SELECO 25SS597P SIDERAL YEAR 1988.

The SELECO  25SS597P  SIDERAL is a particular 25 inches color DIGITAL TELEVISION from SELECO and is a slightly rare monitor design model with edge profile design and inclined viewing angle and front glass.

It is one of the first and last models from Seleco / ZANUSSI featuring  the DIGIVISION ITT technology in their models series.

SELECO  25SS597P  SIDERAL  DIGITAL Colour television receiver or set , are known in which the majority of signal processing that takes place therein is carried out digitally. That is, a video or television signal is received in a conventional fashion using a known analog tuning circuit and then, following the tuning operation, the received analog television signal is converted into a digital signal and digitally processed before subsequently being converted back to an analog signal for display on a colour cathode ray tube.
In a conventional television receiver, all signals are analog-processed. Analog signal processing, however, has the problems at the video stage and thereafter. These problems stem from the general drawbacks of analog signal processing with regard to time-base operation, specifically, incomplete Y/C separation (which causes cross color and dot interference), various types of problems resulting in low picture quality, and low precision of synchronization. Furthermore, from the viewpoints of cost and ease of manufacturing the analog circuit, a hybrid configuration must be employed even if the main circuit comprises an IC. In addition to these disadvantages, many adjustments must be performed.

Digital Signal Processing DIGVISION ITT in Brief:

 FOR several years now the use of digital techniques in television has been growing. A considerable impetus came initially from the need for high -quality Tv standards conversion. The IBA's DICE (Digital Intercontinental Conversion Equipment) standards converter came into operational use in 1972. It's success demonstrated convincingly the advantages of processing video signals in digital form - digital signals are neither phase nor level dependent. The trend since then has been towards the all - digital studio: digital effects generators have been in use for some time, and digital telecines were announced earlier this year. An earlier example of the application of digital techniques to television was the BBC's sound-in-syncs system, in which the sound signal is converted to digital form so that it can be added to the video signal for network distribution. The sound-in-syncs system first came into use in 1969, and is was  widely employed in pay tv systems alongside with video scrambling methods in the 80's.  Digital techniques have already appeared on the domestic TV scene. The teletext signals are digital, and require digital processing. In modern remote control systems the commands from the remote control transmitter are in digital form, and require digital decoding and digital - to -analogue conversion in the receiver before the required control action can be put into effect. Allied to this, digital techniques are used for the more sophisticated channel tuning systems. The basic TV receiver itself continues to use analogue techniques however. Are we about to see major changes here? 
ITT Semiconductors in W. Germany have been working on the application of digital techniques to basic TV receiver signal processing since 1977 with the supervision of the Engineer Micic Ljubomir, and at the recent Berlin Radio Show presented a set of digital chips for processing the video, audio and deflection signals in a TV receiver. The set consists of a' couple of l.s.i. and six v.l.s.i. chips - and by very large scale integration (v.l.s.i.) we're talking about chips that contain some more 200,000 transistors. What are the advantages? 
For the setmaker, there's reduction in the component count and simpler, automated receiver alignment - alignment data is simply fed into a programmable memory in the receiver, which then adjusts itself. Subsequently, the use of feedback enables the set to maintain its performance as it ages. From the user's viewpoint, the advantages are improved performance and the fact that extra features such as picture -within -a -picture (two pictures on the screen at the same time) and still pictures become relatively simple to incorporate. The disadvantage of course is the need for a lot of extra circuitry. Since the received signals remain in analogue form, analogue -to -digital conversion is required before signal processing is undertaken. As the c.r.t. requires analogue drive signals, digital -to -analogue conversion is required prior to the RGB output stages - the situation is somewhat different in the timebase and audio departments, since the line drive is basically digital anyway and class D amplifier techniques can be used in the field and audio output stages. In between the A -D conversion and the various output stages, handling the signals in digital form calls for much more elaborate circuitry - hence those chips with 200,000 or so transistors. The extra circuitry is all incorporated within a handful of chips of course, but the big question is if and when the use of these chips will become an economic proposition, taking into account reduced receiver assembly/setting up costs, compared to the use of the present analogue technology - after all, colour receiver component counts are already very low. With the present digital technology, it's not feasible to convert the signals to digital form at i.f. So conversion takes place following video and sound demodulation. Fig. 1 shows in simple block diagram form the basic video and deflection signal processing arrangement used in the system devised by ITT Semiconductors. Before going into detail, two basic points have to be considered - the rate at which the incoming analogue signals are sampled for conversion to digital form, and the number of digits required for signal coding. Consider the example shown in Fig. 2. At both (a) and (b) the signals are sampled at times Ti, T2 etc. In (a) the signal is changing at a much faster rate than the sampling rate. So very little of the signal information would be present in the samples. In (b) the rate at which the signal is changing is much slower, and since the sampling rate is the same the samples will contain the signal information accurately. In practice, the sampling rate has to be at least twice the bandwidth of the signal being sampled. Once you've got your samples, the next question is how many digits are required for adequate resolution of the signal, i.e. how many steps are required on the vertical (signal level) scale in Fig. 2 The use of a four -digit code, i.e. 0000, 0001 etc., gives 16 possible signal levels. Doubling the number of digits to eight gives 256 signal levels and so on. ITT's experience shows that the luminance signal requires 8 bits (digits), the colour -difference signals require 6 bits, the audio signal requires 12 bits (14 for hi-fi quality) while 13 bits are required for a linear horizontal scan on a 26inch tube. These digital signals are handled as parallel data streams in the subsequent signal processing. Returning to Fig. 1, the A -D and D -A conversion required in the video channel is carried out by a single chip which ITT call the video codec (coder/decoder). A clock pulse generator i.c. is required to produce the various pulse trains necessary for the digital signal processing, and a control i.c. is used to act as a computer for the whole digital system and also to provide interfacing to enable the external controls (brightness, volume, colour etc.) to produce the desired effects. In addition, the control i.c. incorporates the digital channel selection system. The video codec i.c. uses parallel A-D/D-A conversion, i.e. a string of voltage comparators connected in parallel. This system places a high premium on the number of bits used to code the signal in digital form, so ITT have devised a technique of biasing the converter to achieve 8 -bit resolution using only 7 bits (the viewer's eye does some averaging on alternate lines, as with Simple PAL, but this time averaging luminance levels). The A -D comparators provide grey -encoded outputs, so the first stage in the video processor i.c. is a grey -to -binary transcoder. As Fig. 3 shows, the processes carried out in the video processor i.c. then follow the normal practice, though everything's done in digital form. The key to this processing is the use of digital filters. These are clocked at rates up to 18MHz, and provide delays, addition and multiplication. The glass chroma delay line required for PAL decoding in a conventional analogue decoder consists of blocks of RAM (random-access memory) occupying only three square millimeters of chip area each. As an example of the ingenuity of the ITT design, the digital delay line used for chroma signal averaging/separation in the PAL system is used in the NTSC version of the chip as a luminance/chrominance signal separating comb filter. Fig. 4 shows the basic processes carried out in the deflection processor i.c. This employs the sorts of techniques we're becoming used to in the latest generation of sync processor i.c.s. Digital video goes in, and the main outputs consist of a horizontal drive pulse plus drives to the field output and EW modulator circuits. The latter are produced by a pulse -width modulator arrangement, i.e. the sort of thing employed with class D output stages. The necessary gating and blanking pulses are also provided. A further chip provides audio signal processing. One might wonder why the relatively simple audio department calls for this sort of treatment. The W. German networks are already equipping themselves for dual -channel sound however, and the audio processor i.c. contains the circuitry required to sort out the two -carrier sound signals. These chips represent a major step in digitalizing the domestic TV receiver. It seems likely that some enterprising setmaker will in due course announce a "digital TV set". The interesting point then will be whether the chip yields, and the chip prices as production increases, will eventually make it worthwhile for all setmakers to follow this path (in 1984).



