Glossary of video terms

Glossary of video terms Page 1
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Glossary of video terms.
[Numbers in brackets refer to chapter where the definition appears in TODAY'S VIDEO]
24 bit color --- Computer graphics system where each pixel can have 256 levels of red, 256 levels of green,
and 256 levels of blue simultaneously, allowing each pixel to be any of over 16+ million colors (256x256x256).
[12]
3/4U --- Aging industrial videocassette format. Uses 3/4-inch tape in cassettes. [5]
3/4U-SP --- Superior performance version of 3/4U, totally compatible with it. [5]
3-D modeling --- Electronic graphics technique or software that allows one to designate points in three dimensional
space, connect those points, cover the resulting wireframe with a selected material, then move or rotate the object,
showing it from various angles. Objects can be combined and allowed to reflect or cast shadows upon each other
and/or their backgrounds. [12]
3-to-1 rule --- Position mikes at least 3 times farther from each other than they are from the people speaking into
them. [10]
8 bit color --- A picture's colors are selected from a palette of 256 colors in a color lookup table. Only 256 colors are
available in a single picture. [12]
8mm --- Eight millimeter. Nearly 1/4-inch wide tape used in popular lightweight home camcorders. This is also the
width of home movie film which is also called 8mm. [5]
8-pin --- Rectangular plug with eight pins and a cable that goes with it used to carry audio, video, and other signals
between a monitor/receiver and a videocassette recorder.[2]
A/B roll --- Technique of placing one scene on one video tape (and VTP) and another scene on another and then
rolling (playing) both VTPs together, along with the editing VTR, in order to fade, dissolve or do a special effect using
both scenes at once. [14]
A/B switch --- Electrical switch which selects either the signal from cable A or the signal from cable B and feeds the
results to a TV, VCR, or other destination. [5]
A/B/C roll --- An edit employing 3 video players where the image comes from player A, then through some special
effect transitions to B, and then to C. [14]
Above-the-line costs --- Production expenses related only to a particular show. Examples: special talent, writers,
travel, charges for special effects. [17]
AC adaptor --- Device that connects to a wall outlet (AC), and sends power to a device to: charge its batteries, or
operate without using battery power. [5]
AC --- Alternating Current, which comes from the wall outlet (not DC---Direct Current---which comes from a battery).
[5]
Access channel --- Cable TV channel set aside for local community use, like town meetings, school sports, local
affairs, and news. [4]
Accession number --- Numerical order (1, 2, 3, etc.) assigned to tapes as they are acquired or recorded. [5]
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Accessory mount --- Threaded hole on top of camera or camcorder for attaching a light, microphone, or other
accessory. [6]
Achromatic --- Ability of a high quality lens to not make colored ridges on contrasty objects in the edges of the
picture. [7]
Active --- Electrical device which requires electric power to operate. TV antenna preamplifiers and amplified TV
couplers are active. [3]
Active --- Electronic device that requires power to operate and adds something to the signal passing through it. [11]
Active matrix --- A type of liquid crystal that changes quickly, appropriate for LCD panels that also display video. [19]
AD --- Audio Director, person who runs the sound. [17]
Adapter --- A connector which allows one type of plug to fit into another type of socket. [2]
Adapter --- An audio device that allows a plug of one type to fit a socket of another type. [10]
Addressable --- A cable or satellite decoder that has a unique identity. The box can descramble a channel for a
limited time if a "permission" signal is sent to it, usually through the cable or airwaves after the subscriber pledges to
pay the fee. [4]
Adjacent channel interference --- Wavy lines or two TV images simultaneously appear on the TV screen. A problem
appears when you're viewing a weak station while another strong station, one channel number higher or lower, is
broadcast nearby or from the same direction as the weak station. [3]
ADSL --- Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, a DSL that sends data quickly downstream (to you) but upstream slowly,
allocating the digital resources of the twisted pair efficiently for many download-heavy applications. [20]
Advanced vertical --- Special synchronizing signal sent out by a TBC to a VCP to lock the VCP's video playback to
the house (TV system's) sync. Makes the VCP play almost in synchronization with the studio cameras. [15]
AFC time constant --- An internal circuit design on a TV set which determines how much it jitters and flagwaves
when playing tapes. [5]
AFM --- Audio Frequency Modulation, a technique used in VHS, SVHS, 8mm and Hi 8 VCRs to record/play hi fi
sound, invisibly imbedded in the picture. [5]
AFM or audio frequency modulation --- Method of recording hi-fi audio on 8mm and hi8 tapes along with the video.
The audio is changed to a varying tone whose vibrations are mixed invisibly with the video vibrations. [10]
AGC or automatic gain control --- Automatically adjusts the brightness and contrast of a camera's picture. [6]
Air mouse --- Infra-red remote control mouse that allows one to operate a computer from some distance away. [19]
Alias --- Stair-steppiness of rounded images or letters rendered by computers and character generators. [12]
All-channel antenna --- Antenna designed to tune in all TV channels. [3]
Alpha channel --- A signal used in video graphics to cut a hole in an image, a hole that gets filled with another image.
[12]
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Alpha channel --- External key circuit in a CG or computer graphics device that "cuts out" a piece of a picture leaving
space for another (usually text). [12]
Ambiance or ambient lighting --- Light that partially fills in shadows, mimicking the light that scatters from everything
in the real world. Without ambiance lighting, shadows could get too dark. [12]
Ambient color --- The shaded color of an object showing darker color where light doesn't hit. [12]
Amortization --- Splitting up the cost of an expensive item over the number of years the item is used. [17]
Amp or ampere --- A measure of the volume of electrical current. Institutional circuits are usually rated for 20A
(amps). Electric wires may get hot as this number is approached. [9]
Amplifier --- Electronic device that makes a weak electrical signal stronger. [10]
Analog --- A signal that varies continuously as opposed to a digital signal made of discrete levels. A device that
works with analog signals. [1]
Analog non-linear editor --- NLE that doesn't digitize your tapes and prepare a final edit from the hard drives, but
creates an edit decision list from the timeline on your computer screen. The list later drives the VCPs and VCRs to
make the edits. [14]
Analog --- Something that varies in infinite gradations. A light dimmer is analog. Analog circuits suffer noise and
distortion. [10]
Analog VTR --- Video recorder that records the continuously varying video signal onto the tape (as opposed to
digital). [5]
Analog-to-digital (A-to-D) converter --- A circuit that samples an analog signal and expresses the information as
digital data. [5]
Animation --- Technique or result of creating a series of still images and then playing them quickly in sequence to
create motion. [12]
ANSI --- American National Standards Institute, an organization that, among other things, sets the standards for
measuring projector brightness. [19]
Antenna booster --- Amplifier, attached to antenna wire, used to strengthen a weak antenna signal. [2]
Antenna joiner --- Electrical device which connects to two or more TV antennas and sends the combined signals to
your TV set. [3]
Antenna preamplifier --- An electrical device usually connected near the antenna which makes a weak antenna
signal stronger. [3]
Antenna switch --- An electrical switch specially designed for antenna signals.[3]
Antenna switch --- Selects whether a TV's internal (monopole or rabbit-ear) antenna or external (rooftop) antenna is
to be used. [2]
Anti flicker switch or flicker fixer --- Feature on a scan converter that makes fine lines in computer graphics fuzzier
so that they don't flicker when displayed as interlaced video. [19]
Anti-alias --- The smoothing out of jagged or stair-steppy edges of electronic graphics or generated characters. [12]
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Antigravity hangers --- Spring-loaded mechanisms between the lights and the grid to allow the lights to be
individually lowered (and stay put at various heights) simply by pulling them down or pushing them up. [9]
Antikeystone --- Feature in some projectors that distorts the projected image so that it looks rectangular on the
screen, even though the projector is at an angle to the screen. [19]
Area light --- Soft diffused light, like from a fluorescent fixture. [12]
Artifacts --- Undesirable elements or defects in a video picture, such as dots crawling along the edge of colored
graphics, or color rainbows around shirts with stripes or herringbones. [1]
ASCAP --- American Society of Composers and Performers-an agency that licenses the use of copyrighted music.
[10]
Ascender --- The part of a letter that rises above the main body, like the top of the lowercase "k." [12]
ASCII --- A universal, standardized code for text and numbers used by computers and word processors. [17]
Aspect ratio --- The shape of a TV screen expressed in height compared to width. Common TV screens have a 4:3
aspect ratio. [12]
Aspherical lens --- Lens formed to a complex shape that provides improved image sharpness, lighter weight, and
more accurate color imagery than simple convex and concave lens groups. [7]
Associate producer --- Lower-level production assistant who handles program details; a bookkeeping/clerical
position requiring specialization in TV production. [17]
Asynchronous --- Not synchronized. Running independently without external sync circuits holding the device to the
same rhythm as the rest of the studio equipment. [11]
ATA Carnet --- A customs document listing your tools and their origin and destination. It guarantees to a country that
they were not bought nor will be sold in that country. [17]
ATM --- Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a method of grouping data into packets and switching them along a route to
their destination quickly. [20]
ATR --- Audio tape recorder. [10]
ATSC --- Advanced Television Systems Committee, a group formed to study DTV and make recommendations to the
FCC. [21]
Attenuator --- Small electronic device that reduces the strength of an audio signal. [5]
ATV --- Advanced Television, a name that replaced HDTV as the specifications evolved, eventually being replaced
with DTV. [21]
Audio director --- Studio crew member who handles the microphone placement, sound mix, and other audio
responsibilities before and during the show. [10]
Audio distribution amplifier of ADA --- Electronic device that takes in one audio signal and makes several, each as
strong as the original. [15]
Audio dub --- Feature on video recorders which allows you to record new sound (erasing the old sound) on a tape
while leaving the picture untouched. [5]
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Audio head --- Stationary electromagnet inside a VCR which records the sound on the tape or plays it back. Hi Fi
VCRs have audio heads that spin with the video heads. [5]
Audio insert --- An audio dub performed in the midst of an already recorded tape. [14]
Audio level control --- A volume control. Adjusts sound recording loudness on VCRs. [10]
Audio level --- How "loud" a sound signal is. Adjusting the audio level on a recorder determines the recording's
loudness. [5]
Audio limiter --- Automatic control on a recorder that reduces volume during a recording if the sound becomes too
loud. The audio limiter doesn't affect the quiet and medium parts of the recording. [5]
Audio meter --- Meter that indicates the loudness of an audio signal. Could also be a string of LEDs that light up like
a bar graph. [10]
Audio mixer --- Mixes audio (sound) signals perhaps from several microphones and combines them into one audio
signal. [1]
Audio monitor --- Device that allows you to listen to and check on the quality of a sound signal. Also the switch on a
VCR that chooses which channel (or both) is fed to your headphones or in some cases to the VCR's audio output.
[10]
Audio patch cord --- Wire with audio plugs on each end for feeding signals between two audio devices. [2]
Audio selector --- Knob on a VCR that selects whether audio track 1 or 2 or a combination of both will be played
back (or recorded upon). [14]
Audio splicing tape --- Adhesive tape used to join the ends of audio recording tape during the editing process. [14]
Audio --- The sound part of a TV broadcast. Sound, turned into an electrical signal.[1]
Audio-1, audio-2 --- Names given to the two audio channels on a 3/4U VCR. Audio-2 is often the main channel. Some
home VCRs may have two-channel audio or stereo audio. [5]
Audio-follow-video --- A special switch that routes an audio signal along with the video signal at the press of a single
button, like two switches in one. [15]
Audio-follow-video --- A switcher feature often found in routing switchers whereby the audio source is automatically
switched along with the video source. [11]
Audition --- The act of checking on a sound signal but not recording it. Also, a mixer channel that can be listened to
or adjusted but is not necessarily recorded. [10]
Authoring --- Process of organizing the materials for an interactive disc and putting them into computer language.
[18]
Auto fade --- Control on some cameras which fades the picture to black at the end of a scene or fades up from black
at the beginning. [6]
Auto preview --- Mechanism on a switcher/SEG that automatically displays on your preview monitor any effect not
being recorded but ready to be shown once selected. [11]
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Automatic focus --- Electronic system in some cameras that senses whether the picture is sharp and electrically
focuses the lens to correct blurry pictures. [6]
Automatic gain control or AGC --- Electronic circuit that automatically adjusts the loudness of a recording. [10]
Automatic iris --- Camera circuit which senses the amount of light in a scene and opens or closes the lens iris to
adapt to it. [6]
Autoscan or multiscan --- Where a multisync monitor or projector can be switched to a selected sweep frequency to
match a computer or TV scan rate, an autoscan or multiscan monitor or projector will "sense" the frequency and
automatically lock onto it. [19]
Aux send/return --- An output/input path on mixers that allow a signal to be manipulated by a device outside the
mixer. [10]
AV monitor or multimedia monitor --- TV monitor with audio and video inputs to display picture and sound. [2]
Azimuth --- Left/right direction, or east/west when tracking satellites. [20]
Baby boom --- Small boom stand for holding a microphone. [10]
Back focus --- The distance between the lens and the pickup chip; To remain in focus while zooming, the lens' back
focus must be adjusted precisely. Also, the act of adjusting a lens' back focus. [7]
Background generator --- SEG circuit that adds color to a black background, useful for keying words onto a colored
background. [11]
Backhaul --- The act of sending a program or newsfeed via satellite from a local area back to the main distribution
area for rebroadcasting via satellite. [20]
Backlight --- Light coming from behind a subject. Also a control on a TV camera which improves a backlit picture
(keeps it from looking like a silhouette). 6]
Backlight --- Lighting instrument that illuminates the subject from behind, creating a rim of light around the edges of
the subject. The back light usually has barn doors for precise control of light's direction. [9]
Backspace --- Act of moving a video tape backward slightly. Helpful in producing glitchless (clean, smooth) edits. [5]
Backspace --- Move a tape backwards a ways and park it in preparation for an edit; give the tape space for the
preroll. [14]
Balanced line --- An audio cable with three wires, two inside a shield. Corresponding connectors have three prongs.
[10]
Ballast --- An electrical transformer that properly conditions the electrical power to run HMI lights. [9]
Band --- A range of radio frequencies used for a certain type of communications. [20]
Band --- A set of related frequencies. UHF (ultrahigh frequency) is one band 470-890 MHz (megahertz).[3]
Band separator/joiner --- Electrical device which separates combined bands (like VHF, UHF, FM) into separate
bands (like FM alone) or combines separate bands so the signal can travel on a single cable. [3]
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Banding --- A picture artifact or fault whereby smooth brightness or color gradients appear to be comprised of bands
of brightness or color, often the result of too few bits used to represent each sample of a picture. Banding could make
a billiard ball look like a sliced onion. [5]
Bandwidth --- Electromagnetic "room" for TV channels or computer data on a wire, cable, fibre, or airwave. [4]
Bandwidth --- The range of frequencies over which a circuit or electronic device can function properly. NTSC
bandwidth is 4.2 MHz, meaning the signals can have frequencies ranging between 0 vibrations per second and 4.2
million vibrations per second. [1]
Barn doors --- Metal flaps on a lighting instrument that can be closed or opened to direct the light, and shade areas
where light is undesirable. [9]
Barrel connector --- An adapter with a socket at each end which allows two cables to be connected together.[2]
Baseband audio and video --- Composite video and audio, not RF modulated. [15]
Basic level videodisc player --- Like a movie, this videodisc and player can only start at the beginning and play to
the end of a program. There is no interactivity. [18]
Basic service --- Inexpensive lineup of local TV channels and access channels. [4]
Bass --- Low frequency sound. [10]
BAUD --- Bits per second transmitted or received by a modem. [20]
Bayonet mount --- Lens-to-camera connection popular on professional cameras. [7]
Beaded screen --- Projection screen covered with tiny glass beads (looks like white sandpaper); has a gain of 2 or 3.
[19]
Below-the-line costs --- Ongoing costs realized whether a production company is doing a show or not. Overhead.
Examples: staff engineering and production personnel, equipment amortization, telephone, taxes. [17]
Betacam --- Aging popular professional camcorder format using betamax-like cassettes, recording separate colors at
high tape speed for high quality. Expensive. [5]
Betacam SP --- Component VCR format using Betacam cassettes. [13]
Betacam-SP --- Improved version of betacam, downwardly compatible with it, very popular among professionals. [5]
Betamax --- Introduced by Sony, nearly extinct, 1/2-inch consumer videocassette format. [5]
Bezier patch --- Grid upon which flat objects are "pasted". By stretching or bending the grid, objects will stretch,
bend, or morph. [12]
Binary --- Counting system based on two levels, 0 and 1, used by computers and other digital equipment. [5]
Bit --- A Binary digit, a 0 or 1, representing a no or a yes answer to a question. A bit is the smallest piece of
information a computer understands. [5]
Bitmap --- Image stored as pixels mapped across the screen. [12]
Black balance --- Color camera adjustment which makes blacks pure black (not tinted one color or another). [6]
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Blacked tape --- A video recording of black, used to prepare a tape for insert editing. [14]
Blanking --- One of the sync signals that determines the size of the black sync bar at the bottom of the TV picture.
[11]
Blocking --- Planning out everyone's position and movement for the show. [17]
Blue gun --- Used with color bar test signals, this calibration switch on a TV monitor activates only the electron guns
for the blue phosphors; for adjusting color hue and saturation. [15]
Blue pedestal --- Control on a color camera CCU which adjusts the amount of blue signal the camera makes when it
"sees" no blue. Similar controls for red and green may exist. Used in balancing black levels. [15]
Blur --- Adobe paint tool for softening parts of a picture. Blue softens the unrealistically hard edges of some modified
graphics. [12]
BMI --- Broadcast Music, Inc.-an agency that licenses the use of copyrighted music. [10]
BMP --- Bitmap format for an image file, capable of handling 16 colors, 256 colors, or True color. BMPs are a subset
of Windows DIB format, but do not support image compression. [12]
BNC --- The most popular industrial connector used for video or sync. Sometimes used for RF. [2]
Boolean operation --- Process of forming an object by intersecting two other 3-D objects. [12]
Boom --- An arm that sticks out, often with a mike hung on the end. [10]
Boost --- Camera control which makes it extrasensitive in dim light. [6]
Border --- Split screen effect which makes a visible line (of chosen width and color) between the pictures sharing the
screen. [11]
Bow tie --- Portable TV antenna which looks like a bow tie, used for UHF stations.[2]
Bps --- Bits per second, the speed data travels through a wire or device. [20]
Branch --- A step in a flowchart or CAI program where a choice is made, and the viewer follows one of several
alternate routes through the program. [18]
Breakaway or split edit or L-cut --- An edit where the audio and video do not automatically switch together; they are
switched in separate operations, perhaps one occurring before the other. [14]
BRI --- Basic Rate Interface, ISDN phone line with two 64kbps channels and one 16kbps channel. [20]
Bulk tape eraser --- Large electromagnet used for erasing (demagnetizing) an entire reel or cassette of audio or
video tape at once. The procedure takes about 4 seconds. [5]
Bump map --- Texture map data describing the instructions for how shadows will be made by the bumpiness of the
surface. [12]
Burn in --- A spot, streak, or blemish on the TV screen which remains even when the camera is focused on a new
scene. TV screen burn-ins are usually caused by displaying a contrasty object for too long. Aiming the camera at a
very bright object like the sun can burn-in the CCD chip. [6]
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Burst --- One of the sync signals to control the hue and color accuracy of TV pictures. [11]
Burst --- Part of the sync signal controlling the hue and color accuracy of TV pictures. It is a reference signal used by
TVs and other video equipment as the benchmark for what all the hues should be. [15]
Burst phase --- Control on a color camera CCU (or other video gear) that adjusts the timing of the burst signal and
thus varies the color hues in the picture. [15]
Bus --- A channel or a group of related buttons on a switcher/SEG. [11]
Bus --- Computer's network of circuits to move data from one part of its "brain" to another for processing. [5]
Butterfly or Overhead --- Large sheet of diffusion material usually erected like a tent over the subject to soften light.
