Against the background of US Federal Communications Commission tests of high definition television systems for the US terrestial standard, a small Silicon Valley company, Faroudja Research Inc has come up with a system for enhancing existing US television signals. Faroudja’s system sharpens signals by encoding them in order to reduce the bleeding and smearing of colour. The US signal standard, NSTC is much less sharp than that used in Europe, PAL, which has more dots per square inch. The Federal Communications Commission hopes to have a standard for high definition television ready for US viewers by 1993, but until then subscribers to cable companies Continental Cablevision and Tele-Communications will be able to view the sharper Faroudja pictures as its system is to be tested by them early next year. Companies which have submitted proposals to the Commission for high definition television include Zenith Electronics, General Instrument Corp and Japan’s NHK television, there is also a consortium led by Philips NV and Thomson SA. The main distinction between the proposals as far as viewers are concerned is that the Philips system does not require a new television set, as it is an enhanced NSTC whereas other systems need advanced sets. The company with the winning technology stands to make millions of dollars in royalties alone.