In order to solve the above problems, it is proposed to process all signals in a digital form from the video stage to the chrominance signal demodulation stage. In such a digital television receiver, various improvements in picture quality should result due to the advantages of digital signal processing.
Therefore digital television signal processing system introduced in 1984 by the Worldwide Semiconductor Group (Freiburg, West Germany) of International Telephone and Telegraph Corporation is described in an ITT Corporation publication titled "VLSI Digital TV System--DIGIT 2000." In that system color video signals, after being processed in digital (binary) form, are converted to analog form by means of digital-to-analog converters before being coupled to an image displaying kinescope. The analog color video signals are coupled to the kinescope via analog buffer amplifiers and video output kinescope driver amplifiers which provide video output signals at a high level suitable for driving intensity control electrodes of the kinescope.

The SELECO  25SS597P  SIDERAL  Is a BIstandard set and relates to a digital multistandard decoder for video signals and to a method for decoding video signals.
Colour video signals, so-called composite video, blanking and sync signals (CVBS) are essentially composed of a brightness signal or luminance component (Y), two colour difference signals or chrominance components (U, V or I, Q), vertical and horizontal sync signals (VS, HS) and a blanking signal (BL).
The different coding processes, e.g. NTSC,  PAL and SECAM, introduced into the known colour television standards, differ in the nature of the chrominance transmission and in particular the different systems make use of different colour subcarrier frequencies and different line frequencies.
The following explanations relate to the PAL and NTSC systems, but correspondingly apply to video signals of other standards and non-standardized signals.
The colour subcarrier frequency (fsc) of a PAL system and a NTSC system is fsc(NTSC) = 3.58 MHz or fsc(PAL) = 4.43 MHz.
In addition, in PAL and NTSC systems the relationships of the colour subcarrier frequency (fsc) to the line frequency (fh) are given by fsc(NTSC) = 227.50 * fh or 4•fsc(NTSC) = 910 • fh fsc(PAL) = 283.75 * fh or 4•fsc(PAL) = 1135 • fh so that the phase of the colour subcarrier in the case of NTSC is changed by 180°/line and in PAL by 270°/line.
In the case of digital video signal processing and decoding the prior art fundamentally distinguishes between two system architectures. These are the burst-locked architecture and the line-locked architecture, i.e. systems which operate with sampling frequencies for the video signal, which are produced in phase-locked manner to the colour subcarrier frequency transmitted with the burst pulse or in phase-locked manner with the line frequency, respectively.

The principal advantage of the present invention is a color television receiver is provided having a fully digital color demodulator wherein the luminance signal and the chrominance signals are separated and digitally processed prior to being converted to analog signals in that the all-digital signal processing largely eliminates the need for nonintegratable circuit elements, i.e., particularly coils and capacitors, and that the subcircuits can be preferably implemented using integrated insulated-gate field-effect transistor circuits, i.e., so-called MOS technology. This technology is better suited for implementing digital circuits than the so-called bipolar technology.

The SELECO  25SS597P  SIDERAL  is a multisound tv digital sound processing.