[9]
Byte --- Eight bits, usually the number of bits necessary to represent an alpha numeric character like the letter A
(which happens to be 01000001). [5]
C --- The chrominance or color part of a video signal. [1]
Cable drive --- Cranks or knobs, mounted on or near the tripod handles, are connected to the lens via cables and
remotely control the lens's zoom and focus. [7]
Cable guards --- Metal shields that sweep cables out of the way so the camera dolly doesn't roll over them. [6]
Cable length --- CCU control which adjusts the sharpness and strength of signals coming from a camera, matching
them to the strengths of other cameras with longer or shorter cables. [6]
Cable modem --- Computer modem connected to cable TV coax, able to transport data at very high speeds (up to
30Mbps). [20]
Cable modem --- Device that connects between your computer and your cable-TV source, able to transmit data
quickly to an Internet service provider also on the system. [15]
Cable modem --- Device which converts computer data to a signal that can travel quickly over cable TV wires. [4]
Cable ready --- A modern TV or VCR with a tuner able to pick up the cable TV channels directly without a converter
box.[4]
Cam link head --- Heavy-duty camera support to keep the camera from tilting down abruptly when free to move; the
camera simply comes to rest in a safe horizontal position. [6]
Camcorder --- A VCR and camera in one unit, or as two devices joined together. [5]
Camel's-hair brush --- Brush of soft camel's hair, often with bellows in the handle, for blowing dust off lenses. [7]
Camera adapter --- Box of electronics that a portable camera can plug into (instead of directly into a VCR) that
powers the camera and distributes the camera's video and other signals via standardized outputs. [6]
Capstan --- Shiny rotating wheel inside a VCR to draw tape through the machine at the proper speed. [16]
Capstan --- Shiny spinning rod inside the VCR which pinches against the tape and draws it through the mechanism.
[5]
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Captioning encoder --- Device that changes text data into the codes that go on line 21 of the video signal passing
through it, essentially making closed (or open) captioned video. [15]
Captioning service --- Company that encodes closed (or open) captions into your TV production, either live or offline.
[15]
Capture --- Digitize a stretch of videotape on a non-linear editor, or digitize the first and last image of a scene and
store the time codes on an analog non-linear editor. [14]
CAV --- Constant angular velocity, the half-hour mode of an analog videodisc and player. Special effects are
available. [18]
C-band --- A range of microwave frequencies between 4 and 8GHz. [20]
CCD --- Charge coupled device, a popular type of image sensing pickup chip in TV cameras. [1]
CCD --- Charge-coupled device, transistorized light sensor on TV cameras. [6]
C-clamp --- C-shaped clamp used to hang lighting instruments from the ceiling grid. [9]
CCU or camera control unit --- Box of electronic circuits which can remotely adjust the operation of a camera as well
as provide power and signals to it. 6]
CD --- Compact disc containing digitally recorded sound, or the machine that plays the discs. [10]
CD-I --- Compact Disc Interactive, a disc (or player) able to play interactively, up to 74 minutes of limited motion
MPEG-1 compressed audio and video. [18]
CD-R --- Recordable CD. [18]
CD-ROM --- Compact Disc-Read Only Memory, a CD with data files on it, readable by your computer. [10]
CD-ROM XA --- CD-ROM Extended Architecture, plays music CDs and CD-ROM data on one multisession disc. Discs
can be recordable. [18]
Center focus --- Mood-creating lens effect where the outside edges of a picture are blurry and the center is sharp. [8]
CG --- Character Generator operator, person who locates titles and text and has it ready to key into the program
along with any transitions or movement. [17]
CGMS or Copy Generation Management System --- Method of making DVDs uncopyable. [18]
Channel --- On a dimmer, a channel is a set of controls working independently of another set of controls. One
channel can be set up for one lighting situation and the second set up for another. Switching channels changes all the
lights from one setup to the other. [9]
Chapter --- One section of a level 2 videodisc program, like a chapter of a book. [18]
Chapter stop --- A code, embedded in the level 1 videodisc flags where each new chapter or section begins. While
scanning fast forward, the player will sense the code and will still-frame at this point. This feature speeds the process
of locating segments on the disc. [18]
Character generator --- Electronic device allowing you to type titles onto the TV image. [11]
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Character generator --- Electronic device with a typewriter keyboard which electronically displays letters, numbers,
and symbols on a TV screen. [4]
Character generator or CG --- Typewriter keyboard that electronically displays letters, numbers, and symbols on a
TV screen. [12]
Characters --- Letters, numbers, spaces, or punctuation marks which can be printed or displayed on a TV screen. [2]
Charge back --- Charging studio costs to another division of the same company. No money changes hands, it's just
an accounting procedure. [17]
Chip --- Miniature electronic circuit consisting of thousands of transistors. A TV camera chip senses the image. [6]
Chroma gain --- Camera control that boosts the amounts of color in the picture. [15]
Chroma key --- Key effect triggered by the color blue (or some other selected color) rather than black. [11]
Chroma key --- Video effect where blue (or other selected color) parts of a TV picture are replaced with another
picture. [9-12.1]
Chrominance or chroma --- The color part of video signal. [1]
Circuit breaker --- An electronic resettable fuse found on TVs and other electronic devices. Pressing the red button
resets the fuse.[2]
Circular polarizer --- Polarizing lens attachment designed to work with cameras having mirrors. [7]
Clear, (or in-the-clear) --- Non-scrambled satellite TV programs. [20]
Clip --- A digitized audio sample. It could be a sound effect or a whole song or speech.
Clip --- A video and/or audio scene or shot, usually of raw footage. Non-linear editors will digitize the clip so it may be
trimmed and added to the timeline. [14]
Clip art --- Professionally made art, stored as computer files and sold or given away on DC-ROMS or over the
INTERNET. The art can be used alone, or can dress up newsletters, or could be combined with your own graphic
images. [12]
Clip bin --- A window on the editing screen that displays all the clips that have been digitized. [14]
ClipLink --- Sony DVCAM mechanism for marking in/out points of raw footage while it's in the camera. Thumbnail
images and time code numbers may then be quickly downloaded to the non-linear editor, possibly guiding the editor
in digitizing only the "good" shots. [14]
Clipping --- Phenomenon where a signal is stronger than the circuits can handle, thus they clip off the excess. In
audio, this causes distorted sound, in video it results in a chalky appearance. [15]
Closed caption decoder --- Circuit in a TV set that extracts closed caption data from the video signal and displays it
on the screen. [15]
Closed caption submaster tape --- Copy of your master tape with closed captions encoded into line 21 of the video.
[15]
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Closed captions --- Signals invisibly encoded in the picture of some TV shows can be deciphered by a caption
decoder and turned into text appearing over the TV image, mostly for the benefit of the hearing impaired.[2]
Close-up lens attachment --- A lens element that screws onto your existing lens, allowing it to focus closer than
normal. [7]
Closure --- Describes how the TV viewer mentally fills in the parts of an incomplete picture. [8]
CLV --- Constant linear velocity, the 1-hour mode of an analog videodisc and player. Special effects are not available.
[18]
C-mount --- Standardized connection between TV camera lenses and TV cameras, used in industrial cameras. [7]
Coax or coaxial wire --- Stiff, round wire about 1/4 inch in diameter, used to carry video, sync, or RF (antenna)
signals.[2]
Co-channel interference --- Wavy lines or other interference appearing on the TV screen caused when a TV set
receives more than one signal at a time on the same channel (i.e., two channel 3s at once). [3]
Codec --- Coder/decoder, device to convert video and audio into digits transportable via phone lines, then convert the
digits back to audio/video for the recipient. Codecs may also employ digital compression. [15]
Codec --- Coder-Decoder, an electronic device devoted to compressing and decompressing video. [12]
Color background generator --- Device which electronically creates a screenful of a desired color without the help of
a camera. Color could be used as background behind character-generated text. [15]
Color bar generator --- Electronic device to create color bars for use as a test signal. [15]
Color bar test chart --- A carefully prepared poster containing colored bars used for camera testing. [15]
Color bars --- Vertical bars of color used to test cameras and other video equipment. 6]
Color compatible --- An image that can be viewed easily on black- and-white TVs as well as color ones. [12]
Color corrector --- Electronic device that dissects the colors of a video signal and allows them to be individually
adjusted (i.e., the blues could be changed to aquas without changing anything else). [15]
Color difference signals --- Component video signals which represent color parts of the picture. R-Y and B-Y are
color difference signals. [1]
Color lookup table --- Image capture software that reduces color space by programming into the video card a
selection of (usually 256) colors. These colors are used to recreate the picture. [12]
Color map --- Texture map describing the colors and design print of the surface. [12]
Color space --- The total number of colors displayable at a time by a computer. [12]
Color temperature --- The redness or blueness of a scene, the result of the kind of light used to illuminate the scene.
Also the name given to the color TV camera control which adapts it to these varied lighting conditions. [6]
Color under --- Electronic technique of lowering frequencies of the color information in a video picture making it easier
to record. [13]
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Color under --- Video recording method where color is separated from luminance and converted to a lower frequency
for inexpensive recording. [5]
Color wheel --- A chart organizing colors by their hues and values, helpful in determining colors that go well together.
[12]
Colorize --- Adding color to something electronically. A matte can be white, black, gray, or colorized; so can wipe
borders and backgrounds. [11]
Community antenna --- Large antenna, receiving good reception, feeding its signals to many homes at once. Also
called MATV for master antenna TV, often used in apartment buildings where one antenna feeds all apartments.[4]
Compact disc (CD) --- Small shiny disc imbedded with microscopic pits representing digital data which can be read
by a laser and converted into sound. [10]
Compand --- Compress/expand, a technique of squeezing the dynamic range of a wireless microphone, then
expanding that range at the receiver end to restore normal sound. [10]
Companding --- Compression/expanding, a technique used by audio devices such as wireless microphones whereby
audio signals are compressed prior to recording or transmission, and expanded back to normal just before use. The
technique increases the audio dynamic range. [15]
Compatible --- The ability to play a tape on any same-format machine and get good picture and sound. [5]
Component switcher --- Video switcher which switches and mixes component (i.e., RGB, or Y/U/V, or Y/R-Y/B-Y)
video signals. [11]
Component video --- Color video transmitted with the luminance (Y) on one wire and the color signals on other
wires, or each color on its own wire. Examples: R,G,B; Y(R-Y)/(B-Y), Y/I/Q, Y/U/V, 4:2:2. [1]
Component video recorder --- Professional VCR that records separately the distinct color video signals from a
camera, offering a high-quality image. [13]
Component video --- Separate color video signals that have not yet been combined into a single video signal. Y/R-Y/
B-Y, video is an example of component video signals. [13]
Component video --- Video signals carrying separate colors on separate wires. RGB, Y/l/Q, Y/R-Y/B-Y are
component video signals. [5]
Composer --- 2-D paint feature allowing you to create multiple layers of work and make transitions including fancy
effects from one layer or scene to another. [12]
Composite --- A picture made of layers or the act of making such a picture. [12]
Composite video --- The combination of three color video signals traveling on one wire. NTSC video is composite
video. [5]
Composite video --- Video (picture) signal with the sync (timing) signal combined. Also means color video carried on
one wire with the colors combined (encoded) with the brightness constituents of the picture. [1]
Compression --- Process for storing digital data in a smaller space than it would normally take. A 2:1 compression
would squeeze the data into half its original size. [5]
Compressor --- Audio device able to reduce the audio signal when it exceeds a set amount. [10]
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Compressor --- Electronic audio device to reduce the range of volumes in an audio signal down to a range easier to
record. Creates a "flat" sound where soft and loud passages are about the same volume. [15]
Computer assisted instruction (CAI) --- Lessons presented interactively via computer. [18]
Computer graphics --- The process of electronically creating pictures and perhaps text using a computer. The art can
be manipulated and stored digitally, and converted to video signals. [12]
Continuous white balance --- Camera mode which makes moment-by-moment adjustments to the white balance,
using what the camera sees in its picture as a guide. [6]
Control head --- Electromagnet in a VTR which records timing pulses on the tape and plays them back. These pulses
precisely guide the speed of the tape. [5]
Control pulses --- Rhythmic signal recorded on a video tape's control track which guides the VCR during playback.
[14]
Control track counter --- Time code counter that senses the control track pulses on the tape and converts the data to
hours:minutes:seconds:, and sometimes frames. [14]
Control-M --- Panasonic-developed bidirectional interface to control camcorders through a 5 pin DIN connector.
Similar, but not compatible with, Control-C (LANC). [14]
Control-S --- Simple Sony editing protocol where remote control signals can be sent to VCRs to activate them. [14]
Convergence --- On a three-tube video projector, focusing and aiming the three colored pictures so that they overlap,
producing all colors accurately, without ridges along edges of objects. [19]
Convergence --- The precise overlapping of a color TV's three primary colored pictures to make one multicolored
picture.[2]
Converter --- Electronic device which translates one channel number (one frequency) into another (another
frequency). Often rented from cable TV companies, a converter (or decoder) box connects to your TV and does the
tuning instead of your TV tuner. The box usually puts out channel 3, and your TV remains tuned to channel 3.[4]
Copy protected --- A signal recorded on a video tape renders the tape uncopyable.[2]
Copy stand --- A device for holding a camera so it can easily be focused on a graphic. [12]
Copyguard, Macrovision --- Antipiracy techniques employed by prerecorded tape producers to thwart tape copying.
[5]
Corner insert --- A special wipe pattern that stops partway across the screen so that a corner of the TV picture is
taken up by part of another camera's image. [11]
Corner insert --- A wipe effect where one corner of the TV screen shows one camera's picture while the rest of the
screen shows another's. [6]
CPU or computer chip --- The heart of a computer, a single circuit chip with millions of transistors programmed to
interpret and carry out commands. [12]
Cradle head --- Heavy-duty camera support to keep the camera stable when it's free to tilt; i.e., the camera won't
suddenly tilt down. [6]
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Crane arm --- Device for lifting cameras high into the air and aiming them while the camera operator remains on the
ground. [6]
Crawl --- To move one line of text sideways across the bottom of your screen, so you read it like a tickertape. [12]
Credit --- List of participants in a TV production, usually scrolled at the end of the show. 12]
Credits --- The listing, usually at the show's end, of the people who participated in making it.
Cross platform --- The ability for software to work on either PC or MacIntosh (or some other type) computers
(platforms). [18]
Crosstalk --- A bleeding of sound from one channel or track to another. [14]
CRT or Cathode Ray Tube --- A vacuum tube with an electron gun at one end and a phosphor screen at the other
which glows when struck by electrons from the gun. Computer screens and TV picture tubes are CRTs having the
familiar TV screen at one end.[1]
CTL time code --- JVC system of time code separately identifying each frame of VHS or SVHS tape by modifying the
tapes control track. [14]
Cue --- A signal to performers (or crew) telling them to do something. Usually, the director calls out the cue, which is
relayed via hand signals by a studio crew member. [8]
Cue card holder --- Person who holds up the cue cards where the talent can read them. [17]
Cue channel --- Extra (usually a third) audio channel, recorded on an extra track on the video tape-used to carry TV
technician messages or time code data, such as the SMPTE time code. [14]
Cue --- In audio, to "set up" a sound effect or music or narration so that it will start immediately when a button is
pushed. Also a mixer channel used by the audio person who listens to the sound effect being set up. The cue
channel does not get recorded. [10]
Cue inserter --- Device that puts a coded signal on the premaster tape. At the mastering plant, this cue is
transformed into a level 1 chapter stop or picture stop. [18]
Cut --- Switch from one picture to another directly, in the blink of an eye. [11]
Cutaway --- The act of "cutting away" (taking a shot of something else) from the main scene for a moment to hide
jump cuts. Also the name given to this backup shot, which is generally a long shot of a performer, a host, news
reporters, or some other related scene. [14]
Cutting on the action --- Changing shots at the moment some action is taking place. [14]
D1 --- Very high-quality component video digital recording format. Expensive. [5]
D2 --- Very high-quality composite video digital recording format. Expensive. [5]
DAT --- Digital Audio Tape, a cassette with binary data representing stereo audio sound. Also the machine that
converts analog audio to digital and records it, as well as plays it back converting the digital data to analog audio. [10]
Data projector --- Device designed to project images from computer workstations displaying 1024768 pixels. [19]
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Day-in-the-life documentary --- Video program showing the day-to-day existence of an injured person, intended to
show the difficulties of caretaking and to promote the jury's sympathy. [17]
dB or decibel --- A measure of the strength of one electronic signal compared to another. The higher the dB number,
the greater the signal strength. [6]
DBS --- Direct Broadcast Satellite, high-powered satellite which can broadcast a TV signal strong enough for you to
receive with a small dish antenna and about $500 worth of equipment. Unlike some satellites, whose signals are
meant primarily for cable TV systems that use big dishes to pull in the signals for subsequent distribution (and sale) to
their subscribers, this signal is meant for your direct reception in the home. [20]
DBX --- A scheme for reducing audio noise in recordings by encoding and decoding. Effect is more pronounced than
with Dolby. [10]
DDR --- Digital Disk Recorder, records digital video (or other data) on a disk and plays it back. [5]
Dead border area --- Blank margin around a graphic that never shows on TV. [12]
Deck --- Short name for a recorder, sometimes the VCR portion of a dockable camcorder, sometimes a stand-alone
VCR. [5]
Decode --- Reprocessing of a signal to extract the desired part. In audio, a signal is encoded on recording; on
playback, it is decoded so that it sounds normal, but noise is reduced. [10]
Defocus-focus --- A transition from one shot to another by defocusing the first shot, editing (or switching cameras),
and following with another defocused shot which then comes into focus. [14]
Degauss --- Demagnetize (remove residual magnetism).[2]
Delay line --- Passive electronic device which, when connected to a video or sync cable, delays (retards the timing of)
the signal passing through it; used to slow down "early" signals to keep them synchronized. [15]
Delay --- The single repeat of a sound after its been made. [10]
Demagnetizer (or degausser) --- Electronic device that makes a fluctuating magnetic field. When the probe is
brought near a slightly magnetized object (like an audio record head), the device demagnetizes it. [16]
Demodulator or tuner --- Electronic device which changes channel numbers (RF) into video and audio signals. [4]
Depth multiplexing --- Method of recording hi-fi audio on VHS and SVHS tapes along with the video. The audio is
recorded deeply and the video shallowly over it. [10]
Depth-of-field --- The span of distance from a lens which appears in focus at one time. Wide depth-of-field means far
and near objects in the picture appear sharp. [6]
Deregulated --- Removal of laws and restrictions imposed by Congress, the FCC, or some regulatory body. [4]
Descender --- The part of a letter that drops below the line, like the bottom of the lowercase "p." [12]
Descrambler --- An electronic device (usually rented from a pay-TV company) used to convert scrambled TV signals
to viewable ones.[2]
Desk stand --- A small microphone holder that sits on a desk. [10]
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Desktop video --- The integration of several video disciplines, (i.e., titles, graphics, switcher, video editing) into one or
several computers. Except for the cameras and microphones that gather the original footage, most of the production
process can take place on a desktop computer. [12]
Detail --- Image enhancer control adjusting amount of enhancement the device will make. [15]
Detailer --- Less expensive image enhancer used in the home video field. [15]
Dew indicator --- A light on the VCR apprising you of the fact that the VCR's insides are damp and the machine will
remain shut down until they dry. [5]
Diagonal split screen --- A split screen divided diagonally. [11]
DIB --- Microsoft Window's Device Independent Bitmap image file format able to handle true color independent of the
computer's graphics card. When used in 16 or 256 colors, the images can be compressed, but in true color, they can
not. [12]
Diffuse color --- The overall solid natural color of an object. [12]
Digital --- A signal made of two discrete levels, on (or1) and off (or 0), as opposed to signals that vary continuously
between high, medium, and low levels. A device that works with digital signals. [1]
Digital animation recorder --- Computer card or stand alone device able to record and play back video in real time.
[12]
Digital non-linear editor --- NLE that digitizes the scenes from the VCPs, then performs the edits within the
computer, then plays the final program from its hard drives. [14]
Digital --- Something that is either "on" or "off." A light switch is digital. On and off can be represented by the digits 1
and 0. Digital equipment copies signals without introducing noise and distortion. [10]
Digital still frame --- Electronic method of "grabbing" a still picture on a camcorder or from a tape playing on a VCR.
[14]
Digital video recorder --- Advanced, professional VCR that records video as 1s and 0s. Digital video tapes can be
copied without generational losses. [13]
Digital videocassette (DVC) recorder --- A VCR that records and plays back digital data representing a video picture
and sound. [5]
Digital VTR --- Video recorder that converts the video signal to ones and zeroes (digits) and records the numbers.
