Improving the HDTV picture performance under noisy transmission conditions

A simple yet effective method for data synchronization of HDTV (high-definition television) signals is introduced. The scheme reduces the number of occurrences of undetected errors and limits the effects of errors to blocks of 512 pixel areas instead of the 1024, 3072, and 5632 pixel areas proposed by other schemes. Undetected errors are prevented from propagating to adjacent areas of the picture, and their effects are localized to within the 32*16 superblock in which the errors occur. This method does not change the compression rate while lowering the SNR at which picture loss occurs by 2.5 to 3 dB. This improvement is irrespective of the rate of the Reed-Solomon coding rate used by the HDTV system.<>