Furthermore is the first model from Seleco / ZANUSSI featuring the PIP, picture in picture technology. This was a particular feature  providing a screen for reproducing pictures and a device comprising first circuit means in order to insert into a first picture, reproduced on the screen, corresponding to a first television signal coming from a trasmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, a second picture, having a size smaller than the first one, corresponding to a second television signal coming from a second transmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, comprising second circuit means in order to enlarge the contents of said second picture and third circuit means in order to change the position of said second picture in respect of the first one.These features improved the television receiver , providing a screen for reproducing pictures and a device comprising first circuit means in order to insert into a first picture, reproduced on the screen, corresponding to a first television signal coming from a trasmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, a second picture, having a size smaller than the first one, corresponding to a second television signal coming from a second transmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, comprising second circuit means in order to enlarge the contents of said second picture and third circuit means in order to change the position of said second picture in respect of the first one.

The present invention refers to an improved television receiver, providing a screen for reproducing pictures and a device comprising first circuit means in order to insert into a first picture, reproduced on the screen, corresponding to a first television signal coming from a trasmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, a second picture, having a size smaller than the first one, corresponding to a second television signal coming from a second transmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source.
Owing to the fact that so many television programs are now available to the user, a problem is represented by the fact of waiting for the start of an interesting program of a transmitting station, that we shall call, for the sake of brevity, first station, while watching another program of another station, that we shall call second station, or a recorded program, said second program being for the moment more interesting of the program of the first station.
In order to solve the said problem one of the proposed solution is to insert in the first picture a second smaller picture so that it is possible to watch at the same time two programs; such an arrangement has been known with the english name of Picture in Picture (PIP) or, in Germany, Bild im Bild (BIB).
The proposed arrangement, nevertheless shows some drawbacks, for instance: - the smaller picture may cover an interesting part of the main picture; - the content of the smaller picture is too small to see, from a normal watching distance, what may be interesting, for instance to read an inscription.
It is evident that the two requirements are one the contrary of the other.
The aim of the present invention is that to indicate an improved television receiver allowing to avoid the drawbacks of the known devices, in particular the two abovesaid drawbacks.
With this aim in view the subject of the present invention is an improved television receiver, providing a screen for reproducing pictures and a device comprising first circuit means in order to insert into a first picture, reproduced on the screen, corresponding to a first television signal coming from a transmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, a second picture, having a size smaller than the first one, corresponding to a second television signal coming from a second transmitting station and/or from an auxiliary source, characterized by second circuit means in order to enlarge the contents of said second picture.
With the same aim in view the subject of the present invention is also an improved television receiver providing third circuit means in order to change the position of said second picture in respect of the first one.
Other aims and advantages of the present invention shall become clearer after the detailed description which follow.
The Tv set here shown features a PIP picture-in-picture (PIP or pix-in-pix) feature; in a digital television system having a picture-in-picture (PIP or pix-in-pix) feature, two images from possibly unrelated sources are displayed simultaneously on the TV screen as a single composite image. The composite image includes a small picture (defined by an auxiliary video signal, for example, from a VCR) displayed as an inset within a large main picture (defined by a primary video signal, for example, from the TV antenna). The output signal of one tuner or of other TV signal sources in the base band are digitized and stored in a part of a memory. After automatic switching over to another TV-channel, this new signal is stored in another part of the memory and so on. The whole memory is then read out continuously and produces the displayed multipicture on the screen.
More specifically, the present invention pertains to a television receiver with a multipicture display.
In a television receiver with multipicture display a single video signal can be reproduced simultaneously in two or more subareas, or two or more different video signals can each be reproduced in associated subareas. Each of the subareas can display either a reduced-size picture or a part of the picture supplied by a video-signal source. A digital signal-processing circuit converts the signals from the video-signal source to picture data consisting of luminance and color data for each picture element. A random-access memory (RAM) holds the picture data of the entire screen. A control unit controls the writing of the picture data into an area of the RAM depending on the number of video signals to be reproduced and the line-by-line readout, with only selected lines being transferred from the video-signal source into the associated memory area. A digital-to-analg converted which is furnished with the picture data read from the RAM delivers the analog red, green, and blue signals.
A television receiver of this kind is described in a printed publication by Intermetall Semiconductors ITT, "VMC Video Memory Controller", August 1985.The tv here Shown uses anyway a different approach.
That television receiver circuit uses random-access memories (RAMs). For the multipicture display, the screen is divided into up to nine equal-sized subareas which each contain a part of a picture of normal size or a complete picture of reduced size. In that mode, successively produced "snapshots" of up to nine different video signals can be displayed simultaneously. The switching of the video signals takes place manually.
Offenlegungsschrift DE No. 24 13 839 A1 describes a circuit for a television receiver with a facility for simultaneously reproducing two or more programs. In a part of the picture of the directly received main program, the secondary program, received with a single switchable tuner, is stored in a memory with a reduced number of lines and is called up line by line when the electron beam of the picture tube sweeps across the predetermined part of the picture. The disadvantage of this method lies in horizontal grating-like interference in the main picture which results from the fact that lines of the main picture are missing at regular intervals when the tuner has been switched to the secondary program, and which can only be incompletely compensated.
Accordingly, the problem to be solved by the invention is to provide a circuit of the above kind with which the grating-like interference caused during reproduction using the above-described single-tuner switching method is eliminated.
The output signal of one tuner or of other TV signal sources in the base band are digitize and stored in part of a memory. After automatic switching over to another TV-channel, this new signal is stored in another part of the memory and so on.
The whole memory is then read out continuously and produces the multi-picture display on the screen. Another advantage consists in the fact that, for the construction of the whole screen picture, all picture data are withdrawn from the RAM, so that the usual picture-improvement techniques can be applied. By fast readout from the memory rows, the displayed picture is freed from both line flicker and background flicker.
By changing the sampling rates of the different video-signal sources, it is readily possible to monitor the latter, nearly up to the still picture. In an arrangement in accordance with the invention digital picture processing and digital storage are used thereby permitting the circuit to process analog or digital signals,from video signal sources.

