PROCESS FOR TRANSMITTING SIGNAL MODE SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION IN A TELEVISION SIGNAL

摘要

For the compatible introduction of a 16:9 letterbox format into existing 4:3 television standards, the picture information of the 16:9 recording is displayed with black stripes at the top and bottom edge of the picture. To provide for full-screen display on a 16:9 receiver, additional information items allowing improved picture quality are transmitted in the black stripes of the compatible 4:3 transmission. A corresponding identification of the types of signal is needed for a 16:9 receiver to be able to decode the television signals in the correct manner. To avoid a change or impairment in the previous allocation of the vertical blanking interval, additional information on the type of signal is transmitted in the half of the first or last active picture line of the television signal which is free of picture signals or in the area of the back porch in at least one line per frame. The identification signal can thus be formed by a colour burst beginning earlier and/or ending later in time and/or by a data signal arranged after the colour burst in time or coincident with the colour burst.