Bildsignalen

Bildsignalen are electrical signals that carry visual information from a scene to a display, recorder, or processing system. In traditional analog television, they consist of luminance and chrominance components together with synchronization pulses. Luminance encodes brightness, while chrominance encodes color, and the arrangement follows standards such as PAL, NTSC, or SECAM. The signals are transmitted as composite or as separate components, and the timing ensures correct scanning of the picture.

With digital imaging, Bildsignalen are represented by sampled and quantized pixel data or by encoded video streams. The image data are processed (noise reduction, demultiplexing, gamma correction, color space conversion) and often compressed using codecs such as H.264/AVC or H.265/HEVC for efficient transmission and storage. Digital interfaces such as HDMI and DisplayPort, as well as network protocols, carry these signals between cameras, computers, monitors, and broadcasting equipment.

Color representation widely used in Bildsignalen includes sRGB for displays, and Rec. 709 or Rec. 2020 for video and cinema, with various bit depths and resolutions. The concept covers a range of applications, from broadcast and cinema to computer imaging and surveillance. The term emphasizes the signal chain: capture, processing, transmission, and display, and the need to preserve spatial and color information through the system.