KR20070112127A - A system and method for sharing video input jacks - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosed embodiments relate to a system and method for decoding video signals. A video unit (10) may comprise a detection circuit (16) coupled to a luminance input jack (36), a red color difference input jack (38), and a blue color difference input jack (40), the detection circuit (18) adapted to detect a sync signal portion of a video signal received by the video unit (10); and a video processor (14) coupled to the detection circuit (16), the video processor (14) adapted to decode the video signal as a component video signal if the detection circuit (16) detects that the sync signal portion is being received through the luminance input jack (36). The method may comprise the acts of configuring the video unit (10) to detect a sync signal portion of a video signal received by the video unit (10) and configuring the video unit (10) to decode the video signal as a component video signal if the sync signal portion is detected as being received through a luminance input jack (36).

Description

System and method for sharing video input jacks {A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SHARING VIDEO INPUT JACKS}

The present invention relates generally to decoding a video signal of a video unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for sharing video input jacks, and to a method for manufacturing a video unit capable of accepting a plurality of video input types for a set of input jacks.

This section introduces the reader to various aspects of the art that may relate to the various aspects of the invention described below. This discussion will be beneficial to provide readers with background information that will facilitate understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. On the other hand, it should be understood that these discussions should be understood from this point of view and not to accept the prior art.

Modern video units, such as cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions, "Liquid Crystal Display" (LCD) monitors or televisions, plasma screen televisions, audio / video receivers, or video projectors, can be used as VCR digital video disc (DVD) players, computers, or There is a need to provide several input jacks to facilitate an increasing number of video output devices, such as phase television receivers. In addition, there are a variety of video input signal types, analog and digital.

In general, the video unit will also have an audio input corresponding to each of the video input types. This audio input may include one RCA jack for the left channel and one RCA jack for the right channel. In other embodiments, there may be other types of audio inputs.

With the growth of the video market over the last few years, the number of video inputs of modern video units has increased significantly. For example, a video unit may require five separate video inputs to meet the needs of a user who wants to connect a VCR, DVD player, video camera, satellite receiver and computer to one video unit. Since each of these video sources may use either composite or component video, the video unit may have a composite video jack and all three component video jacks for each input. Each set of composite and component video jacks may also have two or more audio jacks accompanying them, with a total of six jacks per video input. Since there are six jacks per input, the aforementioned video unit with five inputs will have a total of 30 jacks. These 30 jacks will occupy quite a bit of space in the video unit. It is desirable to reduce the number of such jacks.

Summary of the Invention

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to a system and method for decoding a video signal. The video unit is coupled to a luminance input jack, a red color difference input jack and a blue color difference input jack, and is configured to detect a sync signal portion of the video signal received by the video unit. And a video processor coupled to the detection circuit, the video processor decodes the video signal as a component video signal when the detection circuit detects that the synchronous signal portion is being received via the luminance input jack. The method comprises the steps of: configuring the video unit to detect a sync signal portion of the received video signal, and if it detects that the sync signal portion is being received via the luminance input jack, the video unit is configured to decode the video signal as a component video signal It may include the step.

1 is a block diagram of a video unit having a shared video input jack in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

2 illustrates a shared video input jack in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

One or more specific embodiments of the present invention are now described. For simplicity of description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described. However, in any engineering or design project, in the development of any of these practical implementations, many implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as to comply with variable system- and business-related constraints. Should know. In addition, while such development efforts are complex and time consuming, it should be appreciated that those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present invention are merely conventional design, assembly and manufacturing.

Composite video and component video are two analog video input signal types. Composite video is a video type used in universal customer video equipment such as televisions and VCRs as well as camcorders, digital cameras, and many other video recording and display devices. In general, composite video is transmitted over a wire with RCA-style plugs on each side. This RCA plug can be inserted into the RCA-style jack in both the video unit and the video output device to display the video. In other embodiments, the RCA-style plug may be integrated into the video output device. In this case, the transmission wire and the output device may be one unit.

Composite video combines the color portion, luminance portion, and synchronization portion of a video image into one combined video signal. In general, composite video consists of 480 visible lines in an interlaced format. When the video is displayed in an interlaced format, it can display odd lines for one scan of this indication and even lines for the next scan. The complete video image can be generated on the display by repeating this process 30 times per second. This type of video input signal may be referred to as 480i, as described above, with 480 visible lines interlaced.

Composite video may also be referred to as 1H because it is a reference line that evaluates the horizontal sync frequency of the video signal. The horizontal sync frequency is the number of times per second that an electron beam in the display can return after tracing the pattern horizontally across the display from one side to the other.