The set has a singular design form and was designed by the internal section of SELECO / ZANUSSI called CENTRO DESIGN SELECO which stays for Seleco Design Centre. This has even developed other design models types for portable models.

SELECO  25SS597P  SIDERAL has a peaking feature. Peaking is a signal processing operation in which higher frequency signal components are emphasized or deemphasized so as to adjust the overall signal frequency spectrum. It is useful where the higher frequency signal components have been undesirably attenuated by prior signal processing operations or apparatus. For television (TV) signals, for example, attenuation of higher frequency luminance signals causes undesirable loss of horizontal details in the reproduced picture. Such attenuation can be introduced by the RF tuner and amplifiers, the IF amplifiers or by the apparatus separating luminance and chrominance signal components. Fixed peaking arrangements are inadequate in a TV receiver because they cannot respond to changes in the received signals or the receiver performance and cannot be adjusted to suit viewer preference (which not only differs among viewers but which can differ for any one viewer in accordance with the program content).

It has 29 programs PLL synthesized and DIGITAL stereo sound with speakers appended on the sides teletext and PIP , Picture in Picture, and 2 AV SCART SOCKETS, SINGLE SELECTABLE and stereo headphone jack with individual audio regulation.

A SCART Connector (which stands for Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs) is a standard for connecting audio-visual equipment together. The official standard for SCART is CENELEC document number EN 50049-1. SCART is also known as Péritel (especially in France) and Euroconnector but the name SCART will be used exclusively herein. The standard defines a 21-pin connector (herein after a SCART connector) for carrying analog television signals. Various pieces of equipment may be connected by cables having a plug fitting the SCART connectors. Television apparatuses commonly include one or more SCART connectors.

Although a SCART connector is bidirectional, the present invention is concerned with the use of a SCART connector as an input connector for receiving signals into a television apparatus. A SCART connector can receive input television signals either in an RGB format in which the red, green and blue signals are received on Pins 15, 11 and 7, respectively, or alternatively in an S-Video format in which the luminance (Y) and chroma (C) signals are received on Pins 20 and 15. As a result of the common usage of Pin 15 in accordance with the SCART standard, a SCART connector cannot receive input television signals in an RGB format and in an S-Video format at the same time.

Consequently many commercially available television apparatuses include a separate SCART connectors each dedicated to receive input television signals in one of an RGB format and an S-Video format. This limits the functionality of the SCART connectors. In practical terms, the number of SCART connectors which can be provided on a television apparatus is limited by cost and space considerations. However, different users wish the input a wide range of different combinations of formats of television signals, depending on the equipment they personally own and use. However, the provision of SCART connectors dedicated to input television signals in one of an RGB format and an S-Video format limits the overall connectivity of the television apparatus. Furthermore, for many users the different RGB format and S-Video format are confusing. Some users may not understand or may mistake the format of a television signal being supplied on a given cable from a given piece of equipment. This can result in the supply of input television signals of an inappropriate format for the SCART connector concerned.

This kind of connector is todays obsoleted !

The set is based on DIGIVISION ITT technology and PHILIPS FSQ 45 AX CRT TUBE.



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An Increasingly Versatile Device The domestic television set used to be simply the thing that reproduced the programmes transmitted by one or other of the three programme networks  unless you happened to be connected to one of the wire systems that have experimented with local TV and pay TV at various times. But have you noticed what an increasingly versatile thing the TV set is becoming?
- The first major extension to the domestic TV set's possibilities came with the VCR, enabling you to record off air or replay prerecorded tapes. Domestic VTR systems have at a price  been with us for roughly a decade now, but till the advent of the easy to handle VCR most low-cost VTR systems were intended for use with monitors, with the signal interconnections at video and audio frequencies.
- Then came TV games, first found in the pubs and amusement arcades, later appearing in compact, relatively inexpensive packages for home use. The significant point here was the entry of digital techniques on the domestic TV scene. On the broadcast side, digital techniques had been making a substantial contribution to operations for some years, starting with the BBC's sound-in-syncs system (1969) in which the TV sound signal is compressed, converted to digital form and inserted in the line sync pulse period, and culminating with the IBA's famed DICE, which provides electronic standards (lines, fields, colour) conversion by converting the signals to digital form, processing them, then converting them back into analogue form.
Rather far from TV games you might think, but it's all part of the same process - the increasing impact of digital techniques on the world of television. In fact the technology of TV games has evolved considerably since their first appearance.
The approach then was to employ a fair number of standard digital i.c.s to build up the circuitry required. But why not go about it in the same way as the calculator manufacturers?
It didn't take long for the semiconductor people to see this new possibility for using their l.s.i. technology. This made it a relatively simple matter to provide a range of games with just a single i.c.  the basis of the present generation of TV games.
Add a second i.c. and the whole thing comes up in glorious colour. But it doesn't end there. The talk was now is of adopting microprocessor technology and making the system programmable, so that an almost unlimited range of games of varying degrees of complexity can be played. The favoured system seems to been to use prerecorded cassettes to provide the various programmes. And once you do that, you can extend the system to all sorts of other uses - teaching systems and so on. In fact you've made the TV set into part of a home computer installation - as we outlined in Teletopics last month. It's not impossible then to imagine some "viewers" using their TV sets for games, instruction and VCR use, while keeping up to date with teletext news and getting extra information via the PO's Viewdata system - and never watching a transmitted programme at all! We've come a long way then from the days of the TV set as a goggle

