HISTORY
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-
2
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.
Some Video History and the Faroudja Approach