Upon playback, the numbers are converted back to video. [5]
Digital zoom --- An electronic way of blowing up a picture making it look zoomed in. Used to any degree, it shows
blockiness: parts of the image turn into little squares. [6]
Digital-S --- JVC's digital video compression and recording system using SVHS tape. Can also play analog SVHS
tapes. [5]
Dimmer --- Electronic device to vary the brightness of lamps connected to its circuits. [9]
Dimmer remote control --- Control panel with sliders to vary each dimmer circuit's power. The small panel connects
via a multiwire cable to the actual large and heavy dimmer circuits. Those circuits feed power to the lighting grid. [9]
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DIN connector --- Round, multipin plug or socket. [14]
Diopter --- The measure of a close-up lens attachment's strength. The larger the number ( +1, +2, +3) diopter, the
closer the lens can focus. [7]
DIP switch --- Dual Inline Package switch, a tiny computer switch. [5]
Dipole --- Antenna with two elements. A rabbit ear antenna is a portable dipole. [3]
Direct broadcast satellite or DBS --- High-powered orbiting satellite which receives signals from earth and beams
them back down, blanketing a part of the country so that they are easily tuned in with a 3-foot dish antenna and a
special (usually rented) receiver which feeds up to four channels to your TV set. [4]
Direct --- Method of time base correction used with professional equipment yielding high resolution. [15]
Directional microphone --- Microphone that needs to be "aimed" as it is more sensitive in one direction than another.
[10]
Director --- Person in charge of shooting and editing a show, the actual "builder" of the show. [17]
Dish antenna --- A special, very sensitive bowl-shaped antenna designed to pick up weak signals, like those from
satellites. Technically, the dish part is only a reflector which concentrates the waves, and focuses them on a tiny
antenna, perhaps at the dish's center. [20]
Display monitor --- TV monitor designed to make big, bright, pretty pictures for audience consumption. [2]
Dissolve (or lap dissolve) --- TV effect where one picture slowly melts into another. One picture fades to black while
another simultaneously fades up from black. [11]
Distortion --- Poor quality sound, usually raspy and loud, often caused by too strong an audio signal. [5]
Distortion --- The unfaithful reproduction of sound. For example, turning a portable radio up to full volume often
causes distorted sound. [10]
Dithering --- An image rendering technique to make fewer colors look like more colors by placing certain colored dots
close to each other. [12]
Diversity Receiver --- Wireless microphone receiver that can "listen" to a signal from the mike using two antennas. It
picks the antenna giving the best signal, thus yielding more reliable reception (fewer audio dropouts). [10]
DLP or digital light processing --- Method of projecting a bright image by beaming light onto arrays of microscopic
mirrors, some of which reflect light through a lens onto the screen. The angles of the mirrors correspond to the pixels
in the original image. [19]
DLT or Digital Linear Tape --- A digital tape in a cassette that stores large amounts of data and can play it quickly.
The magnetic stripes go the length of the tape. [18]
DMD or digital micromirror display --- The image reflecting chip at the heart of a DLP projector. [19]
Dockable --- Camera/VCR feature whereby the two can work independently or can be joined into a single unit
becoming a camcorder. [6]
Dockable --- The ability to join a camera with a VCR so that the pair become one unit, such as one camcorder. [5]
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Dolby AC-3 --- Method of compressing 5 channels of high quality sound data into 384kbps, for use in DTV and DVDs.
[21]
Dolly --- Bottom part of a camera tripod that has wheels. Also the act of moving the camera toward or away from a
subject. [6]
DOS --- (Disk Operating System) Software that controls the computer and manages communications between the
programs and the hardware. [12]
Double terminating --- Installing two 75 terminators on a video cable which should only have one (usually by
throwing a 75 switch and adding a 75 terminal plug to the socket). [2]
Double-faced tape --- Adhesive tape sticky on both sides-good for use between pictures and backings. [12]
Downconvert --- Change a higher frequency signal into a lower frequency. [20]
Downlink --- Receiver of signals from an orbiting satellite. [20]
Download --- Send data from the main machine (i.e., a digital camcorder, VCR, or mainframe computer) to a
secondary machine (i.e., a personal computer). [5]
Download --- To copy data from another, usually bigger source, such as a file server or mainframe computer. You
might download to your own computer a picture from a source on the Internet. [12]
Downstream keyer --- A circuit in the switcher/SEG which will key an image (usually a word) over the top of a picture
or special effect. This is often the least thing done to the signal before it exits the switcher to be recorded. [11]
Downward compatible --- Improved version of something which is compatible with older versions. SVHS VCRs are
downwardly compatible with VHS VCRs because SVHS VCRs can play VHS tapes. The opposite is not true; VHS
machines can't play SVHS tapes---they aren't upwardly compatible. [5]
Drag control --- Camera head control that resists free motion of the head in a direction. [6]
Drag-and-drop --- Method of moving an object on a computer screen by clicking your mouse on it, moving the
mouse, then unclicking the mouse to lock the object in its new place. [14]
Driver --- A circuit or software that provides input to another circuit. To use an Orchid graphics card with Microsoft
Windows, you need Orchid drivers to make the card compatible with the software. [12]
Drop frame --- SMPTE time code mode that keeps accurate time of day by skipping 108 frames per hour following a
formula. [14]
Drop shadow --- A dark ridge placed on one side of letters making them look three-dimensional as they cast a
shadow. The letters become easier to see because of the edging. [12]
Dropout --- A speck or streak of snow on the TV screen seen when a video tape player hits a fleck of dirt or a "bare"
spot when the tape is playing. Dust or scratches can also cause a dropout to be recorded on a tape. [5]
Dropout compensator --- Electronic device that hides dropouts by replacing these specks with an adjacent piece of
TV picture. Simpler models merely replace dropouts with gray. [15]
DSL --- Digital Subscriber Line, a digitized telephone line. [20]
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DSP (Digital signal processing) --- TV camera design that employs digital controls (menus and numbers) rather
than manually turned knobs in order to set up and store the camera's adjustments. [6]
DSS --- Digital Satellite System, a satellite using digital rather than analog signals. [20]
DTH --- Direct To Home, another name for DBS. [20]
DTV --- Digital Television, TV that is broadcast, recorded, and processed digitally, possibly with extended definition
like HDTV. [21]
Dub feature --- On better VHS, SVHS, and 3/4U VCRs, especially editors, this is an input or output that allows the
VCRs to copy unprocessed color signals directly, yielding a cleaner copy. [13]
Dub --- In audio, to replace an old sound track with a new one, leaving the video unchanged. In video, sometimes
means to duplicate a tape. To keep things clear, use the term audio dub to indicate audio only. [10]
Dub --- To duplicate, as in "please dub this tape." Also, the name for the copy of a tape, as in "the dub is on the
shelf." Dub cables assist in the process of sending signals from a VCP (video cassette player) to a VCR. Audio dub
means to replace the present recorded sound with new sound. [5]
Dulling spray --- Aerosol spray used by film and video professionals to reduce shine on objects. [7]
Dulling spray --- Spray-on aerosol that reduces surface shine. [10]
Duplication house --- A company that duplicates videocassettes, usually hundreds at a time. [13]
DV --- Digital Video Format where images and sound are recorded as digital data onto 1/4 inch cassettes with very
high quality. [5]
DV, DVC --- Digital Video. General term meaning audio and video are converted into ones and zeros for digital
recording, transmission, and manipulation. DV also stands for a particular digital VCR format using 4:1:1 sampling,
5:1 compression, and 25 Mbps data rate recorded on a 1/4" cassette. Format also called DVC---Digital Video
Cassette. [5]
DVC PRO --- Panasonic professional format based on DVC but using a wider track and faster tape speed to record
more data with less compression than consumer DVC. [5]
DVD or Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc --- Disc that can hold the data of 7 CD-ROMs and play full
motion video and audio with good quality. [18]
D-VHS --- JVC's digital video recorder using VHS tape. Not the same as DV or Digital-S. [5]
DVR --- Digital Video Recorder. A VCR or computer disk recorder that records/plays digits representing audio and
video. [5]
Dynamation --- Preprogrammed pseudo random motion of particle systems such as snow, rain, fountains,
explosions, or flocks of birds. [12]
Dynamic contrast control --- Camera circuit extending its contrast ratio beyond the normal 30:1, allowing very bright
and very dark areas to exist in the same picture. [6]
Dynamic noise reducer --- Audio filter that "listens" to the sound and turns off when sounds are loud (thus not
"coloring" the sound) and turns on when sounds are soft (when hiss would be most noticeable if left unfiltered). [15]
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Dynamic range --- A ratio comparing the lowest level of sound audible (above the noise of the machine) with the
highest level; the range of loudness a device can handle without distorting. Wider dynamic range represents truer
sound fidelity. [15]
Dynamic range --- A ratio of the softest to the loudest sound reproducible by a device, expressed in dB. A 90-dB
dynamic range is more lifelike than a 70-dB dynamic range. [10]
Dynamic tracking --- Professional VTR feature which allows the tape to be played at various speeds including still
frame while making a clear picture. [5]
E to E --- Electrical-to-electrical connection, usually a sample of the signal fed to a recorder and appearing at its
output (not the signal from the tape). [5]
Echo chamber --- Device that adds echoes to an audio signal. [15]
Echo --- The repeat of a sound several times in diminished volume after the sound has ceased. [10]
Echo --- The repetition of a sound like hello, hello, hello, etc. [15]
ED beta --- Extended definition betamax. Much improved version of betamax, downwardly compatible with it. [5]
Edging --- A dark (or occasionally white) ridge around letters to make them stand out. [12]
Edit decision list or EDL --- A refined editing sheet listing each shot to be recorded, the exact time code of edit-in
and -out prints for each shot, any effects to be included, their duration, and other details. Often the EDL resides on a
computer disk and is the script to drive the editing VCRs during the final edit. [14]
Edit in --- Begin recording new material; the beginning of an edit. [14]
Edit out --- Cease recording new material; the end of an edit. [14]
Edited master --- Same as master tape, but created by the editing process. [13]
Edit-in point --- The first frame of raw footage video you wish to copy onto the master tape. Also the point on the
master tape where you wish to start copying the footage. Both can be described by time code numbers. [14]
Editing sheet --- A plan showing which shots will be used to create the edited master. Usually time code numbers
and edit-in and out points are included. [14]
Editor controller --- A remote control device that can backspace two or more editing decks, preroll them, and make
them perform an edit. [14]
Edit-out point --- The last frame of raw footage video you wish to copy onto the master tape. Also the point on the
master tape where you'll stop copying the footage. [14]
EDL --- Edit Decision List. [14]
Eff 1 (or effects bus 1) --- A video source can be selected on channel A. Another source can be selected on channel
B. A combination of these two can be a special effect which is available through a circuit called the effects bus. There
may be several effects set up on several effects busses. Eff 1 is the name given to just one of those effects busses.
[11]
Effects --- bus --- Group of related buttons on video SEG/switchers to create special effects. A channel on the
switcher which you can dissolve to and from, bringing a special effect onto the screen or taking it away. [11]
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Efficiency --- How much of a signal is actually used (i.e., turns into audible sound) compared with how much is
wasted by the electronics and simply turns into heat. [10]
EFP --- Electronic field production, producing TV shows outside the studio. Usually involves studio-quality equipment,
techniques, and editing. [17]
Egg crate or honeycomb grid --- Metal fins used to direct light from a fluorescent fixture. Sometimes slats, like
venetian blinds, sometimes squares, like an ice cube tray control the spread of the light. [9]
EIRP dBw contour map --- Effective Isotropic Radiated Power map used to show how a transmitter's power is
distributed geographically. [20]
Electret condenser --- Type of microphone, usually built into portable TV cameras. Sensitive and inexpensive, they
have good sound fidelity. [6]
Electric zoom --- Electric motor on a lens or camera which zooms the lens at the touch of a button. [6]
Electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter --- Device that changes electrical signals to light to go over fiber. [15]
Electronic autofocus --- Circuit that "looks" at a camera's picture to determine if it is sharp and focuses the lens
appropriately. [6]
Electronic image stabilization (EIS --- ) Electronic mechanism used in cameras to reduce shakiness in the picture.
[6]
Electronic viewfinder --- Tiny TV monitor mounted on a camera showing the image the way the camera sees it. It
can also be used to view tapes played back in the field. [6]
Element --- Each glass part of the entire lens. [7]
Elements --- The long probes on a TV antenna.[3]
Elevation --- Up/down direction, or north/south when tracking satellites. [20]
Encode --- Modification or processing of a signal while it is being recorded, usually to make it less "noisy" during
playback when the signal is decoded. [10]
Encode --- To combine component video signals into a composite video signal. [5]
Encoded --- Combined, as in the merger of Y (luminance) and C(chroma) to make NTSC, one signal. Not
"component" video.[1]
Encoder --- Device used to compress picture data. You would send video through an encoder to make MPEG
compressed data. [12]
Encoder --- Electronic device to combine M-S audio signals in a way to create stereo. [10]
ENG --- Electronic news gathering, portable video production for the news. Often quick-and-dirty techniques are used
with minimal equipment and crew. [17]
Engineer --- Person who operates the VCRs and watches the waveform and other monitors to maintain technical
standards for the signals. [17]
EP or ELP or SLP --- Extra play or extra long play or super long play---the 6-hour speed of a VHS VCR. [5]
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Equalization --- A tone adjustment for audio frequencies, often needed to boost high or low tones coming from a
phonograph cartridge or microphone, or audio tape head. [10]
Erase head --- Electromagnet inside a VTR upstream from the video head. The erase head demagnetizes the tape
prior to the video head recording on it. [5]
Error correction --- Digital method of checking if all the numbers were transmitted or recorded correctly, and if not,
resending them or estimating them. [5]
Establishing shot --- An introductory shot showing viewers where the scene takes place. [11]
Event --- A single title or transition from one title to another. [12]
Event video --- The recording of a special event, such as a wedding, baptism, dance recital or graduation. [17]
Executive producer --- A business manager for a TV production company; a higher-level authority dealing with
policies, corporate posture, and money raising; not generally involved with production details. [17]
Expander --- Opposite of a compressor, an electronic audio device that extends the range of volumes in an audio
signal, making loud parts louder than they actually were. Undoes the effects of a compressor, making compressed
audio sound more normal. [15]
Express or direct access tuning --- TV tuner which selects the channel and fine-tunes it after you punch the
channel number into a calculator-type keypad. [2]
External key --- Key effect where the dark and light parts of one camera's image determine which of two other
cameras' pictures will be shown. Also, the absence or presence of a color could be used to determine which parts of
two other images would be shown. [11]
External sync --- Electronic pulses, coming from outside the TV camera, which synchronize the camera's picture with
other cameras in the studio so the pictures can be mixed or switched. [6]
Externally locked --- A VCR that "listens" to an outside video signal and tries to coordinate its own signal to match
the other's timing. Such a VCR can synchronize its sync to another source's sync. [14]
F connector --- A small socket or plug used for RF or TV signals. [3]
Fade out --- Make a TV picture smoothly grow black. [5]
Fade --- TV picture smoothly turns black (fade-out) or black smoothly turns to a TV picture (fade-in). [11]
Fade up --- Make a TV picture smoothly grow from black to normal. [5]
Fader --- A slider or handle on a switcher that allows you to fade in or fade out a picture or dissolve from one picture
to another. [11]
Falloff --- The rate at which a light's brightness diminishes with distance. Fluorescent lights have a rapid falloff, a
spotlight has very little falloff. [9]
Feed antenna or focal point antenna --- The tiny microwave antenna that collects the signal bounced off the dish.
[20]
Feedback --- A loud screech coming from a loudspeaker when sound enters a microphone, gets amplified, and then
comes out the speaker only to be picked up again by the microphone and amplified more. [5]
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Feedhorn or "Feed" --- Funnel-like apparatus on a dish antenna that holds the actual receiving antenna. [20]
Fiber (or fibre) optic --- Glass fiber, able to transmit light waves long distances, enables signals, coded into the light
beam, to carry computer data or TV channels. [4]
Fiber optics --- Technique of converting a signal (such as audio or video) to a light beam and sending it down a hairthin
strand of glass. Light beams can travel several miles without amplification. The signal is then converted from light
back to an electrical signal. [15]
Field dominance --- A determination of which field (the odd or the even) is used first when a videodisc player creates
a still frame from two video fields. [18]
Field one dominance --- Attribute of a still frame using the odd field as the first of two fields which comprise the whole
picture frame. [18]
Field --- The TV picture created in one-sixtieth of a second by scanning an electron gun over every other line in the
picture. In the United States there are 262-1/2 odd-numbered lines in a field, followed by 262-1/2 more evennumbered
lines making the next field one-sixtieth of a second later. The two fields together make a frame, a complete
TV picture. [1]
Field two dominance --- Attribute of a videodisc still frame which uses the even field first, and then the following odd
field to create a still frame. [18]
File extension --- Last part of a computer file name that comes after the dot. BMP is the file extension for the file
MYFILE. BMP and tells us that this file is a bitmap (a digitally coded image). [12]
Fill light --- Soft broad light whose main purpose is to fill in (reduce the blackness of) shadows created by the key
light. [9]
Film chain or Telecine --- Device to project film into a TV camera. [15]
Film splicer --- Mechanical device for clamping and neatly cutting and holding film steady for gluing. [14]
Filter --- A lens attachment to eliminate glare or certain colors or modify the image in some way. [7]
Filter --- Electronic graphics name for a special effect, like ripples added to a picture. [12]
Filter factor --- A number describing how much light a filter absorbs. A filter factor of 2 requires you to open your iris
2 stops to compensate for it. [7]
Filter holder --- Small carrier to clip onto a lens and accept slide-in filters. [7]
Filter --- In audio, an electronic device to trap a certain frequency of sound, letting others pass through. [15]
Filter --- Small electrical device which can remove a certain frequency (i.e., a certain channel) from a signal. Some
filters can remove many frequencies, leaving just the desired ones. Also called a trap. Audio filters remove certain
tones from a sound signal. [3]
Fine cut --- Final edited master, prepared with painstaking care using the best editing equipment available. Fine cut is
generally produced in an on-line editing session. [14]
Finger slate --- A slate made by holding one or more fingers in front of the camera at the beginning of a take. [14]
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Firewire or IEEE P1394 --- Standard for transmitting compressed video data used by DV format digital videocassette
recorders. [5]
Fish eye lens --- Very wide angle lens with a bulging glass outer element. [7]
Fish pole --- A portable boom in the form of a pole with a mike at the end. [10]
Fixed focus --- Lens which cannot change focus from near to far. [6]
Fixed pattern noise --- Non-moving specks or grain visible when the camera lens is capped, or pans across dark
scenes. [6]
Flag --- Easily movable flap used with lights for casting shadows and controlling light. [9]
Flagwaving --- The sideways pulling and fluttering seen at the top of a TV picture caused by a skew misadjustment or
some other tape tension error. [5]
Flare --- A bright spot, streak, or geometric pattern seen in the picture, caused by light streaming directly into a lens
and reflecting off its internal glass elements. [7]
Flat --- Shallow, lightweight, standing scenery used as background or to simulate walls of a room. [12]
Flatshade or quickshade --- Simple flat surface applied to wireframes to give them substance and realism. Flat
surfaces stretched between wireframe lines render quickly. [12]
FLIC --- A large .FLI or .FLC file holding many image files for sequential playback to create an animation. [12]
Flood --- Broadly focused light that covers a large area evenly. [9]
Floor manager --- Studio crew member who assists by handling cables or relaying director's cues and commands. [8]
Floor plan --- A sketch, seen from above, showing where objects, walls, doors, cameras, etc., are to be positioned
on the studio floor. [17]
Floor stand --- Microphone holder that stands on the floor and reaches up to shoulder height. [10]
Flowchart --- A diagram, mapping out the events, actions, and branches a program can take. [18]
Fluid head --- Camera support that dampens the tilting and panning movement of the camera, smoothing out jerky
movements. [6]
Flying erase head --- A spinning head residing upstream of the video recording head that can erase video tape a split
second before the video record head records a new picture. [14]
FM synthesizer --- Inexpensive musical device that electronically simulates familiar sounds by combining internally
generated wave patterns. [10]
FMV or Full Motion Video --- Video that proceeds at 60 fields-per-second, filling the whole TV screen (as opposed to
a reduced size and frame rate). [18]
Foam core --- Stiff mounting board made of plastic foam sandwiched between paper. [12]
Focal length --- The distance between the optical center of a lens and the surface where the image is focused when
the lens is focused on infinity. The apparent magnification or angle of view of a lens. [7]
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Focal plane shutter --- A pair of curtains inside a photographic camera. One opens to let light reach the film,
followed by the other one closing to complete the exposure. [13]
Focus shift --- Also called "pull focus"; the act of changing focus to sharpen objects at different distances from the
camera to center attention on them. [8]
Fog filter --- Lens filter that makes the image look foggy. [7]
Foldback --- Audio mixing system to allow sound effects, music, etc., to be mixed, amplified, and sent to the studio
for performers to hear, as well as being recorded, mixed with the sounds of their microphones. [10]
Follow focus --- Continually adjusting a lens's focus to maintain a sharp picture of the subject moving closer to or
away from the camera. [8]
Font --- Style and shape of lettering. [12]
Footcandle --- A measure of illumination, the level of brightness found 1 foot from a candle; about 10 lux. [6]
Footprint --- Geographic area where a satellite aims its signal. [20]
Format --- The way the tapes, cassettes, and video recorders and players are designed so that one machine can play
another machine's tapes. Machines of the same format should be able to play each other's tapes. [5]
Forward kinemation --- 3-D animation feature that calculates how connected objects will move at the end of a nearby
part that is moved. [12]
Fractional T1 --- T1 telephone service rented in 64kbps increments. [20]
Frame --- A complete TV picture lasting one-thirtieth of a second, composed of two fields or 525 scanning lines (in the
United States). [1]
Frame accurate --- Edit or editing device that identifies a specific frame of video tape. "Perfect" accuracy when
editing. [14]
Frame advance --- VCR feature allowing the tape to be moved forward one video picture at a time. [5]
Frame store --- Electronic device able to store a video picture (a frame) electronically and perhaps manipulate it. [15]
Frame synchronizer --- Electronic device that delays the signal from an asynchronous video source (a common VCR,
for instance) making its signal match up with another video source, so that both video signals can be mixed. [11]
Frame synchronizer --- Electronic device to synchronize two independent video signals so they can be mixed. [15]
Framestack --- One can separate an animation file, like Quicktime, into its individual frames so that each image file
may be modified one by one. The framestack is the separated series of addressable frames. [12]
Franchise --- Contract between a municipality and a cable company whereby the company has rights to market cable
TV services to the population for a specified number of years. In return, the cable company promises to provide a
certain level of service.[4]
Frequency modulated or FM --- A video or audio signal combined with a high frequency signal that changes its
frequency to track every vibration of the original signal, essentially coding two signals into one. [18]
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Frequency response --- The ability of a device to pick up high tones (high audio frequencies) as well as low tones
equally well. For audio, the perfect frequency response would be 20Hz-20KHz, the full range of human hearing. [10]
Frequency --- The number of times a signal or sound vibrates each second, usually expressed as cycles per second
or hertz (Hz).[2]
Fresnel --- Lighting instrument with a circularly ribbed glass lens to focus the light. [9]
Friction head --- Inexpensive tripod head with locks to impede unwanted camera movement. [6]
Front loading --- Cassette goes into a slot in the front of the VCR instead of into a trapdoor or pop-up mechanism
atop the VCR. [5]
Front projection --- Process of projecting an image onto the front of a white screen or wall. Viewers are on the same
side of the screen as the projector. [19]
FTTC --- Fiber To The Curb, a cable TV or phone connection that brings wide bandwidth fiber optics to your home or
business. [20]
Full field color bars --- Color bars that run from the top of the screen to the bottom. [15]
Full page or feature film format --- Script format with dialogue in the center of the page and detailed description of
action and shots also in the center. [17]
Fuzzy logic --- Autofocus technology that increases focusing accuracy by rotating the lens by tiny amounts, not
noticeable to the eye. [6]
FX --- Effects, a special effect such as text keyed over a picture. [17]
Gain --- A projection screen's reflectivity. The higher the gain number, the brighter the picture, because more light is
reflected back toward the projector (but less light is reflected to the sides). [19]
Gain --- Amplification of a circuit. [15]
Gain --- Camera adjustment which controls the strength of the camera's video signal, altering contrast and brightness
of the picture. [6]
Gate --- Audio device that permits audio to pass through or mutes it electronically, depending on some criteria such
as how loud the sound is. [10]
Gated mixer --- Audio mixer that senses when someone is speaking into one mike and shuts down the other mikes to
reduce noise and echo. [15]
Gel --- Colored material that looks like cellophane and can be placed in front of a lamp to color the light. Usually the
flimsy gel material is held in a frame which fits the fixture's scrim holder. [9]
Genlock --- Ability of a camera or other TV device to receive an external video signal and synchronize its own video
signal to it, so the two videos can be neatly switched or mixed. [6]
Genlock --- Electronic device which, when fed a video signal, will manufacture synchronized sync signals so that (1)
its picture will synchronize with the source's video signal or (2) its sync signals will help other devices (like cameras)
synchronize themselves with the source's video signal. [11]
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Geosynchronous or geostationary satellite --- A satellite (usually for domestic communications or TV) whos
position is constant relative to a point on the earth. An orbit of 22,300 miles above the equator causes the satellite to
circle the earth at the same speed the earth rotates. [20]
Ghost eliminator --- Electrical device to remove double images (ghosts) from a TV picture.[3]
GIF --- Graphics Interchange Format, a popular bitmap format for storing image files with palettes of 2 to 256 colors.