(goggle ????? or gooooooooooogle).................. box.
Teletext decoders and TV games were already being built into a few sets. What other digital innovations can we expect in TV sets? (may be DVB)
One now well established use of digital techniques is to provide all electronic channel selection.
The varicap tuner simply asks to be controlled in this way, and the system lends itself readily to remote control operation. Once you're controlling the tuner and generating various signals digitally there are other things you might as well do. Like flashing the selected channel number on the screen, or the time (coming shortly in Television!). Sets which do this sort of thing have been available on the Continent for some while now.
- The latest development along these lines is the picture within a picture a reduced size picture from another channel being inserted in the corner of the main display (PIP), so that you can watch two progrpnmes at once or see when to change over to a programme due to start on another channel. This involves some interesting digital processes - you've got to lose lines, and compact the video information by reading it into a memory at one speed and reading it out at another, in effect operating at two standards simultaneously while keeping both in sync (remember how difficult it has sometimes been to keep a set in sync on one standard!).
- There's only one thing that prevents a space-age TV installation in every home: cost.
But the cost of electronic hardware has a habit of falling dramatically once production has achieved a certain level. TV games are already commonplace, and teletext decoders have  become a lot cheaper once specialised i.c. modules for the purpose go into large scale production. From this point in time, it already seems that one can regard the days when the TV set simply displayed one of the programmes available as the age of stream TV.

....................................But we all know how it ended !

One more comment about digital in 2000..............

Over the years we have learnt that one of the most important things in video/ TV technology is selecting the best system to use. We have also seen how difficult this can be. Prior to the start of the colour TV era in Europe there was an great to-do about the best system to adopt. The US NTSC system seemed an obvious choice to start with. It had been proved in use, and refine- ments had been devised. But alternative, better solutions were proposed - PAL and Secam. PAL proved to be a great success, in fact a good choice. 

The French Secam system seems to have worked just as well. Apart from the video tape battles of the Seventies, the next really big debate concerned digital TV. When it came to digital terrestrial TV (DTT), Europe and the USA again adopted different standards. 

One major difference is the modulation system used for transmission. Coded orthogonal frequency   division multiplexing (COFDM) was selected for the European DVB system, while in the USA a system called 8VSB was adopted. COFDM uses quadrature amplitude modulation of a number of orthogonal carriers that are spread across the channel bandwidth. Because of their number, each carrier has a relatively low bit rate. 

The main advantage of the system is its excellent behaviour under multipath reception conditions. 8VSB represents a rather older,  pre phase modulation technoogy: eight  state amplitude modulation of a single carrier, with a vestigial sideband. The decision on the US system was assigned to the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), reporting to the FCC. The system it proposed was approved by the FCC on December 26th, 1996. The curious date might suggest that there had been a certain amount of politicking. In fact there had been an almighty row between the TV and computer industries about the video standard to adopt, the two fearing that one or other would gain an advantage as the technologies converged. It was 'resolved' by adopting a sort of   "open standard"  we are talking about resolution and scanning standards here - the idea apparently being that the technology would somehow sort itself out.

 There seems to have been rather less concern about the modulation standard. 8VSB was adopted because it was assumed to be able to provide a larger service area than the alternatives, including COFDM, for a given transmitter power. Well, the USA is a very large place! But the US TV industry, or at least some parts of it, is now having second thoughts. Once the FCC had made its decision, there was pressure to get on with digital TV. In early 1998 there were announce- ments about the start of transmissions and broadcasters assured the FCC that DTT would be available in the ten areas of greatest population concentration by May 1999. Rapid advances were expected, with an anticipated analogue TV switch -off in 2006. So far however things have not gone like that. At the end of 1999 some seventy DTI' transmitters were in operation, but Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association estimates suggest that only some 50,000 sets and 5,000 STBs had been sold.

 There have been many reports of technical problems, in particular with reception in urban and hilly areas and the use of indoor aerials, also with video/audio sync and other matters. Poor reception with indoor aerials in urban conditions is of particular concern: that's how much of the population receives its TV. The UK was the first European country to start DTI', in late 1998 - at much the same time as in the USA. The contrast is striking. ONdigital had signed up well over 500,000 subscribers by the end of 1999, a much higher proportion of viewers than in the USA. Free STBs have played a part of course, but it's notable that DTT 's reception in the UK has been relatively hassle -free. In making this comparison it should also be remembered that the main aim of DTT technology differs in Europe and the USA. 

The main concern in Europe has been to provide additional channels. In the USA it has been to move to HDTV, in particular to provide a successor the NTSC system. There have been plenty of channels in the USA for many a year. For example the DirecTV satellite service started in mid 1994 and offers some 200 channels. Internationally, various countries have been comparing the US and European digital systems. They have overwhelmingly come down in favour of the DVB system. There have been some very damaging assessments of the ATSC standard. The present concern in the US TV industry results from this poor domestic take up and lack of international success. Did the FCC make a boob, in particular in the choice of 8VSB? Following compara- tive tests carried out by Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc., the company has petitioned the FCC to adopt COFDM as an option in the ATSC standard. Not only did its tests confirm poor reception with indoor aerials: they also established that the greater coverage predicted for 8VSB failed to materialise in practice. Could the USA have two DTT transmission standards? It seems unlikely. It would involve dual standard receivers and non  standardisation of transmitters. In the all important business of system selection, it looks as if the FCC got it wrong.

              ....................................   It is obviously wasteful to duplicate terrestrial TV transmissions in analogue and digital form. Sooner or later transmissions will all be digital, since this is a more efficient use of spectrum space. The question is when? It would suit some to switch off the analogue transmitters as soon as possible. 2006 has been suggested as a time to start, with ana- logue transmissions finally ending in 2010. All very neat and tidy. Whether it will work out in that way is another matter. Strong doubts are already beginning to be aired. 