Now look at component video, a new video input type that separates brightness and color into separate signals. Specifically, the component video consists of a luminance signal referred to as "Y", a blue difference signal referred to as "Pb", and a red difference signal referred to as "Pr". In general, the sync portion of the video signal is transmitted with the luminance signal in the component video. By separating the video signal into three parts, higher quality video can be displayed. Similar to composite video, each of the component video signals is generally transmitted over an RCA-style cable. This means that both the video unit and the video output device are generally equipped with an RCA jack.

Unlike composite video, component video can support a wide variety of video signal formats. First, component video may support 480i or 1H. In this case, the component video signal may not have a higher resolution than the composite video signal. Component video may support 480p, also referred to as 2H. As with the 480i video signal, the 480p video signal consists of a video signal with 480 video lines. However, unlike 480i, 480p video signals are not interlaced. Rather, all 480 displayable lines can be displayed at a time. Displaying all displayable lines at once is known as progressive scanning, and the name 480p derives from the fact that it has 480 displayable lines to be progressive scanned. 480p is also known as 2H because its horizontal sync frequency is twice the horizontal sync frequency of 480i.

Component video may also transmit a 1080i video signal. The 1080i video signal consists of 1080 displayable video lines of interlaced scans. The 1080i video signal is also referred to as 2.14H because its horizontal sync frequency is about 2.14 times the horizontal sync frequency of 480i.

Finally, component video may transmit a 720p video signal. The 720p video signal consists of 720 displayable video lines of progressive scan. The 720p video signal is also referred to as 3H because its horizontal sync frequency is about three times the horizontal sync frequency of the 480i video signal. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments, the component video may also display video signals having several different horizontal sync frequencies and different numbers of displayable lines, such as 1080p.

As mentioned above, it is desirable to reduce the number of video input jacks of a video unit. One way to accomplish this is to use a shared video input jack. This may be possible because both composite video and component video can be transmitted over a wire with an RCA-style plug and inserted into the RCA-style jack of the video unit. As such, the number of video input jacks can be reduced if one of the component video input jacks is also used as an input jack for the composite video signal. In one embodiment, the composite video signal may be sent to the video unit via a Pb input jack. In another embodiment, the composite video signal may be transmitted via the Pr input jack. In either case, however, if the input video signal cannot determine whether it is the composite video signal or the color difference portion (either Pr or Pb) of the component video signal, the video unit may not be able to display the video signal properly. .

One way to overcome this potential problem is to allow the user to manually select the video input type. This can be done through some type of user interface. However, many consumers, especially those unfamiliar with video equipment, may not know the need to select a video input type or how to set the video input type. In this case, the input video signal may be displayed incorrectly. In addition, if the user does not know the need to select a video input type, and the composite or component's default video input type does not match the input signal type, the input video display may be incorrectly displayed.

In one embodiment, the video input type may be set automatically by detecting which of the video unit's shared video input jacks is being used to receive the sync portion of the video signal. As described above, the video unit may receive the entire composite video signal including the synchronous portion of the composite signal through the Pb input jack or the Pr input jack, and receive the synchronous portion of the component signal through the Y input jack. Can be. As will be described in detail below, the video unit may utilize this feature to automatically select the appropriate video input type.

1 is a block diagram of a video unit with a shared video input jack in which embodiments of the present invention may be employed. Reference numeral 10 is assigned to this figure. The video unit 10 may include a display 12, a video processor 14, a detection circuit 16, a shared video input jack 18, and a user interface 20. Display 12 may include any type of video display. Examples include, but are not limited to, CRT televisions, LCD screens, plasma screens, digital light processing (DLP) systems or projectors. Display 12 may display a video input signal and may be used to select a video input type with user interface 20.

Display 12 may be coupled to video processor 14. The video processor 14 may convert the video signal into a form necessary to be displayed on the display unit 12. In addition, video processor 14 may include logic or programming that allows a user to install video unit 10. This installation process may include selecting a video input type for a particular video input. Video processor 14 may also be coupled to user interface 20. The user interface 20 allows a user to connect to the video processor 14 to select a video input type for a particular video input.

Video processor 14 may also be coupled to detection circuit 16. In one embodiment, the detection circuit 16 may include one or more sync detectors that may be coupled to the shared video input jack 18. The detection circuit 16 may be configured to determine whether the video input is a composite video signal or a component video signal. In one embodiment, this determination can be made by detecting whether the video unit 10 is receiving a synchronous portion of the video signal via the luminance input jack (36 in FIG. 2). In this embodiment, if the sync portion is being received via the Y input jack, the detection circuit 16 can determine that the video input type is component video. On the other hand, if the detection circuit 16 does not detect that the sync portion is being received via the Y input jack, it may determine that the video input type is composite video.