There are variations for animation sequences and for text. [12]
Gigahertz (GHz) --- One billion Hertz (Hz) or one billion cycles per second. Domestic satellites transmit at frequencies
above 3.7GHz. [20]
Glow --- 2-D graphic effect where a selected object appears to glow. [12]
Gobo --- Patterned cutout used to cast a shadow with a design on a surface, like tree branches or venetian blinds.
Works like a cookie, but without a special projector. [9]
GPI trigger --- General Purpose Interface, a standardized input to a device (often a switcher) that causes the device
to execute a preplanned maneuver when a signal from another device (often an editor) tells it to. [11]
Gradient background --- A background that goes smoothly from light to dark, or one color to another, typically used
behind titles. [12]
Graduated filter --- Lens filter that's part clear and part colored or dark, making perhaps 1/2 of the picture dark. [7]
Graphic equalizer --- Electronic audio device that cuts or boosts particular sound frequencies passing through it. [10]
Graphics accelerator card --- Graphic card that performs high speed rendering and video manipulations, relieving
your slower standard graphics card of these duties. [12]
Graphics card --- Computer circuit that holds the data for images sent to the screen and determines the resolution of
the display. [12]
Graphics projector --- Device designed to project images from graphics workstations displaying 12801024 images.
[19]
Graphics tablet --- Flat surface connected to an electronic pen or sliding puck similar to a mouse, connected to a
computer allowing you to "draw" images electronically. [12]
Gray scale --- A standard of 10 steps from black to white used to measure contrast ratios. To be visible on TV,
objects must be at least 1 gray scale step different in brightness from their backgrounds. [12]
Ground lifter --- Balanced line adapter that passes the audio signal but has the ground wire discontinuous. By not
passing the ground signal it stops hum from getting into the audio wires. [10]
Group --- A combination of signals from a mixer. Several inputs, assigned to a group, are all controlled together and
go to that group's output in the mixer. The left channel, for instance, is a group in a stereo mixer. [10]
GUI --- (Graphical User Interface) Software that presents the computer user with a screen with icons and menus that
are simple, intuitive, and visually appealing. [12]
Gyroscopic error --- Sideways bending or breakup of the TV picture as it plays back, caused by movement of a VCR
while it was recording the picture. [5]
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Gyrozoom --- Gyro stabilized zoom lens used with professional cameras to steady pictures. [6]
Hard drive --- Spinning magnetic disk generally inside a computer. The hard drive stores and retrieves data and
computer programs. [12]
Hard light --- Light that makes sharp shadows, like from a bare bulb. [9]
Hardline --- Special low-loss wire used principally by cable TV companies for long cable runs. [15]
HDSL --- High Speed Digital Subscriber Line, a DSL with 750kbps two-way service over two twisted pair. [20]
HDTV (High-Definition Television) --- Proposed method of displaying sharper, wider TV pictures than the present
NTSC system. Pictures would be shaped into a 16:9 aspect ratio, composed of 1,125 scanning lines, each line having
1,920 pixels. [21]
Head drum --- Shiny cylinder inside a VCR to hold the spinning video heads. [16]
Head end --- The place where the cable TV company sends its signals from. This is not necessarily where its offices
are or where its studio is. It is the center where the signals start their journey down the web of wires to homes. [4]
Head switching noise --- A small horizontal discontinuity at the bottom of the TV picture (usually off the screen)
caused when each spinning video head leaves the tape and the twin head takes over. [5]
Head --- Top part of a camera tripod that holds the camera. [6]
Head-cleaning cassette --- A cassette loaded with a ribbon of material (it could be cloth) which cleans the video
heads as the cassette is played. [16]
Headphone --- Muff-type earphones to fit over your head. Also the socket into which such phones are plugged, either
on a VCR, mixer, or other audio device. [10]
Helical scan --- The method of recording a video signal diagonally across the tape by winding the tape in a spiral
around a rotating drum with video heads on it. [5]
Heterodyne --- Method of time base correction used with common and color-under VCRs, yielding medium resolution
pictures. Also, the type of VCR using the color-under recording method. [15]
Hi band VTR --- Video recorder capable of recording full-fidelity color signals (as opposed to color under signals). [5]
Hi Z --- High impedance, not terminated: not 75. An input ready to loop a signal to somewhere else. [2]
Hi Z --- In audio, an input or output having 1000 or more ohms of impedance (resistance to signal flow). [10]
Hi8 --- Much improved version of 8mm, downwardly compatible with it. [5]
Hidden line wireframe --- More complex, more realistic wireframe where wireframe lines disappear if part of the
object they're forming is in front of them. [12]
Hi-Fi --- Ability of some VCRs to record high fidelity or true-to-life sound. VHS and 8mm hi-fi VCRs record stereo
sound with almost "perfect" sound quality. [5]
Hi-fi audio track --- High quality sound recorded physically beneath the video vibrations as they are magnetized into
diagonal tracks on the tape. [10]
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High Band --- High-resolution (over 400 lines) VCR format. [5]
High level or hi level --- Strong audio signal typically sent from an aux out or a line out of a device. [5]
High Speed duplicator --- Device able to duplicate a tape in under a minute. [13]
High speed shutter --- An electronic circuit in a video camera that allows the CCD chip to "see" for a very brief
amount of time during each 1/60 second. Like in a film camera, the fast shutter speed reduces motion blur. [6]
High-gain screen --- Rigid, curved, foil-covered projection screen with a gain of 5 or more which yields a bright
projection image, even in a well-lit room. [19]
High-pass filter --- An antenna filter which allows normal TV channel frequencies to go to the TV set but stops
INTERFERENCE from lower frequencies. [3]
HMI light --- Halogen metal iodide lighting instrument. Very efficient and uses minimal power, but requires a heavy
ballast. Gives off light with 5500°K color temperature. [9]
Horizontal linearity --- TV adjustment which controls how a TV reproduces shapes without stretching or distorting
them in the horizontal direction.[2]
Horizontal phase or H phase --- Control on a camera's timing circuits which adjusts the picture sideways to line up
with other cameras' pictures. [6]
Horizontal size or width control --- TV set control which makes the picture skinny or fat. [2]
Horizontal sync --- The part of a sync signal which aims the TV's electron gun left and right. This holds the picture
from jittering or straying sideways. [1]
Host adapter --- Computer circuit that controls the hard drive and processes data going onto or from the drive. [5]
Hot switching --- Inserting a new battery and then removing a failing battery while a device continues to run. [16]
House lights --- General overhead work lights used in the studio during rehearsals and between productions. [9]
Hue --- Identity or name of a color. Blue is a hue. [12]
Hum bar --- Hum is usually 60-Hz (60 cycles per second) electrical interference from power lines. When seen on a TV
screen, this interference creates a soft dark bar across the screen. [2]
Hybrid Fiber/Coax or HFC --- Cable TV or phone system infrastructure that uses optical fiber for the high traffic trunk
lines and cheaper coax wire between nodes and the homes/businesses.
Hyperband --- Cable TV channels 37-62. [4]
Hypercardioid microphone --- Very unidirectional and slightly cardioid microphone. [10]
I encoder --- Electronic circuit in a camera that mixes colors into a single color video signal. Responsible for certain
colors. [15]
Illumination model or materials model --- Way of describing the computational complexity of a graphic. Solid colors
are simple, reflections and refractions are complex and slow your renders. [12]
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Image capture board --- Circuit in a computer that digitizes video signals, converting them into data the computer can
store, manipulate, or display on its screen. [2]
Image enhancer --- Electronic device that crispens a TV picture (making it look sharper although it isn't really) by
exaggerating the boundaries of parts of the image. [15]
Image intensifier --- Electronic device that brightens the image fed to a TV camera---used in military and surveillance.
[9]
Image --- Part of a 3-D graphics package that renders the final image. [12]
Impedance matching transformer --- A small adapter which allows a cable with one impedance to connect to an
input, output. or cable of another impedance. For TV antenna signals these transform 75 to 300 and vice versa. Also
called a balun.[3]
Impedance --- Measured in ohms (), it is an electrical property of a circuit involving its resistance to electrical current.
Devices and cables of the same impedance can work together. Those of differing impedances have difficulty. [3]
Import --- Copy the data from another computer file into the file you're working on, effectively adding a picture to your
picture. [12]
In-camera editing --- Recording scenes chronologically, one after another in the camcorder with the intention that all
the shots will be used; a final tape emerges from the camcorder. [14]
Index counter --- A mechanical indicator on older VCRs like the mileage meter on a car which changes numbers as
the tape moves through the machine. It is handy for locating events on a tape or estimating the length of a production.
[5]
Index search, index record --- System for recording a trigger pulse invisibly on the tape so that when the tape is
played in fast forward or rewind, it will stop when it reaches the marked spot. [5]
Index --- Subdivision of a song or track on a CD allowing you to play a particular stanza or phrase. [10]
Infrared --- Light so red that it's invisible to human eyes. When used in autofocus cameras, it reflects off a subject to
sense the distance to the subject in order to focus the lens. [6]
Infrared receiver --- Device to convert an infrared light beam into electrical signals. [15]
Infrared transmitter --- Electronic device to convert electronic signals, such as audio and video, to infrared (invisible
to the eye) light beams. Beams travel through air and can be converted back to electrical signals by an infrared
receiver. [15]
In-line amplifier --- An amplifier inserted between two wires to boost the signal through them, getting its operating
power through the same wires from a distant power supply. [15]
Input selector --- Switch determining which input (which source) a VCR will "listen" to. [5]
Insert edit --- Feature allowing A VTR to record a new segment in the middle of a program, erasing what it's
replacing. [5]
Insert edit --- The recording of a new video segment amidst old, prerecorded video-unlike assemble edit, which
places each new segment at the tail of the last segment. [14]
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Insertion loss --- A decrease in signal strength when a device is connected into a circuit. Accessories with low
insertion losses are desirable to preserve signal strength. [3]
Instant video confidence --- Feature on some VTRs which allows them to play back the picture hundredths of a
second after it is recorded while the VTR is still recording it. Handy for assuring the video heads are not clogged. [5]
Intelsat --- International satellite, one serving several countries. [20]
Interactive cable --- Cable TV that not only sends shows and/or computer data to your home but receives signals
from you such as a fire/burglar alarm, orders to purchase goods, and computer signals (i.e. Internet).[4]
Interactivity --- The ability of a machine to react to the responses of its user. An interactive videodisc system may ask
the viewer a question, wait for a response, and then display a certain sequence keyed to that response. [18]
Intercom --- An earphone/microphone headset that allows the director in the control room to speak with the camera
operators in the TV studio. [6]
Intercutting --- Editing together several separate events or interviews to tell one story, make one statement, or
answer one question using pieces from each. [17]
Interference --- Unwanted signals which "leak into" your wires or devices and compete with your desired picture and
sound, often causing grain, snow, or diagonal or wavy lines on a TV picture. [3]
Interframe compression --- Digital reduction which compresses data within a series of frames as well as in each
frame. MPEG is an example. [12]
Interlace scan --- Method of making a TV picture by drawing the odd numbered lines on the screen with one sweep,
then filling in between with the next sweep of even numbered lines. The process is repeated approximately every 1/30
second. [2]
Internally locked --- A VCR that plays a tape independently, with its sync timed to its own internal clock. [14]
Internet service provider or ISP --- Company that connects to the Internet through their fast phone lines, and
provides you access to the Internet, perhaps via phone link, between your computer and theirs. They may also
provide other services such as e-mail and worldwideweb (WWW) pages. [20]
Interpolator or universal format converter --- A device to change one kind of DTV format into another. [21]
Interrupted feedback --- Intercom system that feeds the program's sound (music and voices) to the talent's ear, but
can be interrupted with a private announcement directly from the control room perhaps a command from the director.
[10]
Intraframe compression --- Data-reducing compression within a single picture or within each picture individually in a
series. Example: JPEG and MJPEG. [12]
Inverse kinemation --- 3-D animation feature that calculates how connected objects, such as parts of a body, will
bend at the joints and follow as the farthest part is moved. [12]
Inverter --- A device which changes DC electricity (from a battery) into AC electricity (from your wall outlet). [6]
IRD --- Integrated Receiver Descrambler, a satellite receiver with a descrambler built in. [20]
IRE --- Institute of Radio Engineers, is a measure of video level or "whiteness" and is marked off in units of 10 on
waveform monitors. A 20 IRE level represents a dark part of a TV picture and 80 IRE, a light part. [15]
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IRT --- Integrated Receiver Transcoder, another name for an IRD, often a digital model. [20]
ISDN --- Integrated Services Digital Network, a souped-up telephone line that handles digital signals. [20]
ITFS --- Instructional Television Fixed Service-a method of broadcasting TV programs throughout school systems via
low-power high-frequency transmitters. [15]
ITU --- International Telecommunications Union, a standards-setting body for videoconferencing. [20]
Jog --- To move a video tape forward or back a very short distance (one or two frames) in search for the "perfect"
place to edit. [14]
Joystick --- A multiposition lever on a studio switcher that positions special effects anywhere on the TV screen. [11]
Jump cut --- An edit from one scene to a very similar scene, causing the picture to "jump" from one position to
another. Such edits should be hidden by video inserts of related scenes (cutaways). [14]
Juxtaposition --- Editing together opposites, like opposing views or conflicting responses to a question. [17]
Key (or luminance key) --- Special effect where the dark parts of one camera's picture are replaced with parts from
another camera's picture. [11]
Key light --- Brightest and main source of lighting for a subject, creating the primary shadows. [9]
Key sensitivity --- Control on a switcher/SEG that determines how dark something has to be before it disappears and
is replaced by another camera's picture. In chroma keys, it determines how much color something needs before it is
replaced by another camera's picture. [11]
Keystone --- A distorted view of an object (usually a graphic) caused by aiming a camera at it from an angle; the
nearer part of the graphic appears larger than the farther part. A square could take on a trapezoidal "keystone" shape.
[12]
Keystoning --- Projection phenomenon where a projector is aimed at an angle to a screen forming a trapezoidal
image. [19]
Kilohertz --- One thousand cycles (vibrations) per second, represented by 1 KHz, which is near the sound
frequencies of speech. [4]
Kinemation --- 3-D animation feature allowing you to move one part of a flexible, jointed object, and have the other
parts follow naturally. [12]
Kiss black --- Fade to black followed immediately by a fade up on a new picture. [11]
Ku-band --- A range of microwave frequencies between 12.5 and 18GHz. [20]
Kukaloris or cookie --- A metal pattern which, when inserted in a pattern spotlight, projects a design. [9]
LANC --- Local Application Network Control, a Sony-developed system for controlling VCRs (mostly 8mm Hi8
camcorders) over a two-way communications link. [14]
Lasso --- Adobe paint tool for selecting parts of a picture. [12]
Layer --- Part of a computer image, separate from the other parts, which can be changed independently from them,
like changing the background behind a cartoon figure. [12]
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LCD panel or computer display panel --- LCD device which when placed on an overhead projector can project
computer data. [19]
LCD projector --- Projector (with built in light source as opposed to the LCD panel that used an overhead projector for
light) using a liquid crystal mosaic to create the image. [19]
LCD viewfinder --- Liquid Crystal Display, a color TV monitor made of a flat panel rather than a CRT. Usually folds
out from a camcorder or is imbedded in it. [6]
Lead-acid or Gel-cell --- Battery designed like a miniature car battery, only with gelatin inside rather than liquid. Less
expensive than NiCd; used in camcorders. [5]
Leader --- Unrecorded space (from 10 seconds to 3 minutes) at the beginning of a tape, often used to protect the
actual program from threading damage. Also unrecordable plastic tape attached to the beginnings of cassette rolls. [5]
Leaf shutter --- A flap inside a photographic camera that moves aside for a moment to let light enter and then snaps
closed. [13]
LED --- Light emitting diode, a tiny lamp that can blink very quickly, uses little power, and lasts a long time. Often
used as an indicator on equipment. [10]
Legal colors --- Colors that reproduce correctly in NTSC video. Some computer generated colors are called "illegal"
in that they are out of the range of what common TVs can display. [12]
Legal video --- Video production, editing, and display as it relates to the law and the courtroom. [17]
Lens format --- Describes the size of the lens's focused image. It should match the size of the camera's pickup chip.