 The government has, quite properly, laid down conditions to be met before the switch off occurs. Basically that the digital signal coverage should equal that achieved for analogue TV, currently 99.4 per cent of the population, and that digital receiving equipment should be available at an affordable price. The real problem is that there is a difference between a coverage of 99.4 per cent and 99.4 per cent of the population actually having digital receiving equipment. Why should those who are interested in only free - to -air channels go out and buy/rent a digital receiver? It is already becoming evident that this represents a fair chunk of the population. 

The ITC has warned the government that the 2006-2010 timetable is in jeopardy. Peter Rogers, the ITC's chief executive, has said "we need to persuade people only interested in watching free -to -air television to switch to digital. "

Unless we do, there will be no switch - over." Well not quite, because the analogue receivers will eventually wear out and have to be replaced. But that could take a long, long time. Meanwhile many people will expect to be able to continue to watch their usual TV fare using their existing analogue receivers. 

Research carried out by Culture Secretary Chris Smith's department has established that between forty and fifty per cent of the population expects the BBC licence to cover their TV viewing, which means what they get at present in analogue form. A substantial percentage of the population simply isn't interested in going digital. In fact take up of integrated receiver -decoders, as opposed to the free digital set -top boxes, has so far been very slow. 

Of five million TV sets sold in the UK year 1999 , only 10,000 were digital. There are important factors apart from overall coverage and how many people have sets. There is the extension of coverage, which becomes more difficult to achieve eco- nomically as the number of those not covered decreases. There is the problem of reception quality. And there is the question of domestic arrangements and convenience. Extending coverage to the last ten fifteen per cent of the population by means of conventional terrestrial transmitters will be expensive. Mr Smith's department seems to have conceded that other methods of signal delivery may have to be adopted - by satellite, by microwave links or by cable. The latter has of course never been economic where few households are involved. 

The frequency planners have been trying to find ways of increasing coverage even to well populated areas. There are so many areas where problems of one sort or another make the provision of DTT difficult. Satellite TV is the obvious solution. 

The time may well come when it is wondered why anyone bothered with DTT. Signal quality is becoming an increasingly important factor as the digital roll out continues. In areas where the signal is marginal, viewers could experience the extreme irritation of picture break up or complete loss like even todays. This is quite apart from the actual quality of the channel, which depends on the number of bits per second used. There is a maximum number of bits per multiplex, the total being shared by several channels. The fewer the bits, the poorer the picture in terms of definition and rendering. 

There have already been complaints about poor quality. The question of domestic arrangements is one that has not so far received adequate public attention. Most households 2000 nowadays don't have just one TV set that the family watches. They have a main one, probably, almost certainly one or more VCRs, and several other sets around the house to serve various purposes. What 'the percentage of households that have digital TV' should really mean is the percentage willing to replace all this equipment. It will be expensive, and people would not be happy if they were told to throw away their other equipment when they get a single nice new all  singing all dancing widescreen digital TV set. It fact there would be uproar. The move from analogue to digital is not like that from 405 to 625 lines, which went fairly smoothly.

In those days few people had video equipment or a multitude of sets. The transition to digital is not going to be smooth, and the suggestion of a switch off during 2006-2010 already looks totally unrealistic. Unless the government subsidises or gives away digital TV sets - and why should it? - people will expect their existing equipment to continue to be usable.  

So it's likely that analogue TV will be with us for many years yet. But that would be the end of analogue too. 

.............................Indeed...............................

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Zanussi was an Italian producer of home appliances that in 1984 was bought by Electrolux . Zanussi is a leading brand for domestic kitchen appliances in Europe. Products have been exported from Italy since 1946.

The Zanussi Company began as the small workshop of Antonio Zanussi in 1916. The enterprising 26-year-old son of a blacksmith in Pordenone in Northeastern Italy began the business by making home stoves and wood-burning ovens.
After his father death in 1946 “Lino Zanussi” became the President of the company.
In the early 1970s Zanussi sold a lot in the UK and for some time after under the “Zoppas” brand, name which had been acquired, making Zanussi the first largest Italian appliance maker. They also produced washing machines Hotpoint for Hotpoint at this time which were very reliable and highly rated by users and engineers.
In the late 1970s and into the early 1980s the company had a range of washing machines which used an induction motor with a clutch pulley system. Again this range proved extremely popular and very reliable.
During this period Zanussi Professional, the catering range of appliances for commercial use, became a separate division in its own right.
In the early 1980s Zanussi launched the Jetsystem washing machine range to great acclaim whilst at the same time running the “Appliance Of Science” advertising campaign which is acknowledged as one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time, in fact still remembered by many today. This gave the brand the impression of being forward thinking and innovative.
Zanussi has recently been rebranded as Zanussi-Electrolux in line with many other Electrolux brand names. Since that time many Zanussi appliances share common components and parts with the rest of the Electrolux range, primarily Electrolux, Tricity Bendix and AEG although it is worth noting that the “John Lewis” branded machines sold by the John Lewis Partnership in the UK are effectively rebranded Zanussi appliances.
In the late 1980s Zanussi launched the split tank design known as the “Nexus Tub” design which endures to this day with little change. The tub, base and certain other parts are made from a plastic material known as “Carboran” which can be re-used several times if recycled. To this day neither Zanussi or Electrolux has provided any way to return this material for recycling purposes.

