would be available. Captions allow audio to be
"perceivable" to those who do not have access to audio,
and understandable to a wider audience. Though captioning is
primarily intended for those who cannot hear the audio, it has also
been found to help those that can hear audio content and those who
may not be fluent in the language in which the audio is presented.
"Closed" because the text does not show on the screen
unless turned on (decoded) by the viewer. It is hidden in the
video signal. The place they are hidden is called
line 21 of the vertical blanking interval (VBI). Captions can be used to
"view" the speech of actors or speakers on television
shows and is of particular interest to deaf or hard of hearing
viewers.
A law in the United States called the
Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 mandates that since July 1993,
all televisions manufactured for sale in the U.S. must contain a built-in
caption decoder if the picture tube is 13" or larger.
All decoders in North America are Line 21 decoders, named for the place
where the captions are encoded.
Captions in more than one language:
Usually the text is displayed in English but the decoder can also show
other languages if available. This is the CC1, CC2, CC3, CC4 options on
the on-screen menus. Line 21 is split into two fields each carrying two
caption channels.
Auto Clock Automatically sets current
time from PBS station's XDS Program Information signal.
Alternate Channel
Recall Quickly return to the last channel you were
watching. Use the RECALL key to change between programs or
ballgames.
Audio
Video Jack Pack Use the Input jacks to directly connect
your video equipment using A/V cables for a better quality picture.
Use the Output jacks to connect a stereo system for improved
sound.
Auto Channel Programming with
Nonvolatile Channel Memory As you first switch-on the TV,
this feature will automatically scan through each channel to
determine if a signal is being received. This will create a Channel
Scan List of all active channels that you can easily access using
the CHANNEL up/down keys. The memory for the list of active channels
is not affected by any power loss.
Auto
Shut-off If a signal is not present at the 75ohm RF
antenna terminal for more than 15 minutes, the TV chassis is
designed to automatically switch-off. This is a customer safety
feature, when you are not watching TV.
Bass and
Treble Controls Separate on-screen controls provide for a
wide range of Bass and Treble sound adjustments.
Clock The time-of-day Clock
appears on the screen whenever you change channels or press the
DISPLAY key.
Component Video Input (Y-Pb-Pr /
R-L) Five-connector input takes advantage of DVD and other
high definition signal sources. Video signal is divided into three
separate elements; red, blue and luminance( image brightness) with
dedicated Audio (R/L) jacks. Superior to both composite and S-video
because it delivers a quality picture, great resolution , color
accuracy and less color bleeding.
FAV
(Front A/V Input) A/V Input Jacks on TV front for easy
access and hookup of video games and equipment.
Closed-Caption with "QuikCap" The
TV will decode standard Closed-Captioning signals (CaptionVision) in
normal and text modes. The "QuikCap" function allows you to quickly
switch on the Captions (if available) whenever they press the MUTE
key. For example: you are watching TV, the phone rings, and you mute
the volume to answer the phone; "QuikCap" switches-on captions so
you won't miss any of the action.
Variable/Fixed Audio
Output Accessible through Menu, it allows viewer option of
controlling or muting home theatre audio volume using television
remote.
Velocity
Scan Modulation Additional circuitry controlling the
picture display for clearer, sharper transitions between light and
dark areas.
Comb Filter This
added circuitry helps produce clearer, more detail-perfect color
pictures. Also provides sharper, high-resolution pictures while
eliminating "dot crawl."
Front Surround Sound An audio enhancement
feature that improves the movie theatre-like sound and adds to the
stereo effect with a wall of sound.
Game Mode Used to enhance Video Games, this
preset selection will automatically set the picture and sound
controls for intense viewing and listening.
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Consumer
Video Consumer Video : Definitions
Dot Crawl
Dot crawl affects the edges of color and manifests
itself as moving dots of color along these edges. It is an inherent flaw in
both the PAL and NTSC video systems and cannot be eliminated fully once it has
been introduced into the video stream. It is an artefact of composite video
processing, and is commonly seen when
watching TV programming or programming from VCR.
If you use a composite video connector to watch
DVD, you
will see this artefact all of the time. Fortunately, it is readily eliminated by
using an S-Video, component video or RGB video connection, unless it is inherent
in the DVD's source material, which is rare. The most common place to see this
artefact on DVD is on logos which have been sourced from composite analog
master tapes.
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