[7]
Lens shade --- A funnel-shaped visor that attaches to the outside of a lens shading it from lights and the sun. [7]
Lenticular --- Gray, metallic-looking projection screen with tiny vertical grooves (looks like smooth corduroy) to
distribute most reflected light straight back and to the sides (where the audience sits) and reflects very little on the
ceiling and floor. [19]
Level 1 videodisc player --- Often a consumer model player with features such as freeze frame, picture stop, chapter
stop, scan, and two-channel audio but without the computer memory or the ability to select on its own which
sequences to show. [18]
Level 1/2/3 videodisc player --- A combination level 1, level 2, level 3 videodisc player. [18]
Level 2 videodisc player --- An educational/industrial videodisc player, usually with all the level 1 capabilities plus a
small computer built in. Computer programs (instructions) coded in the audio track of the disc are loaded into this
computer when you start the disc playing, telling the player which sequences to play as a result of viewer responses.
[18]
Level 3 videodisc player --- Videodisc player linked to an external computer. The computer program, perhaps from a
floppy diskette, controls the sequences the videodisc player will play. The computer may also display graphics and
questions of its own. The disc serves mostly as a storehouse of still and moving pictures and sound. [18]
Level 4 videodisc player --- Videodisc player with computer, able to read a large computer program from the disc,
and thereafter runs like a level 3 player. [18]
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Light meter --- Electronic device that measures the brightness of a light (incident light) or the brightness of a scene
(reflected light) and gives a readout in footcandles or lux. [9]
Light pen --- Pen-shaped device connected to a computer that the viewer points or touches to a TV screen in
response to computer questions rather than typing the answers on the computer's keyboard. [18]
Light valve projector --- Expensive, professional projector that creates bright images by bouncing light off a reflective
surface inside. The reflective surface changes its reflectivity based on video or computer images presented to it. [19]
Lighting grid --- Framework of pipes connected to the studio ceiling from which lights are hung. [9]
Lighting plot --- A drawing to show where the lights are to be aimed. May also include fixture numbers and circuit
numbers and show prop and performer positions. [9]
Lighting ratio --- A comparison between the brightest part of a subject and the darkest. If the brightest white in a
performer's shirt measured 60 fc (footcandles) and his black hair measured 2 fc, then the lighting ratio would be 60 2
= 30. [9]
Lightning arrester --- Device which clips onto an antenna or cable TV cables, and connects to a grounded wire. It is
designed to divert the shock of a lightning bolt so that the current doesn't damage your equipment.[3]
Limiter --- Electronic audio device that automatically reduces the volume of loud audio signals but doesn't change the
normal or weak signals. [10]
Line --- An external auxiliary input often used for a video signal. Can also be the final video or audio output signal
from a device. [2]
Line doubler --- Device that doubles the scan lines that makes a picture, essentially placing lines between lines,
improving the look of video when shown on computer-like devices such as computer projectors. [19]
Line or program monitor --- TV monitor that shows the final signal being broadcast or sent to the VTRs. [11]
Line quadrupler --- Device that quadruples the scan lines in a picture, making video look better when shown on high
resolution computer projectors. [19]
Linear (or normal) audio track --- Audio recording made in a line along the edge of a video tape (as opposed to hi fi
sound imbedded in the video tracks on the tape). [5]
Linear audio track --- A stripe of magnetic vibrations along the edge of a video tape that contains the audio signal,
laid down by a stationary record/play head. [10]
Linear key --- Key effect where the amount of a color (or brightness) determines how much of another camera's
image will be visible, creating a natural-looking key effect. [11]
Linear screw rod --- Inexpensive satellite aiming actuator moved by a long threaded bar. [20]
Lip Sync --- Synchronization between the performers' audible words and the movement of their lips. [14]
Liquid crystal light valve (LCLV) projector --- Expensive, professional projector that uses amorphous (not dots of)
LCD material to sense a dim CRT image and make a surface reflective. Light from a bright projection lamp reflects off
the surface to make the projected image. [19]
Lithium ion --- Ultra small battery for camcorders. [5]
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LNA --- Low Noise Amplifier used to boost the dish antenna's signal. Satellite signals are so weak they have to be
amplified (multiplied) 100,000 times. Special circuits with premium grade transistors are needed to allow the signal to
be amplified so much without adding appreciable visual "noise" to the signal. [20]
LNB or LNC --- Low Noise Blockconverter or Low Noise Converter, an LNA with a circuit built-in that lowers the
microwave frequencies, making them pass easily through common coax wire to your satellite receiver. [20]
Lo Z --- In audio, any input of 500 ohms impedance or less. [10]
Logo --- Symbol or trademark representing a specific company, or organization, or TV station. [12]
Loop antenna --- Circular portable UHF antenna.[2]
Loop or bridge --- An electrical connection which allows most of the signal to enter one socket and continue out an
adjacent socket to be used elsewhere. [2]
Loop through --- The act of sending a signal to and through a device (using a bridged input) and then on to another
device. [2]
Lossy --- Compression method that discards data and degrades the image quality. High degrees of compression are
possible. [12]
Lossy --- Compression method that discards some data, to some degree damaging the signal it represents. [5]
Low contrast filter --- Lens filter that reduces contrast by making shadows lighter. [7]
Low cut filter --- An audio circuit, often built into mixers and mikes, that reduces low tones from a sound signal. [10]
Low level or microphone level --- Weak audio signal, as from a microphone. [5]
Low light level camera --- TV camera designed to "see" with very little light---used in military and surveillance. [9]
Low-pass filter --- Filter placed between a radio transmitter and its antenna to reduce the harmonics from being
broadcast. The harmonics interfere with people's TV reception.[3]
LP --- Long play---The 4-hour speed of a VHS VCR. [5]
LPTV --- Low-Power Television-the technique of broadcasting local programming through a very low-power,
inexpensive VHF TV transmitter. Limited signal range keeps LPTV stations from interfering with distant TV stations
using the same channel frequency. [15]
LTC or Linear Time Code --- Time code recorded in a linear stripe along the tape, perhaps on a longitudinal audio
track. [14]
Lumen --- A measurement of a source's light brightness. Lumens per square foot equals foot-candles. [19]
Luminance --- The black-and-white (brightness only) part of a video signal. [1]
Lux --- A measure of illumination, the amount of light needed to make a 1-volt video signal. [6]
Lux --- A measure of the brightness of an object in a scene. Cameras need a certain degree of scene brightness in
order to register a picture. 10 lux equals about 1 footcandle, another measure of brightness. [9]
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LV --- Laservision. A videodisc read by a laser, the light of which reflects off microscopic pits in the disc. Not the same
as CED videodiscs. which use a groove. [18]
Macro lens --- A lens that can be focused on a very close (sometimes touching) object. [7]
Macrovision --- Popular anti-copy signal recorded on a video tape to make it playable but not copyable. [13]
Maintenance contract (or service contract) --- An agreement with an outside repair company to keep your
equipment in good working order for a fixed yearly charge (plus parts, usually). [16]
Marker --- A pointer on the timeline to show what part of it is playing. As the show plays, the marker moves. It can be
quickly positioned to play a short segment of a show, perhaps previewing a simple transition. [14]
Mask --- A cardboard cutout used to frame a picture with a smooth border or cover unwanted parts of a picture or
other background. [12]
Masking tape --- Paper adhesive tape used for holding things temporarily because it tears easily and removes easily.
[12]
Master audio control --- Mixer knob that adjusts, up or down in volume, all mixer inputs at once. Useful for fading out
all mikes and sounds together. [10]
Master dimming control --- A single slider on a dimmer that dims all the lights at once. [9]
Master disc --- A specially made original videodisc from which distribution copies are reproduced. [18]
Master fade --- A fade lever that always fades the picture out to black or a chosen color. [11]
Master recorder --- In the tape copying process, the VCR that plays the tape that the slaves copy. Also called the
VCP, videocassette player. [13]
Master tape --- The original copy of the finished version of a tape. Could be original footage of a "live" show, or could
be a program edited together from other tapes. The master is the best-quality copy of this program in existence. [13]
Mastering plant --- A company that converts a video tape or other media into a master videodisc and makes copies
of it. [18]
Match frame edit --- An edit in which a scene is edited onto itself so exactly that there is no apparent interruption in
the scene. [14]
Matched shots --- Similar-looking views of a subject from two cameras at the same time. [11]
Material --- Data that creates a surface with color and design, like wallpaper, wood grain, or marble, that can be
wrapped around a wireframe to make it solid. [12]
Material editor --- Part of a 3-D graphics package that makes the surfaces that cover the wireframes made in modler.
[12]
Material shade --- Smoothshade with the actual material (i.e., wood) and color stretched over the wireframe. [12]
Matte --- A special kind of key effect where light parts of a picture are removed and replaced with a chosen color. [11]
Matte box --- Container that holds lens filters in slots and attaches to the front of the camera lens. [7]
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Matte screen --- A nonglossy smooth white projection screen. Like a white sheet, it reflects light equally in all
directions. [19]
Measured spacing --- Typography where the space between letters is always the same. Manual typewriters use
measured spacing. [12]
Megahertz --- One million cycles (vibrations) per second, represented by 1 MHz, which is near the frequency of video
signals[4]
Memory --- An attribute of nicad batteries whereby they "forget" how long they should be able to provide power if they
haven't been worked hard enough. Frequent short duty cycles will eventually make them able to perform only shallow
discharges before they need recharging. [16]
Memory --- On a VCR's index counter, this button tells the machine to stop rewinding when it reaches 000 on the
counter. Helpful in noting and locating spots on a tape. [5]
Menu --- A list of choices, possible answers to a question, or a table of contents. The option selected is the one the
player goes to next. [18]
Metal halide --- Bright projection bulb with long life. Like HMI lights, these lamps require a ballast. [19]
MIC --- Short for microphone input, a highly sensitive, low-level audio input. [6]
Microlenses --- Tiny lenses embossed onto the CCD chip to concentrate light onto the light sensing surfaces and
increase the chip's sensitivity to light. [6]
Microwave --- An extremely high band of radio/TV frequencies used with satellites to relay TV signals. On earth, used
to transmit TV signals in beams about 5-10 miles long between mobile TV vans and the broadcasting station or
between cable TV companies. [4]
Microwave --- Extremely high-frequency radio waves, about 1 billion vibrations per second (1GHz, one gigahertz),
used to transmit video, audio, RF, telephone, and computer data over long distances. [15]
Microwave receiver --- Circuit which converts microwaves to video and audio. It works much like a TV tuner or
demodulator, except at higher frequencies. [20]
Microwave receiver --- Device for picking up microwaves and converting them into an electrical signal such as video
and audio. [15]
Microwave relay --- Device that receives microwaves, boosts them, and beams them out in another direction. [15]
Microwave transmitter --- Device to convert video and audio signals into microwaves for broadcasting to a receiver
which can convert the signals back. [15]
Microwaves --- High-frequency signals, around a gigahertz which, among other things, can carry TV signals. [20]
Midband --- Cable TV channels 14-22.[4]
MIDI or .mdi --- Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a standardized way of sending digital instructions between audio
devices and musical instruments, telling them, for instance, what notes to play. [10]
Midrange --- Middle frequencies of sound, about 40-12,000 Hz. [10]
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MII --- Professional camcorder format using VHS-like cassettes, recording separate colors at high tape speed for high
quality. [5]
Mix --- One of the ways of going from one TV picture to another (as opposed to wipe and key). Mix is often the name
on the button that tells the fader levers to dissolve rather than wipe or key from one picture to the next. [11]
Mix --- Switch on a two-channel or stereo VCR which allows both channels to be mixed and heard together. [5]
MMDS --- Multichannel multipoint distribution service, another name for wireless cable system. [4]
MMDS --- Multichannel multipoint Distribution System, a wireless cable system that delivers data. [20]
MOD --- Minimum operating distance, the closest a lens can focus normally. [7]
Mode selector --- Knob or button on an editing VCR that sets the VCR into the insert edit, assemble edit, video
insert, or audio insert mode. [14]
Modeling light --- Light aimed at the subject from behind and to the side, creating a white rim of light to add
dimension. [9]
Modem --- Modulator-demodulator, a device that turns digital data into tones that can travel over phone wires, as well
as convert tones back to digits to be used by a computer. [20]
Modler --- Part of a 3-D graphics package that builds the 3-D object in space. [12]
Modulator or RF generator --- Electronic device which combines audio and video signals, coding them into RF, a TV
channel number.[1]
Modulator --- RF generator. Combines audio and video into a channel number. [2]
Moire --- Video artifact seen in NTSC pictures along the edges of brightly colored objects, text, and graphics. Moire
looks like crawling dots or saw-teeth. [1]
Monaural --- Single-channel audio. Opposite of stereo. [5]
Monitor --- A TV set which has no tuner and usually has no speaker (as opposed to a TV receiver, which has both).
Such a TV displays video signals but not RF signals. Any device used to observe or hear the quality of a signal (i.e.,
audio monitor).[2]
Monitor analyzer --- A deep blue lens used for viewing color bars on a color monitor while adjusting the TV's color
hue to obtain proper colors. [15]
Monitor speakers --- Loudspeakers with excellent fidelity used to evaluate audio in the control room. [10]
Monochrome --- Black and white (as opposed to color). [6]
Monochrome --- Black and white (not color). [1]
Monopod --- One-legged tripod. [6]
Morph --- 2-D or 3-D graphic effect that gradually stretches one image into another while simultaneously dissolving
from one image to the other. Thus the object changes shape while also changing color and surface character. [12]
Mosaic --- Digital effect where an image (or part of it) is broken into tiny tiles or colored squares. [11]
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Mosaic filter --- An array of tiny colored lenses that cover a CCD chip used in one-chip color cameras. The lenses
allow different pixels in the chip to sense different colors of light. [6]
Motherboard --- Main circuitry of the computer, holding the CPU, the main brain of the computer, plus slots for
memory and additional boards, such as a graphics board. [12]
Motion JPEG or MJPEG --- JPEG compression performed on each video frame in real time (30 frames per second).
Motion JPEG is used in nonlinear editors. [12]
Movieola --- Device for viewing and comparing several reels of film at a time while selecting segments to splice into
an edited master film. [14]
M-S stereo miking --- Mike setup for stereo using a bidirectional and a cardioid mike close together, and an encoder
to manipulate the signals into stereo. [10]
MTF or Modulation Transfer Function --- Ability of a lens to reproduce contrast, especially at high focal lengths. [7]
MTS --- Multichannel television sound, a technique of broadcasting stereo audio on TV. [10]
MTS --- Multichannel television sound, technique for stereo TV broadcasting. [5]
Multimedia --- Audio, video, text, graphics, and other information delivered by computer. [10]
Multiple system operator --- Large cable company that owns and operates many little cable companies in various
municipalities. [4]
Multiplexer --- Mirror device that selects one (of several) projector's image and shines it at the TV camera. [15]
Multiplexer --- Mirrored device that selects which one of several projectors shines its image into a TV camera for
transferring film to video. [12]
Multipoint videoconference --- Videoconference between three or more locations or individuals. [20]
Multiscan (or multisync) monitor --- Computer monitor capable of working with different horizontal and vertical scan
rates to make the image. [2]
Multisession --- Several events, perhaps recorded at different times, residing on a disc, accessible by computer. [18]
Munsel color chip --- chart --- A particular brand of color bar test chart. [15]
Music under --- Music volume is reduced into the background so that narration or something else gets the audience's
attention. [10]
Mute --- A control which cuts out the sound but leaves everything else going.[2]
Nanosecond --- Billionth of a second, a number used to describe the sharpness of a character generated letter.
Professional quality CGs have 35 nanosecond or lower numbers specifying their sharpness. [12]
Network --- Group of computers communicating together via wire or optical fiber, sharing data, perhaps collectively
rendering an image. [12]
Network --- Group of TV broadcasters or cable TV companies wired together to share signals from each other. [4]
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Neutral density filter --- A gray glass lens attachment that diminishes light coming through the lens, thus reducing
picture brightness. [7]
NFM or near field monitor --- Small speaker designed to be positioned near the listener. [10-30.2]
NiCd or Nicad --- NIckel CADmium. Lightweight, high-power battery for camcorders. [5]
NLE --- Non-Linear Editor. [14]
Noise bars --- Bands of snowy hash across the TV screen usually evident in still and scan modes and when
mistracking occurs. [5]
Noise reduction system --- Electronic device that attempts to reduce electronic noise when something gets recorded
and/or played back. [10]
Noise temperature --- Rating in degrees Kelvin for how "quiet" (doesn't make spurious signals) a satellite signal
amplifier is; the lower the temperature, the better. [20]
Noise --- Unwanted interference that creeps into your signal. Audio noise could be hum or hiss. Video noise could be
snow, graininess, or streaks in the picture. [10]
Noise-canceling microphone --- Microphone that is used close to the mouth, and rejects surrounding noise. [10]
Noncomposite --- video --- Video (picture) signal without sync combined. [1]
Nondestructive editing --- Computerized audio editing whereby the playlist changes as you edit and delete sounds,
the original sound files remain undamaged. [10]
Non-drop frame --- SMPTE time code mode that continuously counts frames, skipping no numbers. [14]
Non-linear editing --- Assembling video sequences that are randomly accessible, typically digitized onto a hard drive.
The process is much like word processing in that items can be moved, deleted, copied, or changed electronically
before being printed or copied to video tape. [12]
Non-linear editor or NLE --- Computerized video editor that permits scenes to be selected and rearranged on the
computer's screen before being assembled (by the NLE) on the master tape. [14]
Non-Lossy --- Compression scheme that reduces redundant data that will never be missed, thus retaining full picture
quality while reducing the file size by a moderate amount. [12]
Normal-through or normaled --- In a patch bay, the top socket is automatically connected to the socket directly
beneath when no patch cable is plugged into either. The signal "normally" travels through from one to the other. [10]
NTSC --- National Television Standards Committee. United States organization that developed the NTSC video
standards which ensure that all TV signals in the United States are compatible. [5]
NTSC video --- National Television Standards Committee method used in the United States for electronically creating
a color TV signal. The color and brightness aspects of the image travel together on the same wire. [1]
Obie --- On-board camera light. [9]
Object based modler --- Modler using spheres, cubes, and other shapes to form objects. Solid models are
resolution-independent; round edges stay round as you zoom in on them. [12]
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Oblique angle --- Camera angle that shows the front and a side, or maybe two sides of an object. Oblique angle
shots convey more dimensionality than face-on shots. [8]
Off-line editing --- Making a "practice edit" using inexpensive video equipment. Result is a lower-quality "draft" copy
used for decision making and to create a list of edits to be performed later on-line. [14]
Ohm --- A measure of electrical resistance or impedance. Things must have the same impedance to be electrically
compatible with each other. In video, 75 ohms (75) is standard for cables, inputs, and outputs.[2]
Ohm --- The symbol for ohm is . TV antenna wires are generally 300, 75, or 72. Ohm is an electrical property of the
wire indicating its resistance to certain signals passing through it.[3]
Omnidirectional light --- Light that travels in all directions, like from the sun or a bare light bulb. [12]
One-chip camera --- One image pickup chip senses all the colors plus black-and-white aspects of a TV picture. [6]
On-line editing --- Editing a video tape with the highest-quality VTRs and editor controllers. Process results in final
edited master but costs more than off-line editing. [14]
Optical disk recorder --- Device that records analog video onto a plastic disk, like a laser video disc. [12]
Optical scan conversion --- Aiming a TV camera at a TV screen and recording the result, useful for copying the
picture from a nonstandard or troublesome tape. [13]
Optical zoom ratio --- The actual zoom ratio (smallest focal length divided into the largest focal length of the lens) of
the physical lens without any digital enhancement from the camera. [7]
Optical-sight viewfinder --- Inexpensive, simple lens scope, gun-sight or cross hairs used to help aim a TV camera.