Up until the end of the 1980s Zanussi service was run from Slough and was a network of independent repairers who gave an unparalleled service level. It is generally acknowledged within the industry that this service network was the best that there has ever been in the UK.
In the early 1990s Electrolux instigated amalgamating all its UK brands under one service entity. This entity was split, dependent on region, between the Zanussi service agents and the local Electrolux Service Centre. In general those in a high population density area where given to the Electrolux employed centres. Tricity Bendix, Electrolux and AEG as well as Zanussi were all to be serviced by the one network.
This was changed in the late 1990s and early 2000s as Electrolux sold or gave away the regional service centres, generally to the existing management or to area managers to run as independent businesses.
This service network was rebranded and became Service Force which still exists today but is, once again, all operated by independent service companies who repair and supply spare parts for all of the brands.................

 ..........................when the president Lino Zanussi died in a plane crash in June 1968 - Zanussi
Industries was the first Italian manufacturer of white goods and employs approximately 13000 employees.

When the Zanussi group of Pordenone lives a first phase of  financial stress then Lamberto Mazza, who succeeded Lino Zanussi, decides to liquidate some social funds with share capital held by Guido Zanussi  causing an outlay of 16 billion lire of that era.

Despite the Huge outlay to cope with such a withdrawal, the group aquired, in the course of 1970, competitor like Zoppas the other big Italian manufacturer of household appliances, which was,
significantly in debt due of an acquisition of Triplex in Solarolo and a construction of the new plant in Susegana.

The Zoppas, whose factories were located in Conegliano Veneto (TV), has a history quite similar to Zanussi: it is in fact founded by Ferdinand Zoppas in 1926 as an artisan company repair of wood-burning stoves and then spread widely and rapidly under the leadership of his sons Augusto and Gino.

Zanussi president, Lamberto Mazza, alleged a plan to achieve an optimal size to compete at the European level if not the world, strengthening the shares held by Zanussi on the Italian market to avoid  the entry of foreign competitors (in particular the U.S. Westinghouse).

The Financial stress imposed on Zanussi by acquisition of Zoppas and, simultaneously, the increase in the incidence both of labor costs and reasons of rise up of activity intensity (In the space of a short pass from 13,000 employees to 24,000 units?)  is faced with:

a. the sale to the German AEG-Telefunken
an amount equal to 25.01% of the Zanussi S.p.A.
(The operational holding company of the group)

(The share of ownership AEG-Telefunken is subsequently recognized in 1978 by Voet-Alpine.)


b. to loans from Italian Istituto Mobiliare
(IMI);

c.
about a loan of about two hundred million marks
disbursed in 1974 from Dresden Bank.

The union conflicts, the impact of labor costs (in 1974 Zanussi occupies nearly 31,000 employees), the Debt contract with institutions credit and the first oil shock induce Lamberto Mazza to start a rapid process of diversification The core of this strategy is, however, the belief that the market of appliance White has come to its stage of maturity, with a saturation level  and the consequent reduction of typical viability.

Therefore, in this back of years Zanussi invests substantial financial resources to acquiring control of businesses;

(The process of growth of Zanussi,  nevertheless sees the creation of new realities companys as a result of corporate spin-offs.

Considering, for example,

Zanussi Grandi Cucine SpA, Zanussi Grandi Impianti
SpA, Air Zanussi SpA, Zanussi Components for Construction SpA, the Industrialised Building ZanussiFarsura SpA to subsidiaries Iberian Zinsa-Zanussi Industrial SA Compania SA and Industrias Electrodomesticas,
and Lastly Anglo-Saxon Iaz International Ltd., was established in 1979
well as the company insurance and financial intermediation
group, called Infinas S.p.A.) with few exceptions   activities not related with the core business.

In particular, remembering the concentrations of corporate sectors relating to paper (Paper Mill Galvani SpA, Cartopiave SpA and subsidiaries Cartosud and Silica), electronic (Ducati Electrical, Electronics-Inelco), construction (Seicom-Building for Integrated Components SpA), metallurgical (Smalteria and Metallurgical Veneta SpA), hotel (Borsa SpA) of furniture (Galvani Porcelain SpA, Sambuceto SA, Meson's Spring SpA SpA and its subsidiaries and Pagnucco SpA), components (Ilpea Gomma SpA), photographic equipment ( Fotomec San Marco SpA) of entertainment
(Udinese Calcio SpA) and solar photovoltaics.

(The investments of Zanussi happenned sometimes even in the indirect form
 which is made through the CISVE (Industrial Consortium
Economic Development), founded by Lamberto Mazza in quality of
President of the association of Industrialists of Pordenone, as well, since 1978, through the Industrial Finance SpA, a company financial system constituted specifically for that.)

the Organization Company is  formed in a matrix in which the divisional activities and  are then grouped into the following sections:

1.apparatus for heating;
2.components for Building;
3.solar panels;
4.apparatus Idronet (for potability of the water);
5.components;
6.apparatus different from electronic television sets.

But when the financial situation Worsened in 1983,
Zanussi family the shareholder majority, distrusted Lamberto Mazza replacing him
initially with Umberto Cuttica, former manager of FIAT,
then later with Gianfranco Zoppas, husband of Antonia Zanussi and son Lino.

The corporate reorganization plan was then prepared by the new management and was designed to focus the now scarce financial resources in the core business of group, to continue or to divest a number of activities not closely related ( Air Zanussi, Zanussi Construction Industrialized, Zanussi Electronics, Paper Mill Galvani,Pagnucco, Fotomec, New Cartopiave) , thus preparing the field for the sale of the Entire group to Electrolux, the Swedish multinational leader in field of white goods.



Stern / REX / Zanussi / Seleco (WAS) is an electronics company based in Pordenone, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy. It is part of Super//Fluo, who bought the rights in August, 2006, along with Brionvega and Imperial.


