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A digital blanking interval is the part of a video timing sequence outside the active picture area. It separates active image data and carries timing and synchronization information. It has two directions: horizontal blanking between lines and vertical blanking around a field or frame transition.
What is the active video area?
The active video area is the portion of a frame in which pixel data represents the picture. In AMD’s AXI4-Stream video guide, the active area is the region where both HBlank and VBlank are inactive; outside it, those signals identify blanking periods. The exact boundaries depend on the video format and interface.
What are horizontal and vertical blanking?
Horizontal blanking
Horizontal blanking separates one active line of picture data from the next. In traditional scanning terminology, it is the time for the scan to return from the right edge to the left before another line begins. Digital systems may represent this boundary through timing signals or format-specific sample ranges rather than a physical retrace. Synchronization occupies part of the interval.
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Vertical blanking
Vertical blanking occurs around the transition between fields or frames. Traditional terminology describes it as time for a scan to return from the bottom of the image to the top. Digital timing descriptions commonly specify a vertical sync pulse, front porch, and back porch; together, these timing parameters make up what is commonly called the vertical blanking interval. Sync therefore is part of the timing structure, not a synonym for the entire interval.
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Why is blanking used in digital video?
Blanking marks where active picture samples stop and resume while preserving the timing needed to locate lines and frame transitions. It is not necessarily an empty physical pause: interfaces can encode timing and data validity as signals, and some broadcast systems use portions of vertical blanking to carry services or related data. SCTE specifies carriage of VBI services in MPEG-2 transport streams, but that does not mean every digital blanking interval contains ancillary data.
Are blanking intervals the same in every format?
No. The duration and boundaries are format-specific. For example, ARIB STD-B32 Part 1 v3.9-E1 lists a horizontal blanking duration of 10.70 microseconds for its 525/59.94/2:1 timing case. SMPTE 244M-2003 gives digital horizontal blanking as samples 768 through 909 inclusive in the specified digital composite format, outside digital vertical blanking. Neither value is a universal digital-video rule.
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When comparing timing modes, check active dimensions, horizontal and vertical blanking extents, sync placement and polarity, total timing, and pixel-clock requirements together. A single blanking number is not enough to establish whether two modes are compatible.
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The term comes from scanning systems, where blanking time allowed a display beam to retrace between lines or fields. Digital video retains the timing concept, but it is often defined operationally through sync, porch, and data-valid signals. A digital blanking interval should therefore not be understood as requiring a CRT-style physical retrace.
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Sources
- AMD, HDMI 2.1 Transmitter Subsystem Product Guide PG350, Native Video Input Interface
- Analog Devices, Video Basics
- AMD, AXI4-Stream Video IP and System Design Guide UG934, Description of Timing Variables
- SMPTE 244M-2003 text reproduced in an analogue-video-specifications archive
- SCTE, ANSI/SCTE 21 2017 (R2022), Standard for Carriage of VBI Data in Cable Digital Transport Streams
- ARIB, STD-B32 Part 1 v3.9-E1
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