[6]
Optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter --- Device that changes light from a fiber to electrical signals. [15]
Output selector --- Switch determining which of several signals will be fed to a VCR's output for viewing. [5]
Outtake --- A shot which for some reason (i.e., a flubbed line) you don't plan to use in the final production. [14]
Overdub --- Recording sound on one audio track and then recording a related sound on another track. Each track
may have its unique sound recorded or may be a mixture made from the playback of an already-recorded track plus
the new sound. [10]
Overmodulating --- Using too much video signal when making an RF signal, which results in buzzing from the TV
speaker when white lettering appears on the screen. [2]
Overscanned --- A TV picture blown up too big on the screen, causing the edges of the picture to be cut off and
hidden from view. [2]
PA --- Public address, an amplifier generally used with a microphone by speechmakers who wish to be heard by a
crowd or in several rooms at one time. [10]
Paint or 2-D paint --- Electronic graphics technique or software that allows you to draw flat images on the computer
screen, like drawing on a piece of paper. The images can be colored, warped, rotated, resized, and manipulated in
various ways, then stored electronically. [12]
PAL --- Phase alternate line---a European video standard incompatible with the U.S. NTSC system. [5]
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Palette --- Some graphics adapters can keep track of a limited number of colors, not all that are presented to it. The
palette is the small selection of colors that the graphics adapter uses to approximate the original picture. [12]
Palmcorder --- Tiny camcorder that fits in the palm of your hand. [6]
Pan pot --- Pot (short for potentiometer or volume control) that adjusts whether a signal will go to the left channel or
the right, or be shared between the two by a selected amount. [10]
Parabolic microphone --- Attached to a small bowl-shaped reflector, the microphone picks up weak or distant
sounds. [10]
Parabolic --- Shape of a reflector dish that focuses incoming signals on a tiny point (making the signals stronger
there). [20]
Parallax --- How the positions of objects change relative to one another as you move by them. If your camera looks at
a subject from one position and you look at the subject from another, the two of you will see slightly different pictures.
[6]
Parallel --- A way of sending computer data over several wires at once. Printers usually use multiwire parallel
connections with computers. [14]
Parallel cutting --- Editing raw footage so that similar or parallel actions are seen one after another, making it look
like "everybody's doing it." [17]
Parametric equalizer --- A tunable equalizer on which you can select a particular frequency or band of frequencies to
boost or cut, perhaps to remove much of an unwanted sound from a recording. [15]
Parametric equalizer --- Audio device that adjusts to reduce or boost a selected range of frequencies. [10]
Passive --- A device that does not use electrical power to operate, and does not add anything to a signal passing
through it. [11]
Passive --- Electrical device which doesn't need electrical power (i.e., batteries or power from the wall outlet) to
operate. [3]
Passive matrix --- Inexpensive liquid crystal used in LCD panels that show static pictures and data. [19]
Patch bay --- In audio, several rows of sockets connected to the inputs and outputs of various audio devices.
Plugging a patch cable into a pair of sockets connects them so that the signal can travel from one device to the other.
[10]
Patch bay --- Like a telephone switchboard, a console of sockets leading to the studio lights and another set of
sockets leading to the dimmer circuits. Connecting the two via patch cords allows various dimmers to activate various
lights. [9]
Patch bay --- Several rows of sockets connected to the inputs and outputs of various devices. Plugging a patch cable
into a pair of sockets connects them so that the signal can travel from one device to the other. [15]
Patch cable --- This special heavy-duty lighting cable plugs into the patch bay to carry current from the dimmer circuit
to the grid circuit and studio lamp. [9]
Patch cord --- A short cable that connects the output of one device to the input of another. [10]
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Patch cord --- Used with a patch bay. The patch cord is a cable with plugs that connect to sockets in the patch bay to
carry signals from one device to another. [15]
Pattern --- An aluminum cutout that fits into a pattern spotlight to create the shapes projected by the light. [9]
Pattern spotlight --- Lighting instrument that accepts aluminum cutouts to project patterns such as venetian blinds,
leaves, or other figures on the background. [9]
Pause edit --- Editing of a video tape while recording by pressing the pause button between takes.[14]
Pay-per-view --- Cable or broadcast television for which you pay to see each show, usually by activating a
descrambler which makes the programs visible on your TV. Pay-per-view usually consists of movies and sports
without commercials.[4]
PCI bus --- Peripheral Component Interchange bus which can pipe data between computer components at 132 MBps.
[5]
PCI bus --- Peripheral Component Interconnect, a very fast pathway for data traveling from one board to another in
the computer. PCI video cards require little configuration (plug-and-play) in order to work. [12]
PCM or pulse code modulation --- Method of recording digital high fidelity sound on 8mm and hi8 tapes. The
spinning video head places the PCM signal at the end of each diagonal video track. [10]
PCM --- Pulse Code Modulation, a second method of recording hi fi sound with 8mm and Hi 8 VCRs. Unlike AFM,
PCM audio can be edited without affecting the picture. [5]
Peak clamping --- Electronically limiting the maximum video signal level to a certain strength, like 100 IRE. [15]
Peak hold --- On LED signal level meters, the top LED illuminated in the bar graph will stay "on" for a few moments to
show the peak loudness of a sound even after it goes away. [10]
Peak level indicator --- Tiny light often built into mixers and audio recorders that blinks when sound volume is too
loud. [10]
Pedestal --- Electronic control on a camera which adjusts the brightness of the picture. Proper adjustment yields
blacks which are the right darkness. [6]
Pedestal --- The elevation control on a camera tripod. "Pedestal up" means raise the camera higher. [6]
Per diem --- An additional daily living expense payment made to employees working away from home. [17]
Phantom power --- Power fed from a mixer's mike input to run a condenser microphone. [10]
Phase reversal --- Undesirable situation where one audio signal has its vibrations going the opposite to another audio
signal so that when combined the result is weak and tinny sounding. [10]
Phase --- The timing of when electrical or sound vibrations reach a place, like an input or a microphone. When IN
PHASE, the vibrations strengthen each other, making a strong signal. OUT-OF-PHASE signals cancel each other out,
weakening the result. Electrical and sound signals need to be kept IN PHASE. [10]
Phono or RCA plug --- Small connector used to carry audio signals and, in home video equipment, video signals and
sometimes RF signals. [2]
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Photoflood --- Light bulb, available at photo stores, that can screw into normal lamp sockets but gives off proper color
temperature for TV or film work. [9]
Photographic tape --- Colored adhesive tape (usually black) used for framing pictures. [12]
Pica --- A measure of a line's width. A pica equals 1/6 inch. [12]
Pickup --- An individual temporarily hired to perform a specific task. Often a free-lance camera operator brought in for
a single show. [17]
Pickup chip --- The light-sensitive part of a TV camera which "sees" the picture and turns it into video signals. [1]
Pickup pattern --- The areas in which a microphone picks up the best sound. Also a diagram depicting a
microphone's sensitivity in different directions. [10]
Pickup tube --- Vacuum tube light sensor on an older TV camera. Plumbicon, saticon, and vidicon are three types.
[6]
Picon --- Picture ICON, a thumbnail image of the first frame (or a representative frame) of a clip. [14]
Picture stop --- A coded instruction on a level 1 videodisc telling the player to freeze-frame when it comes to a
particular picture. Works while the machine is in the play mode. [18]
Picture-in-a-picture (PIP) --- Digital effect where one picture is squeezed smaller and placed over another. [11]
Piezo autofocus --- Electronic autofocus method that focuses by maximizing contrast in the picture. [6]
Pinch roller --- Rubber wheel near the capstan that pinches the tape against the capstan, so it can grip the tape as it
pulls it through the mechanism. [16]
PIP, or Picture In A Picture --- TV set feature allowing you to view two channels simultaneously on one TV screen.
[4]
Piracy --- Building or using a device to descramble satellite TV (or other broadcast programming) without paying the
subscription fee. [20]
Piracy --- Duplicating copyrighted tapes without permission. [13]
Pixels --- Picture elements, tiny dots that make up the picture. In a camera, pixels represent the tiny light-sensitive
transistors that store the image. [6]
PL259 or UHF connector --- A male industrial plug used for video and sometimes RF. Goes into SO259 socket.
Rarely used today. [2]
Playhead --- The marker on an audio editing screen that shows where in the timeline you are playing the sound. The
playhead moves across the events in the timeline, playing clips as it comes to them. [10]
Playlist --- The list of clips to be played in order on the timeline. [10]
Plug and play --- Ability of a card to operate in a computer automatically without you having to throw DIP switches
and run setup software to configure the card to work in your system. [12]
Pluge --- Part of a color bar test signal used for adjusting TV monitor brightness. [15]
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Pneumatic studio pedestal --- Heavy duty studio camera pedestal and dolly that allow the camera to be raised and
lowered smoothly with ease. [6]
Point --- A measure of the height of lettering. 72 points equals one inch. [12]
Point-to-point videoconference --- Videoconference between two locations or individuals. [20]
Polar mount --- Satellite dish support that is oriented along the earth's axis to ease the tracking of geosynchronous
satellites. [20]
Polarized --- An orientation imparted to electromagnetic waves, such as vertical, horizontal, circular left-handed (like a
corkscrew spiraling counterclockwise), and circular right-handed. Antennas must be oriented the same way as the
signal to be sensitive to it. [20]
Polarizing filter --- Like Polaroid sunglasses, these lens attachments cut out glare and reflections. [7]
Polygon based modler --- Modler using user-selected dots connected by the web of the wireframe to form objects.
Round objects are made of tiny straight lines; zooming in on one will reveal these facets. [12]
Positioner arm or actuator --- Motorized aiming mechanism for a satellite dish. [20]
Post production house --- Video service company that edits your tapes, perhaps adding video and audio effects.
[14]
Post Production switcher --- A switcher/SEG with automated features designed to be controlled by computer, editorcontroller,
or manually, often using menus to select functions. [11]
Posterization --- Visual effect of reducing a picture's varied brightness levels down to just one or two, giving it a flat
poster-like or cartoon-like look. [11]
Potentiometer --- Also called a pot, it is a volume control on a mixer or other audio device. [10]
POTS --- Plain Old Telephone Service, the analog telephone line that goes to most homes. [20]
Power line antenna --- TV antenna connection which uses house wiring as the antenna. [3]
Power line filter --- Removes unwanted signals, electrical pulses ("spikes"), and other interference mixed in with your
power from your wall outlet.[3]
Power supply --- Circuit in electronic equipment which converts household electricity to the kind of power (correct
voltage and frequency) the equipment needs in order to run. [2]
Premaster --- The video tape sent to the mastering facility and transformed into videodiscs. Also, the act of making
such a tape. [18]
Premastering software --- Computer software that helps you properly record a CD-ROM. [18]
Premium channel --- Cable channel that is unavailable to the basic service viewers unless an additional monthly fee
is paid. [4]
Preread or read-before-write --- DVR ability to play what's on the tape at the same time it's recording new material
on the tape a moment later. [5]
Preroll --- Begin a tape playing so it is up to speed and its signals are stable before the VCR switches to record. [14]
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Presentational set --- Background and furniture that is abstract in design. Most news and talk show sets are
presentational. [12]
Preset --- on multichannel dimmers, the dimmers can be set up (preset) for one lighting arrangement on one channel,
and then the channel is turned off, essentially "storing" the lighting setup for use later when the channel is reactivated.
[9]
Pressure zone microphone --- Microphone mounted on a flat plate that senses sound reflected from the plate. [10]
Prestripe --- Record time code on a tape while blacking it, before recording or editing the actual audio and video on it.
[14]
Preview --- A channel on a switcher/SEG that sends out to your preview monitor a view of an effect so that you can
adjust or perfect the effect before using it. Like audition in audio. [11]
Preview --- Electronic graphics window that lets you see a sample of what your picture will look like after filtering,
without going through a time-consuming render. [12]
Preview --- Part of a 3-D graphics package that allows you to assemble the lights, camera angle, objects,
atmosphere, and motion paths, and audition the resulting scene. [12]
PRI --- Primary Rate Interface multiplexes together 23 ISDN lines to yield 1.544Mbps data rate. [20]
Primary colors --- Three colors which can be combined together to create all the other colors. TVs in the United
States use red, green, and blue as primary colors. [1]
Print to tape --- Process where a digital non-linear editor will play its data back to a VCR that records the show on
tape. Also the process where an analog NLE will follow the edit decision list to drive the VCPs, VCR, and SEG to
create the final edited show from the raw footage. [14]
Private network --- A connection between sites allowing a group of subscribers to videoconference with each other
but no one else. The system is leased from the phone or cable TV company on a monthly basis. [20]
Processing amplifier --- Electronic device that modifies and stabilizes video signals by separating the video from the
sync and regenerating brand new, "clean" sync as well as adjusting video and color levels. [15]
Producer --- Creator and organizer of a TV show, usually responsible for budgets, salaries, etc. [17]
Producer/director --- Combined job title for a person in charge of undertaking a TV show, handling financial matters,
and carrying out TV production details. [17]
Program (PGM) --- bus --- The group of buttons on a switcher that directly selects (when pressed) which picture or
special effect is broadcast or recorded. [11]
Program --- On audio mixers, the sound channel sent out to the VCR. [10]
Program --- The final output from a switcher that is broadcast or recorded. [11]
Programmable --- Ability to tell a machine to do something on its own. A VCR's programmable timer stores
instructions for when to start and stop recording and what channel to record. It may remember several such
instructions covering a period of days or even months. [5]
Progressive scan --- Method of making a computer picture by drawing all the scan lines sequentially from top to
bottom. [2]
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Proportional or Optical spacing --- Typography where the space between letters depends on the shape and size of
the letters. [12]
Prosumer --- Professional consumer, someone halfway between a professional videographer, and an amateur, often
working in video as a sideline. Equipment halfway between professional and amateur, typically costing more and
performing better than common hone equipment, but not as good as true professional gear. [5]
Protocol --- Standard method of communications so that one machine can send/receive data or commands to/from
another. [14]
Proximity effect --- Thunderous bass boost heard when people speak or instruments are played too near the face of
a directional microphone. [10]
Public domain --- A work that is not copyrighted; anyone may use it freely. [13]
Pull focus --- Adjusting the focus of a lens, often to keep a moving subject sharp, while your camera is "on". [7]
Pulse distribution amplifier or PDA --- Electronic device that takes one sync signal and makes several from it, each
as strong as the original. [15]
Pulse-cross monitor --- TV monitor which can shift the picture down and sideways so that the corners of the pictures
are in the center of the screen. This professional monitor is used to observe picture and sync problems. [2]
Punch-in assemble edit --- An assemble edit executed manually, live, while the actors perform. [14]
Purity --- An internal color TV adjustment done to a picture tube to make the screen colors even and uncontaminated
by other colors or patches of colors.[2]
Push-on F connector --- Special F connector which pushes on and pulls off rather than screws onto an F socket.[3]
Q encoder --- Similar to I encoder but responsible for different colors. [15]
Quantization resolution --- The accuracy of measuring an analog signal and representing its strength with numbers.
A two-bit resolution describes something by 4 levels, a three-bit resolution, 8 levels. [5]
Quantization --- The process of measuring an analog signal and assigning numerical levels to it. [5]
Quick release --- A plate attached to the base of the camera by a bolt. The plate can then clip quickly onto the tripod
head. [6]
Quicktime movie --- A file format that takes a series of individual files (pictures) and combines them into one file and
can play them in sequence, creating animation or motion. [12]
Rabbit ears --- A portable TV set's two telescoping rod antennas. Also called dipole antenna. [2]
RAID --- Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives, a method of providing non-linear editors with many gigabytes of
instantly accessible data storage by teaming together a group of slower, smaller, cheaper hard drives. [14]
RAM or random access memory --- The size of a computer's "brain", measured in bytes, describing the amount of
data the computer can process and temporarily store at any moment. [12]
Ramping --- Phenomenon that causes the f number of a long zoom lens to increase as it zooms in, creating a
dimmer picture. [7]
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Raster graphics --- Category of 2-D image formats using bitmaps. [12]
Rate card --- A published listing of charges for services. [17]
Raw footage --- Recordings made directly from the camera, intended to be edited into a final program later. [13]
RC time code or RCTC --- Sony time code system for 8mm and Hi8 VCRs. Code identifies each separate frame and
is recorded on a special track next to the video signal. [14]
Real estate --- The space on a videodisc available for your program. [18]
Real time --- Something that plays, records, compresses, or decompresses as fast as it actually happened in real life.
[12]
Rear or retro projection --- Process of projecting an image onto the rear of a gray, translucent screen, with the
viewers on the side opposite the projector. [19]
Rear projection --- Technique of projecting an image onto the rear of a translucent screen so that the image can be
viewed from the front. [12]
Redo --- Paint feature that undoes an undo, bringing back work you may have removed from a picture. [12]
Reentry --- The process of creating one special effect and then using it as a source (as if the picture had come
directly from the camera) that can now be mixed with another picture to create another special effect. Process allows
effects to be piggybacked atop one another. [11]
Reflection --- 3-D graphics feature that calculates how light will reflect off shiny surfaces and polished objects. [12]
Refraction --- 3-D graphics feature that calculates how light will bend as it passes through clear objects. [12]
Relection map --- Flat surface with clouds, stripes, or a "snapshot" of the area, used to make fake reflections off
silvery objects. [12]
Remote control --- Control of a device such as a VCR with a keypad held in the hand. Most use infrared light signals
to communicate with the VCR. [5]
Remote survey --- Visit to a distant shooting location to determine production needs, strategy, and resources. [17]
Remote --- Switch on a TV that makes it respond to a remote control. [2]
Render --- Electronically perform the calculations which create the surfaces, shadows, and reflections in a three
dimensional scene. [12]
Repeat switch --- Switch on a VCR that tells it to play a tape over when it reaches the end. [5]
Repeater --- A receiver/transmitter that picks up a radio signal (or TV or microwave signal) and retransmits it.
Repeaters are usually placed up high where their signals can reach farther than portable transmitters. [17]
Replicate --- To duplicate a videodisc, CD, or CD-ROM. [18]
Representational set --- Background and furniture that look lifelike and realistic. Soaps and sitcoms use
representational sets. [12]
Reset --- Setting something back to the beginning. Resetting an index counter sets all the numbers to zero. [5]
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Resolution --- Picture sharpness, measured in "lines". [5]
Resolution --- Picture sharpness, usually measured in "lines". The greater the number of lines, the sharper the
picture. [6]
Retroloop --- A digital disk recorder's ability to continuously record audio and video on a disk and make room for the
data by simultaneously erasing what was recorded some time earlier. [5]
Return --- Switch on some studio TV cameras that displays the final program image or some other video image (as
opposed to the camera's own image) on the camera's viewfinder to help the camera operator position objects in the
viewfinder. Useful for coordinating with other camera shots. [6]
Revelation --- A camera angle that hides something important and then reveals it for dramatic effect. [11]
Reverb or reverberation --- The slow decay of a sound when it's finished, like the ringing in the air heard after you
clap your hands. Technically not the same as echo. Reverb is often added to music to make it sound fuller. [15]
Reverberation or reverb --- The continuance of a sound after the original sound has ceased. Also the device that
artificially adds reverberations to audio. [10]
Reverberation time --- The amount of time it takes for a loud sound to fade to silence. [15]
RF generator or modulator --- Electronic device which combines audio and video to make RF (radio frequency), a
channel number. Usually built into VCRs so that signals may be fed to TV antenna terminals. [2]
RF or radio frequency --- The kind of signal which is broadcast through the air and comes from a TV antenna. RF is
a combination of audio and video signals coded as a channel number. [1]
RG-59U --- Technical name for commonly used coax antenna and video cable. [3]
RGB Key --- Chroma key using RGB video sources to define a sharper key effect than is possible with composite
video sources. [11]
RGB --- Red, green, blue. An RGB monitor displays a picture from three video signals-one for the red parts of the
picture, one for green, and one for blue. Also the name given to the kind of video signals which represent component
colors, rather than the combined colors. [2]
RGB video --- Video signals traveling on three separate wires. Red parts of a colored picture go on one wire; green,
on the second; and blue, on the third. [1]
RGB-to-video encoder --- Device which changes RGB video signals to composite video signals. This is a part of the
scan converter and the term is sometimes used interchangeably with scan converter. [12]
Rippling edit --- Non-linear edit that pushes the following scenes later on the timeline leaving them intact and
lengthening the show. If a scene is removed, the following scenes move forward on the timeline closing the hole. [14]
RJ11 and RJ45 connectors --- Standard telephone plugs and jacks, roughly square and about 1/4 inch wide, used to
connect telephones to the wall outlets. Some other non-telephone electronic equipment uses these connectors to
carry remote control signals. [20]
RLE --- Run length encoded, a non-lossy form of compression that works best with simple pictures having smooth
backgrounds. [12]
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Rocker switch --- A two-way switch that if pressed one way zooms a lens in, and if pressed the other way zooms it
out. [7]
Rocker switch --- Lever which rocks back and forth. Pressed one way, it could make an electric zoom lens zoom in.