Sèleco was born as in 1965 as a spin-off from the home appliances maker Zanussi. In the first years of his life, Seleco produced almost black and white televisions with the Zanussi or Rex brand. The company was being sold in 1984, and was first acquired by Gian Mario Rossignolo. He first became president and then main stockholder.
During the 1980s, the company launched worldwide marketing campaigns and began sponsoring some of the most famous Italian soccer team, such as Lazio A.S..
During the '90s, the company was mainly concentrated on the production of pay-tv decoders, but in 1993 suffered from a loss of competitivity. With the intent to reshape its position and to get gave new life to the company, Gian Mario Rossignolo bought Brionvega from the Brion family, the founder. This attempt get to nowhere, so the company was forced to declare failure in 1997. During the years, Sèleco has passed through ups and downs, at the end being overcome by the continuous changes in the electronics world.
After the crack-down, the company and all its interests were bought by the Formenti family. That gave life to the Seleco-Formenti Group, owner of the rights for the brands Sèleco, Rex, Phonola, Imperial, Stern, Phoenix, Televideon, Kerion and Webrik.
The Formenti family re-launched the company with the production of CRT-TVs. In 2000, the company suffered of a strong crisis, following the price dumping made by Turkish manufacturers. That seems to led to end of the Sèleco and Brionvega story, as the Sèleco-Formenti Group was forced to liquidation.
In 2004, the rights for the radio branch were bought by Sim2 Multimedia, and all the television interests (for the brands Sèleco, Brionvega and Imperial) were acquired by Super//Fluo in August 2006.

THIS INDUSTRY IS TODAY DEAD !!!!

Some References:

"Twenty completed the acquisition of Sèleco". Home Appliances World. Milan: Tecniche Nuove. 27 December 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
"Cessione Società" (Press release) (in Italian). A.S. Pro Piacenza 1919. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.

Del Giudice, Elena (28 September 2017). "Una romana di 78 anni è la proprietaria della nuova Sèleco". Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). Retrieved 20 May 2019.

"Pro Piacenza, la società passa alla Seleco". Corriere dello Sport - Stadio (in Italian). 29 June 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018. 
 
^ "Grazie a finanziamenti agevolati arrivano alla Sèleco 102 miliardi", articolo di Repubblica del 28 dicembre 1984 ^ "L'Electrolux minaccia la vendita della Sèleco", articolo di Repubblica del 13 novembre 1987 ^ "La Sèleco a Rossignolo e la REL va in pensione", articolo di Repubblica del 1º marzo 1991 ^ "A Sèleco il controllo della spagnola Elbe", articolo del Corriere della Sera del 18 marzo 1992 ^ "Terminato l'aumento di capitale della Sèleco", articolo del Corriere della Sera del 6 agosto 1994 ^ SELECO: COMPLETATO AUMENTO DI CAPITALE, Adnkronos, 3 agosto 1994. URL consultato il 30 giugno 2018 (archiviato il 30 giugno 2018). ^ "Sèleco, al via il rilancio anche i dipendenti soci", articolo del Corriere della Sera dell'8 settembre 1994 ^ SELECO RICAPITALIZZATA CHIAMA ALLA PRESIDENZA MARIO BORTOLUSSI, la Repubblica, 8 settembre 1994. URL consultato il 30 giugno 2018. ^ 2000/536/CE: Decisione della Commissione, del 2 giugno 1999, relativa all'aiuto di Stato concesso dall'Italia all'impresa Seleco SpA, EUR-Lex - 32000D0536 - EN. URL consultato il 21 gennaio 2018 (archiviato il 21 gennaio 2018). 

«[...] il fallimento di Seleco era stato dichiarato in data 17 aprile 1997 [...]». ^ "Super//Fluo in liquidazione. In ansia i 96 lavoratori", articolo del Messaggero Veneto del 4 marzo 2009 ^ "È A-Data uno dei partner dell'ex Sèleco", articolo del Messaggero Veneto del 28 marzo 2009 ^ "Terzo fallimento Sèleco, a casa in 97", articolo de Il Giornale del Friuli del 17 ottobre 2009 ^ Twenty acquisisce il marchio Sèleco, Editoriale Duesse-Cons. Electronics, 21 dicembre 2016 ^ Rinasce la Sèleco, previste 50 assunzioni, Messaggero Veneto, 5 aprile 2017 ^ Trieste, Sèleco sbarca in Porto vecchio del 26 settembre 2017 ^ Sèleco, il tribunale di Milano dichiara il fallimento del 16 maggio 2019 ^ Domani in campo con SELECO, articolo di sslazio.it del 29 aprile 2017 ^ Sèleco sponsor ufficiale, articolo di sslazio.it del 2 maggio 2017 ^ Cuore Napoli Basket, è ufficiale la partnership con Sèleco, articolo di iamnaples.it dell'11 maggio 2017 ^ Sèleco è il nuovo title sponsor della Nuoto Catania, articolo di seleco.it del 27 luglio 2017 ^ Presentati gli sponsor della maglia ufficiale 2017/2018, articolo di uspontedera.it del 26 agosto 2017 ^ Sèleco rafforza il legame con la S.S. Lazio posizionando il marchio Easy Life sul retro maglia, articolo di sslazio.it dell'11 agosto 2017 ^ Sèleco Home è Main sponsor dell’Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, articolo di seleco.it del 25 agosto 2017 ^ COMUNICATO STAMPA Archiviato il 29 giugno 2018 in Internet Archive. - propiacenza.it, 29 giu 2018 ^ Sèleco nuovo sponsor di UYBA Volley! - legavolleyfemminile.it, 1 sett 2018.