Once the detection circuit 16 has determined the video input type, it may send a signal to the video processor 14 indicating the video input type. Upon receiving this signal, video processor 14 may set the video input type to match the video input type detected by detection circuit 16.

Finally, the detection circuit 16 can be coupled to the shared video input jack 18. 2 illustrates a shared video input jack in which embodiments of the present invention may be used. Reference numeral 18 is assigned to this figure. The shared video input jack 18 will generally be an RCA-style input jack. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the method disclosed herein may be implemented for other types of input jacks. The shared video input jack 18 may include an audio input jack set 34 and a video input jack set 42. The audio input jack set 34 may include a left channel audio jack 30 and a right channel audio jack 32. The left channel audio jack 30 may be connected to a wire for transmitting an audio signal for the left channel speaker, and the right channel audio jack 32 may be connected to a wire for transmitting an audio signal for the right channel speaker. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in other embodiments, the audio jack set 34 may consist of two or more audio jacks, or may not exist at all.

As mentioned above, the shared video input jack 18 may also include a video input jack set 42. The video input jack set 42 generally includes three video input jacks, namely a luminance input jack (also referred to as a "Y" input jack), a red car / composite input jack 38 ("Pr" input jack or "Pr"). / Composite "input jack), and blue car input jack 40 (also referred to as" Pb "input jack). As noted above, in other embodiments, the composite video input jack may also be a Pb input jack 40. In this embodiment, the Pb input jack 40 may be referred to as a "Pb / composite" input jack 40. As with audio jack set 34, video input jack set 42 will generally be an RCA-style input jack. However, in other embodiments, the video input jack set 42 may be an input jack of a different style.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, various modifications may be made to the present invention, and other forms may also be implemented. In addition, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to this particular form disclosed herein. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (20)

As video unit 10, A detection circuit 16 coupled to a luminance input jack 36, a red difference input jack 38, and a blue difference input jack 40, wherein the detection circuit 16 is a video signal received by the video unit 10; To detect the sync signal portion of A video processor 14 coupled to the detection circuit 16, The video processor 14 is configured to decode the video signal as a component video signal when the detection circuit 16 detects that the sync signal portion is being received via the luminance input jack 36 ( 10). The method of claim 1, The video processor 14 is configured to decode the video signal as a composite video signal if the detection circuitry 16 does not detect that the sync signal portion is being received via the luminance input jack 36. Unit 10. The method of claim 1, Video unit 10 comprising an audio input jack set 34. The method of claim 1, A video unit (10) comprising a display unit (12) configured to display said video signal. The method of claim 4, wherein The video unit (10) comprises an LCD television. The method of claim 4, wherein The video unit (10) comprises a plasma screen television. The method of claim 4, wherein The video unit (10) comprises a video projector. The method of claim 4, wherein The video unit (10) comprises an audio / video receiver. The method of claim 1, The video processor 14 composites the video signal when the detection circuit 16 detects that the synchronization signal portion is being received through the red difference input jack 38 or the blue difference input jack 40. Video unit 10 adapted to decode as a video signal. As the video unit 10 manufacturing method, Configuring the video unit 10 to detect a sync signal portion of a received video signal; And if the detection of the synchronization signal portion is being received via a luminance input jack (36), configuring the video unit (10) to decode the video signal as a component video signal. The method of claim 10, If it does not detect that the sync signal portion is being received via the luminance input jack 36, the video unit 10 comprises configuring the video signal to decode the video signal as a composite video signal. Way. The method of claim 10, Configuring the video unit (10) to decode an audio signal received via an audio input jack set (34). The method of claim 8, If the sync signal portion is detected to be being received via the red difference input jack 38 or the blue difference input jack 40, configuring the video unit 10 to decode the video signal as a composite video signal. The video unit 10 manufacturing method. The method of claim 8, And configuring the video unit to display the video signal. As video unit 10, Means for detecting a synchronization signal portion of a video signal received by the video unit 10, Means for decoding the video signal as a component video signal if it detects that the sync signal portion is being received via a luminance input jack (36). The method of claim 15, And said means for decoding comprises circuitry for decoding said video signal as a composite video signal if it does not detect that said sync signal portion is being received via said luminance input jack (36). The method of claim 15, Video unit 10 comprising an audio input jack set 34. The method of claim 15, And a display unit adapted to display said video signal. The method of claim 18, The display unit comprises a plasma screen television. The method of claim 15, And a circuit for decoding the video signal as a composite video signal upon detecting that the sync signal portion is being received via a color difference input jack.

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