History

Some Video History and the Faroudja Approach

Faroudja Laboratories, located in northern Califor- nia’s Silicon Valley, was founded in 1971 by Yves and Isabell Faroudja to develop state-of-the-art of video processing technology. Over the last 20 years, Faroudja Laboratories and its companion R&D center, Faroudja Research, have indeed devel- oped hundreds of advanced electronic processes to improve video enhancement, noise reduction and NTSC encoding/ decoding technologies. Many of these processes are used under license by

the world’s leading electronics companies in a wide range of high performance video products. Faroudja professional video equipment is also currently hard at work in hundreds of television studios. Thus Faroudja technology is utilized and enjoyed in millions of American homes every day.

Yves Faroudja has devoted his career and his com- pany to the goal of enabling home video systems to achieve the image quality of 35mm motion pictures. In pursuit of this goal, Faroudja Labs has made use of techniques from Faroudja professional video equipment and incorporated these in the LD100 and LD100U line doublers.

This booklet will provide the reader with a hands- on look at the LD100, its operation and benefits. Also supplied is an overview of the proprietary tech-

nologies utilized in this extraordinary device and an explanation of the visual improvements it provides in home video playback systems.

First, before we discuss the LD100, let’s take a quick look at the history of the current television standard. Today’s 525 line TV picture standard was actually developed in the 1940’s when broadcasts were only in black and white. Keep in mind that back then, the transistor had not yet been invented! In 1953, the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) adopted what is still the present method of color TV broadcasting. It was designed to be fully compatible with the older technology of black and white transmission. Unfortunately, this need to main- tain compatibility with old technology led to unavoidable compromises in NTSC picture quality.

Today, thanks to the advent of new thinking and new technologies realized by industry pioneer Yves Faroudja, these compromises can be nearly eliminated. Faroudja’s unique approach focuses on critical problem areas in the NTSC and PAL broadcast format. With patented engineering and design work, Yves and Faroudja Laboratories have created an exceptional product that brings new lev- els of visual reality to the enjoyment of discerning video enthusiasts around the world.