The other way would zoom the lens out. [6]
Rolling edit --- Edit that adds or subtracts material to/from the timeline, but doesn't push ahead the following scenes
or close them up. Such an edit replaces other material or leaves a blank spot where material used to be. [14]
Room tone --- A character, "color," or individual "personality" of a sound recorded in a particular room, caused by
echoes and background noises in the room. [14]
Rotary actuator --- Costlier motorized actuator capable of precise horizon-to-horizon aiming of the satellite dish. [20]
Rotator --- Motorized rooftop device used to steer a TV antenna in different directions following a command from a
console near the TV set. [3]
Rotoscope --- Technique of carefully positioning a graphic object into a "real" picture so that an actor may appear to
hold or interact with it. [12]
Rough cut --- Approximation of what the edited master will took like. Rough cut is generally performed on off-line
editing equipment. [14]
Routing switcher --- Switch that sends the signal from one of several sources to several destinations. A push-button
version of a patch bay. [15]
Routing switcher --- Switcher used primarily to connect various video devices together (often with audio-follow-video)
to quickly send signals where you want them to go. [11]
RS-232 --- A standard serial communications protocol used by computers for all types of digital devices and some
specially equipped VCRs. [14]
RS232-C --- Standardized multipin computer connection. [2]
RS-422 --- A more powerful and flexible derivative of the RS-232 protocol used on industrial video equipment
including some VCRs. [14]
Rule of thirds --- The center of attention should not be dead center on the screen but one third of the way down from
the top, or up from the bottom, or in from the edge of the screen. [8]
Rumble filter --- Audio filter to trap low frequencies (rumble from wind, noisy phono records, hum) and pass the rest.
[15]
Run length encoding (RLE) --- Non-lossy compression method that uses short numbers to describe events that
occur often and longer numbers to represent events that are rare. [5]
S connector --- Small multipin connector carrying Y/C video signals from or to "super" VCRs. [5]
Safe copy --- A second video tape made just in case the first gets damaged or doesn't record correctly. [5]
Safe title area --- Central portion of a graphic or a control-room monitor's TV screen that can always be seen when
the picture is viewed on misadjusted TV sets; the place where it is "safe" to put a title because you know it will all
show. [12]
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Safety cord --- Loop of chain, cable, or rope that fastens loosely around the lamp and the grid pipe and stops the
lamp from falling if its C-clamp becomes undone. [9]
Safety tab --- A button or tab on a videocassette that can be removed to render the tape unrecordable (thus
unerasable). [5]
Sampling frequency --- The number of measurements made per period of time (i.e., per second). For digital video,
13.5 million samples per second is common (also expressed as 13.5 MHz). [5]
Sans Serif --- Lettering without serifs. [12]
SAP or supplementary audio program --- Technique for broadcasting a third, additional sound track along with
stereo TV signals.[2]
SAP --- Supplementary audio program-a third channel of sound broadcast using the MTS system. [10]
Satellite receiver --- The tuner part of a satellite downlink, the part that resides in your house and takes commands
from your remote control. [20]
Saturation --- The purity and vividness of a color. A stop sign is saturated red. Pink, garnet, or cardinal are less
saturated reds. [12]
Saturation --- The vividness of a color. Colors lacking saturation look pastel. [2]
Scalar map --- Texture map describing parts of a surface that will disappear and be replaced by other materials or
surfaces. [12]
Scan converter --- Electronic device that changes the signals that a computer sends to its monitor, into video signals
that can be displayed on a TV monitor or recorded on a VCR. [2]
Scan, fast scan, or picture search --- Playback of a VCR at several (up to 30) times the normal speed. Useful for
skimming through a show in search of a particular event. [5]
Scanned area --- Part of a graphic "seen" by the studio camera and control room monitor but not necessarily seen on
all home viewer TV sets. [12]
Scanner --- Desktop device that "looks" at a document, photo, or page of a book, and records it as a computer file.
The process takes about 1/2 minute. [12]
Scoop --- light --- Funnel-shaped fill light. [9]
Scramble --- Code the picture and sound signals so that they are unviewable without a descrambler (decoder) box.
[4]
Scramble --- Distortion of the TV sync signals by a broadcaster or a cable company to render the picture unwatchable
(it contorts and wreathes) without a descrambler.[2]
Scramble --- To make a satellite TV signal unviewable without a descrambling device and a special code (which you
rent) to activate it. [20]
Screen door effect --- LCD panels and projectors sometimes show the spaces between their pixels and the image
looks like it were being seen through a screen door. [19]
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Screenplay or live TV format or center column format --- Script format with dialogue in the center of the page and
big margins for director's notations. [17]
Scrim --- Glass fiber or metal screen mesh which clips to front of lighting instrument to diffuse and soften light. [9]
Scroll bar --- Icon along the margin of a picture showing a marker. Move the marker and the picture scrolls (moves
across the screen revealing more of the picture) up or down or sideways. [12]
Scroll or roll --- To move text vertically, as in rolling credits upward through your TV screen as you read them. [12]
SCSI --- Small Computer Systems Interface, a hard disk drive controller. Various flavors include SCSI-2, SCSI-wide,
and SCSI-Ultrawide for faster speeds. [5]
SDTV --- Standard Definition Television, digitally broadcast TV signals with about the same sharpness and screen
shape as today's NTSC television. [21]
SECAM --- SEquential Color And Memory---a video standard used in much of Asia, incompatible with our NTSC
system. [5]
Seek --- Ability of a VCR or camcorder to play slowly, frame-by-frame, and parking on a specific frame. [14]
Seek time --- Time it takes a disk drive to find data and begin sending it out. [5]
Segue --- (pronounced "SEG-way") A smooth change from one sound, place, or subject to another. [10]
Selective focus --- Adjusting the focus of a lens so that one part of the picture is sharp and other parts fuzzy, useful
for directing attention. [7]
Serial --- A way of sending computer data over a single wire, one command after another. Long wires are possible.
Modems and mice are serial devices, as are RS-422 and RS 232 ports on a computer. [14]
Serif --- The flare or crook at the ends of some letters, like at the top and bottom of the capital letter "I". [12]
Servo lock --- Editing VCR feature that assures vertical interval edits only at the end of even (or odd) fields. [14]
SESAC --- Society of European Stage Actors and Composers-an agency that licenses the use of copyrighted music.
[10]
Session --- An event on a CD. A single session might be a series of songs on a CD or a file on a CD-ROM. CD
players are capable of playing single sessions only and CDs have a single session on them. [18]
Set light --- Lighting instrument used to illuminate the background or set. [9]
Settlement brochure --- A video program showing the opposing side how much evidence there is against them,
intended to increase the chance for settlement out of court. [17]
Shield --- Braided wire or foil that creates a flexible pipeline surrounding another wire, protecting it from outside
electrical interference. [11]
Shield or ground line --- The woven braid around an audio wire that wards off hum and interference and is also one
part of the electrical circuit. [10]
Shielded speaker --- Loudspeaker with a metal shield to keep magnetic interference from bothering nearby TVs and
computer screens. [10]
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Shock mount --- Protects a microphone from picking up noises as it is moved or handled. [10]
Shot sheet --- An index of all shots recorded on a tape. Includes time code numbers for each shot plus a commentary
on the quality of each take. [14]
Shot sheet --- Brief list of the kinds of shots a camera operator will need to take during a show. [8]
Shotgun mike --- Microphone shaped like a gun barrel, which "listens" only in the direction it is aimed. [6]
Shoulder pod --- Cushioned device connected to the base of a camera, allowing it to rest on the operator's shoulder.
[6]
Shutter bar --- Occurs when a TV camera records a movie from a projector-a soft dark band runs through the TV
picture when the projector doesn't synchronize its shutter with the TV camera's picture-making frequency. [12]
Shuttle speed control --- A fast scan control allowing video tape to be played slower or faster than normal-useful
when hunting for edit points on a tape. [14]
Signal splitter --- Small electrical device which divides a TV signal into several components. A TV coupler could split
an antenna signal into two parts for two TVs. A band splitter could divide a multichannel antenna's single signal into
separate bands such as UHF, VHF, and FM. [3]
Signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) --- A number describing how much desired signal there is compared to undesirable
background noise. The higher the S/N ratio, the "cleaner" the signal. [6]
Silk or net --- Reflective or translucent material, usually in a frame, for reflecting light or softening light passing
through it. [9]
Single-channel antenna --- Antenna designed to pick up one channel only. [3]
Single-chip camera --- A black-and-white camera or a color camera with a pickup chip sensitive to all colors at once.
[1]
Single-tube TV projector --- Obsolete TV projector with only one TV picture tube, usually recognizable because it
has only one lens snout. [19]
Site survey --- Evaluation of the place where you plan to install a satellite dish to assure there are no obstructions or
interferences to the signal. [20]
Skew --- The control which adjusts the tape tension on a video tape machine to hold the picture steady during
playback. When you have a skew error, the top of a TV picture flutters or pulls to the side. [5]
Skylight filter --- Slightly pink lens filter that reduces blue atmospheric haze, used mostly to protect the camera lens
from dirt. [7]
Slate --- A visible and/or audible cue recorded at the beginning (or end) of a take, identifying the take number for later
reference. [14]
Slave --- In the tape copying process, the videocassette recorder that actually does the recording. [13]
Slide chain --- Slide projector connected to a TV camera for converting slides to video. [12]
Slow speed shutter --- An electronic circuit in a video camera that allows the CCD chip to "see" for a period longer
than the usual 1/60 second, making the camera more sensitive in low light. [6]
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Slow tracking --- Adjustment on a VCR used to attain a clear picture while the tape is playing slowly or is still framed.
[5]
Smear --- A temporary white vertical streak passing through bright objects in a CCD camera's picture. [6]
Smoothshade --- Rounded surface applied to what the computer calculates to be round surfaces to give wireframes
substance and realism. Smoothshades render quickly but not as quickly as flatshades. [12]
SMPTE time code --- A time code used to address every frame on a tape with a unique number to aid in logging and
editing. The time code format is standardized in the United States by the Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers. [14]
Soft key --- Key effect with a fuzzy, soft edge. [11]
Soft light --- Large lighting instrument with built-in reflector for soft, shadow-free lighting. Also the kind of light that has
soft shadows or no shadows. [9]
Soft wipe --- A split screen or wipe effect with a soft border where the two pictures join. [11]
Solid or flag or cutter --- Opaque fabric often in a frame, used to block light. [9]
Sony Vbox --- An interface device used to incorporate lower-end VCRs into higher-level computer editing systems.
[14]
Sound bite --- A long enough stretch of acceptable sound to be useful during editing. [14]
Sound card --- Circuit installed in a computer to change audio signals into data the computer can handle and vice
versa. [5]
Sound card --- Computer circuit that digitizes audio or converts digital audio back to sound signals, and perhaps
plays audio from MIDI instructions. [10]
Sound coloration --- The characteristic tone a microphone gives to the sounds it picks up. [10]
Sound mix --- The process of editing and mixing numerous sounds into the final form heard by the audience. [10]
SP --- Standard play---The 2-hour speed of a VHS VCR. [5]
Spade lugs --- Small metal half-circles bonded to the ends of some twin lead cables and accessories to simplify their
connection to TV antenna terminals. [3]
Sparklies --- Specks of snow in a satellite reception. [20]
Special effects generator (SEG) --- Electronic video device that creates effects such as wipes, fades, keys, etc. [11]
Specular color --- The highlight you get on shiny surfaces. [12]
Speech compressor --- Electronic circuit which changes the pitch of fast playing tape so that it sounds normal (not
like the "Chipmunks"). [5]
Speed --- A measure of how much light a lens can transmit. A "faster" lens has a lower f-stop number. [7]
SPID --- Service Profile Identifier, a number telling the phone company what kind of device (phone, fax, computer) you
have connected to an ISDN line. [20]
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Splice --- To reattach the broken ends of tape together. Also the junction where the tape ends were attached. [16]
Splicing --- tape --- In audio, special adhesive tape used to attach the ends of audio tape together for continuous
playback. A "splice" is a physical "cut" in a tape followed by attaching the tape to another tape. [10]
Splicing tape --- In video, a thin adhesive tape to connect the ends of a video tape. [14]
Split field color bars --- Color bar test signal where the bars don't go all the way down the screen; the bottom 1/3 of
the screen is used for additional test signals. [15]
Split page or split column format --- Two (or more) column script format with video described on the left and audio
on the right. [17]
Split screen --- A wipe that stops partway across the picture, revealing a section of the original picture and a section
of the new picture. [11]
Spot --- Narrowly focused light that concentrates its intensity over a limited area. [9]
Spotlight --- Light that travels in a beam and spreads out slowly. [12]
Spotlight --- Special effect to highlight a portion of the picture as if a spotlight were aimed at it. [11]
Stabilizer --- Inexpensive processing amplifier made for home video market. [15]
Standard lens --- Inexpensive, nonzooming lens which gives a "normal" (not close-up, not wide angle) field of view.
[6]
Standards converter --- A device that changes one standard of video signal (say, NTSC) into another (say, PAL) or
vice versa, bridging the gap of incompatibility between standards. [2]
Standards converter --- Expensive electronic device which changes one TV standard into another (i.e., PAL into
NTSC) for use with other TV equipment. [5]
Star pattern --- Lens effect creating shafts of light gleaming from any bright points of light in a picture. [8]
Statement of purpose or treatment --- Document listing in a few sentences the objective of a TV production, what
the desired outcomes will be. [17]
Steadicam --- An elaborate framework of levers and springs used to hold a camera steady while the camera operator
walks or climbs. A harness straps to the camera operator while the camera attaches to the other end of a movable
arm. [6]
Stepping ring --- Adapter to allow a lens attachment to fit a lens of a different size. [7]
Stereo adapter --- Device that creates pseudostereo sound (fake stereo sound) from monaural sound. [15]
Stereo imaging --- Ability to discern the original positions or placement of sounds when listening to earphones or
speakers. [10]
Stereo microphone --- Microphone that "hears" in two directions and sends out two separate audio signals to a
stereo recorder. [10]
Stereo separation --- The amount of difference there is between the left and right stereo channels. Poor separation
mixes the two together. No separation is monaural sound. [10]
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Stereo --- Two separate audio channels are used at the same time. One represents what the left ear would hear and
the other, the right. [5]
Still frame audio adapter --- Device to convert a still frame of encoded audio from a videodisc into several seconds
of sound. [18]
Still frame audio --- Technique of turning audio into data that can be stored like a picture on a disc. With the help of
a decoder, the "picture" can be "read" and converted back into 10-40 seconds of sound. [18]
Still Store --- Digital effect where an image is electronically "frozen" and displayed or mixed with other images. [11]
Sting --- Short sound effect or a few notes of music or just a chord used to introduce, segue between, or end scenes.
[10]
Stop edit --- Technique of editing a video tape by stopping the VCR (pressing stop) at the end of one scene and then
starting it recording again (pressing record/play) at the beginning of the next. [14]
Storyboard --- A script done in pictures, showing the sequence of shots that will make the show. NLEs allow you to
make a storyboard from the picons captured from tape. [14]
Storyboard --- A series of comic-book-like sketches showing what the TV scenes should look like. The corresponding
audio is typed at the bottom of each sketch. [17]
Strike --- To clear props and set pieces from the studio. [17]
Stripe --- Record time code on a tape. [14]
Studio crane --- Large studio device able to smoothly lift camera and operator high into the air. [6]
Studio production switcher --- A large active switcher/SEG that receives all the video sources (inputs from cameras,
etc.) and is used to select the pictures or effects to be shown. [11]
Subcarrier or 3.58MHz subcarrier --- A color reference signal. Burst is a short sample of subcarrier that is part of the
sync pulse. [15]
Subcarrier phase --- Adjustment on cameras and other video equipment which alters all the colors coming from
them. [6]
Submaster dimming control --- Lighting control that fades up or down all the lights for a particular channel. [9]
Super --- SVHS, Hi8, ED Beta 3/4U-SP or any improvement to a VCR format that increases the picture sharpness
above 400 lines of resolution. Sometimes called High Band. [5]
Super VHS (S-VHS) --- Improved VHS format using special tape and yielding 400 lines of resolution picture
sharpness. [13]
Superband --- Cable TV channels 23-36. [4]
Superbeta --- Slightly improved totally compatible version of betamax. [5]
Superimposer --- Circuit that lays computer text over videodisc scenes so that both can be viewed together on the
same TV monitor. [18]
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Superimposition --- Two pictures shown atop one another. They may look semitransparent or "ghosty." A dissolve
stopped halfway. [11]
Supplementary area --- Outside edge of a graphic or control room monitor's picture "seen" by the camera and control
room monitor but not usually seen by the audience because it is just off the edge of their TV screens. [12]
Supply reel --- On a reel-to-reel tape machine, this reel contains the program you wish to play or the blank tape you
wish to record. [10]
Sustained data transfer rate --- Rate at which a hard drive can continuously play data without interruption. [5]
S-VHS --- Super VHS, much improved version of VHS, downwardly compatible with VHS. [5]
Sweep reverse --- Button on a camera which switches the camera's picture left to right or flips it upside down. [6]
Sweetening --- Manipulation of recorded sound to give it echo, filter out a noise, boost a particular frequency, or mix it
with other sounds. [10]
Swish pan --- Rapid sideways movement of the camera as it goes from one scene to another causing the image to
streak. [14]
Switched digital video or SDV --- Technology for sending motion video through cable TV or phone lines in real time
upon request. VOD and VDT would use SDV. [20]
Switcher --- Push-button device which selects one or another camera's picture to be viewed or recorded. [6]
Sync --- A circuit or a signal which directs the electron gun in a camera or TV picture tube to create a TV picture
steadily on a screen. Sync also synchronizes the electronics of other TV equipment. [1]
Sync generator --- An electrical device which makes sync (timing) signals which synchronize TV equipment and keep
TV pictures stable. [1]
Sync generator --- Electronic device that makes sync signal used to synchronize the electronics of several cameras
so their pictures can be mixed together. [6]
Sync generator --- Electronic device that makes sync, the pulses that keep studio cameras, etc. electronically in step.
[11]
Synchro-edit --- Simple editing protocol where one VCR controls another, activating its buttons. [14]
Synchronization clearance --- Permission acquired from music copyright holders to use parts of their music to go
along with parts of your TV show. [10]
Synthesizer --- Musical device that makes sounds electronically. [10]
T connector --- Video connector which allows three wires to connect together. [2]
T1 --- Type of tariffed service from the phone companies, where you rent the equivalent of 24 64kbps phone channels.
[20]
T-120 --- Standard size of a VHS videocassette. Plays 2, 4, or 6 hours. [5]
Tai chi stance --- Body position for hand-holding a camera steady. [6]
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Tail slate --- A slate identifying a scene after it has been recorded (at the tail end of the scene). [14]
Take-up reel --- On a reel-to-reel recorder, this is the empty reel that fills as tape is played. [10]
Talent --- Performer, actor, newscaster, etc. [9]
Talkback --- A loudspeaker system to allow the control-room crew to speak directly to studio personnel. [10]
Tally light --- Lamp on the TV camera which goes on when the camera's image has been selected by the TV
director. It tells both the performer and the camera operator that the camera is "on". [6]
Tape cleaner/evaluator --- Electronic device to check video tape for defects while cleaning the tape. [16]
Tape guides --- Little posts inside a VCR to guide the tape from place to place as it plays or is threaded. [16]
Tape remaining --- Readout on some VCRs, calculating the amount of tape left on a standard cassette based on the
amount of tape used. [5]
Tariff --- Published, government-controlled charges for certain phone service. Your household phone bill is tariffed to
cost a certain amount per month. [20]
TD --- Technical Director, person who runs the switcher. [17]
Teaser --- Small curtain used to block light. [9]
Technical director --- The person who pushes the buttons on the switcher/SEG during the show. [11]
Technical setup --- Adjusting the video equipment prior to a show. Also the time period for this process before a
show. [17]
Telecine --- Movie projector/TV camera combination designed for converting movie images to video. Also called a film
chain. [12]
Telecourse --- Course taught over television, usually by videotape. [4]
Telecourse --- Lessons presented via television, often for credit through a participating college. [20]
Telephoto converter --- Lens attachment to increase the focal length (magnification) of a lens for a narrower angle of
view. [7]
Telephoto --- The opposite of wide-angle, a telephoto lens magnifies the view. like binoculars. It also has a narrow
field of view, concentrating on one part of a picture and cutting out the rest. [7]
Teleprompter --- Device that sits near the camera lens and allows the performer to read the text while his eyes
appear to be looking at the camera lens (the viewer). [6]
Teleprompter --- Electronic device that shows script or other cues to the talent, who appear to be speaking directly to
the TV camera. [17]
Terminate --- Inserting a resistance (usually 75 for video) at the end of a cable carrying a signal. A signal may be
looped through several devices but must be terminated at the last one by plugging in a terminating plug or throwing a
switch to the 75) position. [2]
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Terrestrial interference or TI --- Electrical noise from earth-based microwave transmitters in your neighborhood that
jams your satellite TV reception. [20]
Test (or production) monitor --- TV monitor designed to yield sharp, truthful images that accurately shows flaws in a
TV signal or picture. [2]
Test pattern --- Chart used for measuring a camera or other video device's performance such as resolution. [6]
Test signal --- A video (or other) signal containing certain properties (like color bars) to show whether equipment is
working as it should. Test signals meet certain technical specifications useful for calibrating other equipment. [15]
Test signal generator --- Electrical device that makes test signals for calibrating and measuring performance of
equipment. [15]
Test tape --- A video tape made under "perfect" conditions, used to test the performance of VCRs, VCPs, and
sometimes other video equipment. Tape may include special test signals for measuring signal strengths, timing, and
purity. [16]
Texture --- Data that creates a surface material, including bumps, that you wrap around a wireframe to make it solid.
