Video broadcasting technology page

Index

• Broadcasting
• Cable TV
• Digital TV
• Satellite TV
• TV channel frequencies
• Video protection systems

Broadcasting

• Antenna Options - Survey of Antenna Characteristics and Types - antennas mainly for TV transmitters
• Broadcast Engineering Sites
• Broadcast Industry related websites
• Broadcast Links - broadcast equipoment manufacturer links
• Broadcast Net -broadcast industry home page
• Doug Lung's R.F. Technology Page - Focusing on TV RF Broadcast Technology
• FCC Interference Handbook - electronic version of FCC Interference to Home Electronic Entertainment Equipment Handbook
• Harris Broadcast Communications Technical/White Papers
• Homebrew Broadcasting book: Pirate Radio and TV Broadcasting Techniques - full book text on-line
• HOT Buttons for Surfing thru Close-Up - lots of video links
• MrBroadcasting.com Television Broadcasting Links
• Online Systems Integration Services - On-line interactive sutomized selection of TV/radio broadcasting and production sets
• Radio and Television Transmitters Site - different FM and TV conditions reflects the situation we have in southern Finland
• Society of Broadcast Engineers - serving the interests of Broadcast Engineers.
• Television Antenna Frequently Asked Question List
• Towers: Not all are created equal
• TV Channel Frequencies (Mhz) - list in en end appendix of the document
• Video Signal Eavesdropping Threat Tutorial - some views of video signal through spectrum analyzer
• Virtual Tower Erection - slide show how high transmitting towers are built

Digital TV

General

• Development of Satellite and Terrestrial Digital Broadcasting Systems
• Digital TV (Part 1): A Multi-part Series
• Digital TV (Part 2): Anatomy of a New Television Standard
• Digital TV (Part 3): Datacasting
• Digital TV (Part 4): Converting to Digital Television
• DTV training for engineers - what kind of training is needed
• DTV translators: Ensuring Coverage - the transition to digital has placed a burden on broadcasters to replicate current coverage areas
• MPEG: Challenges and opportunities in broadcast
• New DTV antenna technology
• REBOOT - while the DTV transition is stalled, it's time to fix the rest of the stuff that's broke in it
• The ATSC Standard - article which described HDTV standard used in USA and some system proposed for Europe and Japan
• Transmission line for DTV - high-power transmission line provides the link between broadcast transmitters and antennas and plays a critical role in signal quality and reliability

System in use in USA

• ACTS Digital Television Standard - digital HDTV standard proposal for USA in pdf format
• Datacasting: Is it legal?
• Digital Television: The Site - professional information about digital television as well as discussions about different aspects of digital television
• DTV Digital TV Basics
• DTV Signals Analysis
• How to Plan The DTV Transmission Facility - digital allocation for each television station in USA has been defined by the FCC's Sixth Report And Order, both in terms of effective radiated power (ERP), and channel assignments. Transmitter manufacturers are continually designing products to meet the new and unique requirements of the digital transmission signal
• Kill the 8VSB Frankenstein - broadcasters don't necessarily want 8VSB modulation on digital TV
• The great modulation debate? - the intensity of the debate between the 8VSB and COFDM camps has grown exponentially

Digital TV in Europe

• Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) home site - EBU home site has also information on DVB
• Digi-TV Forum - digital TV broadcasts on Finland
• Future TV - link list on digital TV development issues
• NorDig - NorDig is specifying a common platform for digital-TV within the Nordic region (Denmark, Finland, Island, Norway and Sweden), you can download all released NorDig specifications, reports and documents
• NorDig information central - co-operation to specify a common platform for digital-TV within the Nordic region (Denmark, Finland, Island, Norway and Sweden)

RF technology used in digital TV

• COFDM DTV vs. 8-VSB - some talk on the digital TV modulation techniques
• DTV Signals Mask Radiated Emissions - digital TV broadcast signals add yet another ambient signal to the mix
• Measure DTV Transmissions from Start to Finish - digital TV measurements cover everything from packet jitter to RF emissions

TV channel frequencies

• Kanavataulukko - TV channel frequencies in use in Finland, Eastern Europe and some other countries, texts in Finnish

Cable TV

• Attack on Pay-TV Access Control Systems - slide set by Markus Kuhn in pdf format
• Bens Cable Box - cable TV basics, FAQs, links, tips, wiring diagrams, problem locator
• Ben's CATV Wiring Diagrams
• Blonder Tongue CATV Reference Guide - book filled with information on troubleshooting, system design, industry formulas, channel frequency charts, and tons more
• Broadband Bob's CATV CyberLab - news, information and links
• Cable TV data transmission links - two way dtan transmission using cable modems and similar devices
• CATV: Implementation White Papers from Agilent - cable TV system measurements
• Defining Shorts & Opens - dealing with CATV distribution equipment and power supplies, we are constantly confronted with shorted and open components and circuits
• Detecting Signal Leakage - article series on cable TV leakage detection
• Interactive CATV Problem Locator - alos links to lots of cable TV documents
• Kaapelitelevisio- ja yhteisantennijärjestelmien rakentaminen ja ylläpito - information on cable TV system building and operationstandards in use in Finland, text in Finnish, also available in English
• Mechanics Of Aerial CATV Plant - understanding the mechnaics of aerial cable installation application note from Times Fiber in pdf format
• RF Troubleshooting Guide - amplification, modulation and cable modems
• Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineering
• The dB Reference - CATV training material
• The History of Cable Television - short description of cable TV history
• Times Fiber Information Download - cable specification, technical notes and manuals related to cable TV cable
• Understanding Power Splitters - how they work, what parameters are critical, and how to select the best value for your application

