Pre-emphasis and De-emphasis
Pre-emphasis
Pre-emphasis refers to boosting the relative amplitudes of the modulating voltage for higher audio frequencies from 2 to approximately 15 KHz.
De-emphasis
De-emphasis means attenuating those frequencies by the amount by which they are boosted.
However pre-emphasis is done at the transmitter and the de-emphasis is done in the receiver. The purpose is to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for FM reception. A time constant of 75µs is specified in the RC or L/Z network for pre-emphasis and de-emphasis.
Pre-emphasis circuit
At the transmitter, the modulating signal is passed through a simple network which amplifies the high frequency, components more than the low-frequency components. The simplest form of such a circuit is a simple high pass filter of the type shown in fig (a). Specification dictate a time constant of 75 microseconds (µs) where t = RC. Any combination of resistor and capacitor (or resistor and inductor) giving this time constant will be satisfactory. Such a circuit has a cutoff frequency fco of 2122 Hz. This means that frequencies higher than 2122 Hz will he linearly enhanced. The output amplitude increases with frequency at a rate of 6 dB per octave. The pre-emphasis curve is shown in Fig (b). This pre-emphasis circuit increases the energy content of the higher-frequency signals so that they will tend to become stronger than the high frequency noise components. This improves the signal to noise ratio and increases intelligibility and fidelity.
The pre-emphasis circuit also has an upper break frequency fu where the signal enhancement flattens out.
See Fig (b). This upper break frequency is computed with the expression.
fu = R1 +(R2/2πR1R1C)
It is usually set at some very high value beyond the audio range. An fu of greater than 30KHz is typical.
De-emphasis Circuit
To return the frequency response to its normal level, a de-emphasis circuit is used at the receiver. This is a simple low-pass filter with a constant of 75 πs. See figure (c). It features a cutoff of 2122 Hz and causes signals above this frequency to be attenuated at the rate of 6bB per octave. The response curve is shown in Fig (d). As a result, the pre-emphasis at the transmitter is exactly offset by the de-emphasis circuit in the receiver, providing a normal frequency response. The combined effect of pre-emphasis and de-emphasis is to increase the high-frequency components during transmission so that they will be stronger and not masked by noise.
