AD724
REV. B
–9–
The filtered chrominance signal is then summed with the fil-
tered luminance signal to create the composite video signal. The
separate luminance, chrominance and composite video voltages
are amplified by two in order to drive 75 Ω reverse-terminated
lines. The separate luminance and chrominance outputs to-
gether are known as S-video. The composite and S-video out-
puts are simultaneously available.
The two sync inputs HSYNC and VSYNC drive an XNOR gate
to create a CSYNC signal for the AD724. If the user produces a
true composite sync signal, it can be input to the HSYNC pin
while the VSYNC pin is held high. In either case the CSYNC
signal that is present after the XNOR gate is used to generate
the sync and burst signals that are injected into the analog signal
chain. The unclocked CSYNC signal is sent to a reference cell
on the chip which, when CSYNC is low, allows a reference
voltage to be injected into the luminance chain. The width of the
injected sync is the same as the width of the supplied sync signal.
The CSYNC signal (after the XNOR gate) is also routed to the
digital section of the AD724 where it is clocked in by a 2FSC
clock. The digital circuitry then measures the width of the
CSYNC pulses to separate horizontal pulses from equalization
and serration pulses. A burst flag is generated only after valid
horizontal sync pulses, and drives a reference cell to inject the
proper voltages into the U and V low-pass filters. This burst flag
is timed from the falling edge of the clocked-in CSYNC signal.
In synchronous systems (systems in which the subcarrier clock,
sync signals, and RGB signals are all synchronous) this will give
a fixed burst position relative to the falling edge of the output
sync. However, in asynchronous systems the sync to burst posi-
tion can change line to line by as much as 140 ns (the period of
a 2FSC clock cycle) due to the fact that the burst flag is generated
from a clocked CSYNC while the sync is injected unclocked. This
phenomenon may or may not create visual artifacts in some high-
end video systems.
APPLYING THE AD724
Inputs
RIN, BIN, GIN are analog inputs that should be terminated to
ground with 75 Ω in close proximity to the IC. When properly
terminated the peak-to-peak voltage for a maximum input level
should be 714 mV p-p. The horizontal blanking interval should
be the most negative part of each signal.
The inputs should be held at the input signal’s black level dur-
ing the horizontal blanking interval. The internal dc clamps will
clamp this level during color burst to a reference that is used
internally as the black level. Any noise present on the RIN,
GIN, BIN or AGND pins during this interval will be sampled
onto the input capacitors. This can result in varying dc levels
from line to line in all outputs or, if imbalanced, subcarrier
feedthrough in the COMP and CRMA outputs.
For increased noise rejection, larger input capacitors are desired.
A capacitor of 0.1 µF is usually adequate.
Similarly, the U and V clamps balance the modulators during an
interval shortly after the falling CSYNC input. Noise present
during this interval will be sampled in the modulators, resulting
in residual subcarrier in the COMP and CRMA outputs.
HSYNC and VSYNC are two logic level inputs that are combined
internally to produce a composite sync signal. If a composite
sync signal is to be used, it can be input to HSYNC while
VSYNC is pulled to logic HI (> +2 V).
The form of the input sync signal(s) will determine the form of
the composite sync on the composite video (COMP) and lumi-
nance (LUMA) outputs. If no equalization or serration pulses
are included in the HSYNC input there won’t be any in the
outputs. Although sync signals without equalization and serra-
tion pulses do not technically meet the video standards’ specifi-
cations, many monitors do not require these pulses in order to
display good pictures. The decision whether to include these
signals is a system tradeoff between cost and complexity and
adhering strictly to the video standards.
The HSYNC and VSYNC logic inputs have a small amount of
built-in hysteresis to avoid interpreting noisy input edges as
multiple sync edges. This is critical to proper device operation, as
the sync pulses are timed for vertical blanking interval detection.
The HSYNC and VSYNC inputs have been designed for
VIL > 1.0 V and VIH < 2.0 V for the entire temperature and
supply range of operation. The remaining logic inputs do not
have hysteresis, and their switching points are centered around
1.4 V. This allows the AD724 to directly interface to TTL or
3 V CMOS compatible outputs, as well as 5 V CMOS outputs
where VOL is less than 1.0 V.
The SELECT input is a CMOS logic level that programs the
AD724 to use a subcarrier at a 1FSC (LO) frequency or a
4FSC (HI) frequency for the appropriate standard being used.
A 4FSC clock is used directly, while a 1FSC input is multiplied
up to 4FSC by an internal phase locked loop.
The FIN input can be a logic level clock at either FSC or 4FSC
frequency or can be a parallel resonant crystal at 1FSC fre-
quency. An on-chip oscillator will drive the crystal. Most crys-
tals will require a shunt capacitance of between 10 pF and
30 pF for reliable start up and proper frequency of operation.
The NTSC specification calls for a frequency accuracy of ±10 Hz
from the nominal subcarrier frequency of 3.579545 MHz. While
maintaining this accuracy in a broadcast studio might not be a
severe hardship, it can be quite expensive in a low cost con-
sumer application.
The AD724 will operate with subcarrier frequencies that deviate
quite far from those specified by the TV standards. However,
the monitor will in general not be quite so forgiving. Most moni-
tors can tolerate a subcarrier frequency that deviates several hun-
dred Hz from the nominal standard without any degradation in
picture quality. These conditions imply that the subcarrier fre-
quency accuracy is a system specification and not a specification
of the AD724 itself.
The STND pin is used to select between NTSC and PAL opera-
tion. Various blocks inside the AD724 use this input to program
their operation. Most of the more common variants of NTSC and
PAL are supported. There are, however, two known specific stan-
dards not supported. These are NTSC 4.43 and M-PAL.
Basically these two standards use most of the features of the
standard that their names imply, but use the subcarrier that is
equal to, or approximately equal to, the frequency of the other
standard. Because of the automatic programming of the filters in
the chrominance path and other timing considerations, it is not
possible to support these standards.
Layout Considerations
The AD724 is an all CMOS mixed signal part. It has separate
pins for the analog and digital +5 V and ground power supplies.