Satellite TV

General

• Digital Broadcast Satellites FAQ
• DSS and MPEG Technical Notes
• Satellite TV Frequently Asked Questions List (FAQ)
• J-Track 3-D - Java applet which shows the orbits of many satellites
• Lyngemark Satellite Chart - service intends to cover all relevant technical data for all satellite TV & radio channels in the world in the Ku and C bands
• Lyngemark Satellite Chart: Europe, Africa & Middle East - direct link to satellistes list
• Mammasat satellite search engine
• Masan Satelliittisivut - information on satellite reception in Finnish
• SATCO DX Satellite Chart - intends to cover all radio & TV channels on satellites around the world in the Ku, C and S bands
• The Digital Satellite System: Surround Sound from Space - information on DSS
• The Satellite Encyclopedia - devoted to unmanned artificial Earth satellites

Satellites

• Astra
• Eutelsat

Channels

• SATCO DX Satellite Chart - covers all radio & TV channels on satellites around the world in the Ku, C and S bands
• Satellite channel list

Technology

• Direct Broadcasting Service - lots of links
• Direct Satellite Broadcast brings downlink directly to your set-top box - tehnology article
• Error Recovery for MPEG-2 Satellite Receivers - article from Communications Systems Design magazine, read also Part II
• SMW - links to satellites, standards and encryption
• SMW link software - necessary calculations for you about how to align your dish and what picture quality you can expect

Protection

• Defiant Eurosat - lots of satellite cracking information

Video protection systems

Cable and satellite TV protection is designed to protect the broadcaster's program material so that only the people who pay for viewing those protected channels can view them. Owning and/or using your own video protection decoding circuit is illegal in many countries. Just building your own cable decoder box is also not a generally good idea, beachus there are tens of different cable decoding box systems and many different protections schemes in use, so every cable decoder plan works only on a very limited number of cable TV networks and it is hard to get to know which cable TV decoder works in which network unless you build and test. And there is no guarantee that any of the circuits below has worked well in any cable TV network. Basically those following circuit have only informational value to electronics hackers who are interrested in cable TV decoding electronics.

General

• Hackwatch - news and FAQ on Pay Television decoding/hacking
• Lakiotteita - legal information related to cable TV scrambling systems in Finland, text in Finnish
• Overview of protection methods in existing TV and storage devices
• Scrambling News magazine - insider information on the current TV video scrambling and de-scrambling

Cable TV

• Cable Descrambling - page with many circuit diagrams
• Cable TV Descrambling - lots of descrabling information
• Pay TV decoding FAQ - arj compressed file
• Suppressed Sync and Active Video Inversion (SSAVI) - document is in English and Finnish
• SSAVI Salausjärjestelmän FAQ - information on SSAVI video protection system in Finnish
• SSAVI Scrambling System FAQ
• The Gated Sync - examples to identify the protection system in use in your cable
• $12 Decoder Plans

Satellite

• Description of the Videocrypt pay-tv scrambling system - arj compressed file

VCR

• Experimental Macrovision Remover
• Implementation of Macrovision remover
• Macrovision - the company which created the most popular VCR copy protection system
• Macrovision Decoder - circuit to remove macrovision
• Macrovision remover
• Macrovision video copy protection system removing circuit
• Nezzle Macrovision Page - macrovision FAQ
• Video Stabilizer - unit designed to remove the copy-protection from prerecorded video tapes, to allow them to be played through older televisions or making backup copies of tapes which you own, designed for PAL format

Circuits

LEGAL NOTICE: Using and building cable TV decoder circuits which allow viewing protected cable TV channels without paying to cable TV operator is illegal in many countries. I have not tested any of the circuits above and there is no guarantee that any of those circuits will work in your particular cable TV system. The circuit diagrams are quite useful video circuit design examples, though the circuit design of many of the converters is quite poor.
• 3 Chip Descrambler Archive
• Dekoderarean - information about MAXIDECODER, text in swedish
• Dekoder för Telias kabel-TV-nät
• Jens's homepage 3-chip descrambler circuit code and information
• Magic Boxes 2/3/4-chip World Descrambler - versions for both NTSC and PAL
• Maxidecoder 1.0 - Decoder PCB layout for Cable networks using synchronisation coding, Works with Swedish Cablevision and maybe with HTV from Defiant Eurosat, schematic available in gzipped postscript format
• The 3Chip Page - online resource for 3Chip decoder design and development
• Twelve Dollar Cable Box Plans From 1985 - describes a method of descrambing only a particular type of cable system no longer used by any cable companies