Grass, water ripples, and tree bark are textures. [12]
Texture map --- The data describing the color, roughness, surface design (i.e., woodgrain), and whether parts will be
cut out and replaced by another surface. Several layered texture maps can be used together. [12]
Three-chip camera --- A TV camera with three pickup chips inside, one sensitive to the red parts of the picture,
another sensitive to green, and the third sensitive to blue.[1]
Three-chip camera --- More expensive TV camera which has separate chips to sense each primary color in the
picture. [6]
Three-tube video projector --- Video projector with three TV picture tubes for a brighter, sharper picture than onetube
models. Three-tube projectors are recognizable by their three lens snouts. [19]
Three-two pulldown --- The motion taken as a movie projector plays a 24-picture-per-second movie into a 30-frameper-
second TV system. One movie picture is scanned three times by the TV system and pulled down, and the
following picture is scanned twice; then the process repeats. [18]
Threshold or coring --- Control on an image enhancer selecting which high frequencies will be boosted (enhanced)
and which will be left alone, to reduce graininess in the picture. [15]
Tier --- A level of cable TV programming. Basic level, or tier 1 may be inexpensive. Tier 2 has more channels but
costs more per month. [4]
Tightener ring --- A large round nut on the mounting plate of a camera head for tightening the camera to the mount.
[6]
Tilt lock --- Camera head control to lock the camera in place so it can't tilt. [6]
Time base corrector --- Electronic device to remove jitter and other timing abnormalities from a video signal, usually
the signal from a VCP. [15]
Time code --- A way of measuring where (how far from the beginning of a tape) scenes are located. Usually a
magnetic pulse recorded on the tape that can be converted into a listing of hours, minutes, seconds, frames. [14]
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Time code generator --- Electronic device that makes the time code signal, which may then be recorded on the tape.
[14]
Time code reader --- Electronic device that decodes the time code from a tape on playback and converts it into
recognizable numbers: hours, minutes, seconds, frames. [14]
Time elapsed counter --- An electronic indicator on a VCR that measures the length of recorded tape that has
moved through the VCR, in hours, minutes, seconds, and sometimes frames. [5]
Time lapse --- Method of compressing time by taking a picture every few seconds (or minutes) and playing them back
30 per second, to speed viewing. Time lapse VCRs can record many hours on the tape. [5]
Timeline --- A graphic ruler stretching across a computer screen on which clips are placed during editing. [10]
Timeline --- Like a ruler stretched across the computer screen, the non-linear editor's timeline lists every moment in
the TV program; indicating which scenes go where, what graphics and titles appear, what audio will be heard, and
what transitions occur between scenes. [14]
Tone generator --- Electronic circuit often built into mixers, which can create an even, standardized audio signal.
Used for checking volume levels, it provides a handy reference tone. [10]
Top loading --- Cassette goes into a trapdoor that opens on the top of older VCRs. [5]
Touch screen --- A touch-sensitive TV screen whereby viewers can point to or press their fingers against the screen
in response to computer questions rather than using a keypad or computer keyboard. [18]
Track --- A pathway along a tape set aside for a discrete (usually audio) signal. In digital audio editing, a sequence of
sounds grouped as if they were on a track of a tape. [10]
Track --- Place on a timeline to drag-and-drop clips. Several tracks allow you to indicate A/B rolls and effects. [14]
Trackball --- Computer input device, like a mouse, that moves the cursor when you rotate a ball imbedded in the
holder. [19]
Tracking --- Adjustment on VTRs so that they play the video tracks from the tape following exactly the path that the
recorder took. Good tracking results in a clear, stable picture. [5]
Transcoder --- Electronic device to convert video signals between Y/688, Y/C, Y/R-Y/B-Y, and others. [15]
Transformer splitter --- A combined device which does the job of a matching transformer and a band splitter. [3]
Transitions --- Ways of changing from one title or graphic to another. [12]
Translator box --- A device that converts computer commands into one or more VCR protocols, such as LANC,
CONTROL-M, CONTROL-S, etc. [14]
Transponder --- One of the transmitters on a satellite. Each one has its own frequency, so by tuning in the various
frequencies you can pick up various signals from the same satellite. Each transponder can handle two analog TV
signals, both audio and video, or ten compressed digital TV signals. [20]
Treatment format or rundown --- Script format listing general description of program's content, direction, and style.
[17]
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Trim --- Adding or subtracting numbers from the time code at the edit point to make the edit occur earlier or later than
originally planned. [14]
Trim or gain control --- Volume control that adjusts the mixer's input sensitivity. Turned up, the input works with
mikes; turned down it works with hi level sources. [10]
Trim --- To precisely define the edit-in and edit-out points of a scene. [14]
Tri-standard --- A TV or VCR which can work with an NTSC, PAL, or SECAM TV signal. [5]
Tri-standard TV --- A TV which switches from NTSC to PAL to SECAM standards to display foreign video signals or
broadcasts. [2]
True color --- Ability of a graphics card to display millions of colors, as opposed to a select 64 or 256 from a palette.
[12]
Trunk line --- 24 telephone signals grouped onto one pair of wires. [20]
Tungsten-halogen --- Common TV lamp bulb with a tungsten filament (glowing wire inside) and a quartz bulb filled
with iodine (a halogen) gas. It's small, generally operates at 3200K color temperature and runs very hot. [9]
TV black or reference black --- The blackest black allowable in an NTSC TV picture; 7.5 IRE. [15]
TV coupler --- A small electrical device which allows two or more TVs to share signals from the same antenna wire.
[3]
TV monitor/receiver (or receiver/monitor --- ) A TV set that can act either as a monitor (using video) or a receiver
(using RF). [2]
TV projector --- Usually found in the home, a device designed to project images from TV signals, typically RF from
cable TV or antennas. Essentially a video projector with a tuner. TV projectors may have separate audio and video
inputs. [19]
TV receiver --- A TV set that tunes in channels but doesn't have audio or video inputs. [5]
TV standard --- Set of technical specifications describing how a TV picture is made. In the USA, the FCC (Federal
Communications Committee) ordained the NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) standard. In Europe,
they use a different, incompatible standard, PAL.[2]
TVRO --- Television Receive Only, the dish antenna and receiver which can pick up signals but not transmit them.
[20]
Tweeter --- Small speaker, efficient at reproducing high notes. [10]
Twin lead --- Flat ribbon-like antenna cable containing two wires, nearly always 300.[3]
Twisted pair --- Common telephone wire. [15]
Twisted pair --- Two skinny wires, twisted together, used frequently for telephone service. [20]
Two-channel audio --- Capability of recording two sound tracks on a tape. [14]
Type C --- Aging professional reel-to-reel recorder format using 1-inch tape. [5]
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UHF --- Ultra high frequency; TV channels 14-69. [2]
Ultrasonic --- Sound with a pitch so high, humans can't hear it. When used in autofocus cameras, ultrasonic waves
bounce off the subject to sense the focusing distance. [6]
Umbrella --- A light reflector made like an umbrella with a silvery underside, used to soften portable lights. [9]
Unbalanced line --- An audio cable with two wires, one of which is a shield surrounding the other. [10]
Underscanned monitor --- TV monitor which can shrink its picture to display the edges.[2]
Underscanned --- TV picture which is smaller than the screen, showing the black edges of the picture on the
screen.[2]
Undo --- Paint feature that allows you to restore a picture to its condition before you changed it. [12]
Unidirectional light --- Hard light from a far away source. [12]
Union scale --- A salary negotiated between a union and larger producers, covering specific job titles. Scale sets a
standard used by others in the industry, even if not members of the union. [17]
Uniplexer --- Device to couple a film projector to a TV camera, useful for making video copies of movies, etc. [15]
Universal remote --- Remote control that works with many devices, once it is programmed. [2]
Unswitched --- Some VTRs and other devices have convenience power outlets in the back, handy for feeding power
to other devices. If this power ceases when the VTR's power is turned off, it's called "switched." Unswitched outlets
are active all the time as long as the VTR, is plugged in. [5]
Unsynchronized --- Cameras that create their pictures independently of one another, not using an external sync
source to lock their electronics in step. [11]
Uplink --- Transmitter that sends signals to an orbiting satellite. [20]
Upload --- Send data from a small or temporary machine (i.e., a personal computer) to the main machine (i.e., a
mainframe computer digital camcorder, or digital VCR). [5]
Value --- Natural brightness of a color. Pure yellow is light while pure blue is dark. [12]
Variable focus light --- A lighting fixture that can be adjusted from spot to flood or vice versa to direct the light's
intensity. [9]
VCR+ --- A device, much like a VCR remote control, that will make your VCR record a TV show in your absence. By
typing a several digit code number into the VCR+ you bypass the complex task of programming your VCR. [5]
Vector graphics --- Image stored as mathematical instructions, lines (vectors), points, and angles. [12]
Vector line --- Imaginary line dividing the set (action area) in two; all camera angles must be taken from one side of
this line to maintain unambiguous transitions from shot to shot. [11]
Vectorscope --- Specialized oscilloscope that graphically displays the color parts of a video signal, precisely showing
the colors' strength and hue. [15]
Vertical height control --- TV set control which stretches or squashes the picture vertically. [2]
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Vertical interval switching --- Electrically controlled switch that toggles from one source to another (i.e., from camera
1 to camera 2) during the brief instant that the TV is not making a picture on the screen. It switches during the vertical
interval, the black line below the bottom of the screen. [11]
Vertical interval --- The part of a video signal that doesn't show on the TV screen; the black bar (sync) at the bottom
of the TV picture when it rolls. [14]
Vertical linearity --- TV adjustment controlling how a TV reproduces shapes in the vertical direction without stretching
or distorting them. [2]
Vertical sync --- The part of the sync signal which controls the up and down motion of the TV's electronic gun. This
holds the picture steady and keeps it from rolling vertically.[1]
Vertical wipe --- A wipe where a horizontal boundary line sweeps vertically through the screen, changing the picture
as it goes. [11]
VGA or video graphics array --- 1987 standard for graphics cards in IBM compatible PCs, determining sweep
frequencies, colors, resolution, and wire connections in monitor plugs. [12]
VHF --- Very high frequency; TV channels 2-13. [2]
VHS --- Video home system. The most popular consumer 1/2-inch videocassette format. [5]
VHS-C --- VHS compact format using VHS tape in a minicassette. [5]
VHS-HQ --- Slightly improved version of VHS format, totally compatible with it. [5]
VIASS or VISS --- VHS Index-Address Search System, a way of bookmarking up to 8 places on a VHS or SVHS
tape, making them easy for a VCR to "find" later. [14]
Video bridge --- A type of network circuit used to match phone services to each other insuring the best transfer of
data between them. [20]
Video capture card --- Circuit installed in a computer to change video signals into data the computer can handle, and
vice versa. [5]
Video capture card --- Computer circuit capable of converting a video signal into a digital computer signal that can be
stored on disk or manipulated. [12]
Video CD --- Compact Disc able to hold full motion video and audio, playable on PC and MacIntosh computers. [18]
Video Deposition --- Lawyers ask a witness questions to determine the facts of a case. The proceedings are
videotaped and parts later played to the jury. [17]
Video dial tone or VDT --- Wide bandwidth telephone network enabling subscribers to select from a TV screen menu
(or dial on their phones) a video presentation or full length movie. [20]
Video distribution amplifier or VDA --- Electronic device that splits one video signal into several (often four) and
boosts each to make them as strong as the original signal. [15]
Video Encoder --- A device that makes a composite color video signal from component video signals. [12]
Video feedback --- Fantasy effect created when a camera is aimed at a TV monitor displaying the camera's picture.
[8]
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Video head drum --- Spinning cylinder inside a VCR with video heads attached to it. [5]
Video heads --- Electromagnets attached to a spinning drum inside the VCR, responsible for recording the picture. [5]
Video insert --- Replacing a segment of old video with new video, in the midst of prerecorded tape. Audio is not
affected. [14]
Video level --- How strong a video signal is. On VTRs, the video level control will adjust the contrast of your video
recording. [5]
Video on demand or VOD --- Wide bandwidth cable or phone network permitting users to download video (i.e.,
movies), playing it in real time on their TVs. [20]
Video printer --- Electronic device that converts a TV screen image to hard copy. [13]
Video projector --- Device designed to project images made from an NTSC video signal (composite, Y/C, RGB, etc.
using an interlaced horizontal sweep rate of 15,735 Hz). Usually found in schools and industry, sometimes equipped
with speakers. [19]
Video reverse --- Camera switch which makes blacks white and whites black and changes colors into their
complementary colors (opposites). [6]
Video tape player or VTP --- A machine which can play a video tape but cannot record one. [5]
Video tape recorder or VTR --- A machine which can record picture and sound on a tape. Nearly all can also play
back a tape. Although a videocassette recorder is also a video tape recorder, VTR usually implies that reel-to-reel
tape is used rather than cassette. [5]
Video --- The picture portion of a broadcast TV signal; an electronic signal making a TV picture. [1]
Video wall --- TV sets (or small retro projectors) stacked like building blocks and able to each show part of a picture
so that the group displays the whole picture. [19]
Video/VGA projector --- Device designed to project images made from NTSC video or from a VGA computer output
(640480 pixels scanned at 35,500 progressive sweeps per second). [19]
Videocassette --- A box containing video tape connected to an internal supply reel and a take-up reel, used in VCRs.
[5]
Videocassette player or --- VCP --- A machine which can play a videocassette but cannot record one. [5]
Videocassette recorder or VCR --- A video tape recorder which uses cassettes rather than open reels of tape. [5]
Videocipher --- A popular analog descrambler, with versions VC-II, VC-II+, and VC-II+ RS. [20]
Videoconferencing or teleconferencing --- A technology that allows participants in remote locations to
communicate with images and sound. [20]
Videodisc --- An analog record-shaped disc encoded with a TV program. [18]
Videodisc --- player --- Phonograph-like machine that plays a videodisc, sending the video and audio (or RF) signals
to a TV for display. [18]
Videodisc recorder --- Machine that records a TV signal onto a videodisc. [18]
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Videophone or picturephone --- A telephone that also displays images. [20]
Videowall processor --- Circuit that maps the video or computer images onto the video wall monitors. [19]
Viewfinder --- The part of a TV camera you look through to see where the camera is aimed. [6]
Vignetting --- A condition where the picture's edges (usually the corners) show the dark edges of the lens, often
because the lens format is too small for the pickup chip. [7]
Virtual set --- Studio set that exists as a computer graphic. The set moves as the studio camera moves so that the
graphic looks real. [12]
VISCA --- Sony Video system Control Architecture, a two-way protocol from Sony that permits computers, through
their RS-232 or RS-422 ports, to communicate with VCRs and other control-M or LANC enabled devices. [14]
VITC or Vertical Interval Time Code --- Time code data recorded as part of the video signal in the sync pulse
between pictures. [14]
VL bus --- Vesa Local Bus, a very fast 32 bit pathway for data traveling from one board to another in the computer.
The VL bus can coexist on motherboards with slower, ISA busses. [12]
VL-mount --- Standardized lens mount for 1/2-inch chip camcorders assuring automatic lens controls are compatible
with camcorder, thus allowing lenses to be swapped. [7]
Voiceover --- Narration added to and louder than background sounds or music. [10]
Volt --- A measure of electrical pressure. In the United States, 120 V (volts) is the standard available from common
electrical outlets in homes or institutions. [9]
VU --- Volume unita measure of loudness. A VU meter measures the strength of an audio signal. A 0 VU ("zero V-U")
setting is considered optimum sound volume. [10]
Waterfall effect --- A slice across the TV picture that slides down the screen. [5]
Watt --- A measure of electrical power. Amps times volts equals watts. A studio light may use 1000 W (watts).
Institutional wiring may handle 2400 watts per circuit. [9]
Wattage --- A speaker's power-handling capacity, related to how loud it can be. [10]
WAVE or .WAV --- A computer file of digitized sound. [10]
Waveform --- A graphic representation of a video signal, showing signal levels (whites and blacks), color, and timing
(sync). [15]
Waveform monitor --- A specialized oscilloscope for displaying video signal levels and timing. [15]
Wavetable synthesizer --- Musical device that electronically generates sounds from digitized samples. [10]
Wedge mount --- A type of quick release camera mount that slides into a wedge-shaped groove in the tripod head.
[6]
White balance --- The mix of primary colors which results in pure white light. On color cameras, the controls which
strengthen the blue or red colors so that none overpowers the other, allowing white objects to appear pure white, not
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tinted. By pressing one button and holding a white card in front of the camera, this will automatically adjust the
camera's circuits to make pure white. [6]
Wide-angle converter --- Lens attachment to decrease a lens's focal length, giving the image a wider angle of view.
[7]
Wide-angle --- The opposite of telephoto, a wide-angle lens takes in a broad panoramic view. The lens "gets
everything in," but everything may appear small in the picture. [7]
Wild sound --- Background sound without narration or performing going on. During editing it can be mixed with the
performer's sounds if they have to redo their lines in a quiet studio. [14]
Window dub --- Copy of a time-coded video tape with one change: Time code numbers are visible on the TV screen,
making it possible to log edit decisions while playing the tape on common VCRs not equipped with time code readers.
[14]
Windows --- Microsoft's software that controls the computer (like DOS) but does so with menus and a graphical user
interface (GUI). [12]
Windscreen --- Foam boot that fits over a microphone to shield it from wind noises. [10]
Wipe --- Special effect that starts with one TV picture on the screen, then a boundary line moves across the screen
(vertically, diagonally, or whatever), and where it passes, the first picture changes into a second picture. [11]
Wireframe --- Electronic graphics image whereby selected points are connected by lines forming the "skeleton" of an
object. [12]
Wireless cable --- TV programs delivered via microwave signals. System requires a microwave antenna and decoder
box. [4]
Wireless microphone --- A mike transmitting a radio (UHF or FM) signal to a receiver rather than sending the signal
over a wire. It is used by performers who need freedom to move without mike cords. [10]
Woofer --- Big speakers, efficient for reproducing bass notes. [10]
Working master --- A carefully made copy of a master tape, which is in turn copied. The working master protects the
master from damage and wear in the copying process because it is the working master which gets played many times
while the master is archived. [13]
WORM --- Write Once Read Many, an optical disk recorder that can't erase and record the disk over. [12]
Writing speed --- The speed of the video heads relative to the tape. [5]
X-Y stereo miking --- Mike setup for stereo using two cardioids crossed, one aiming left, the other right, their heads
almost touching. [10]
Y --- The luminance or black-and-white part of a video signal.[1]
Y adapter --- Used in audio, a Y-shaped connector or wire which combines two signals or splits one signal into two.
[5]
Y/(R-Y)/(B-Y) --- Pronounced Y, R minus Y, B minus Y, this is one way component video is transported; also the type
of video equipment or circuits that handle such signals. The letters represent luminance with sync, red minus the
luminance, blue minus the luminance. [1]
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Y/688 dub, Y/629 dub --- Method of sending separate luminance and downconverted color signals between 3/4U and
SVHS and VHS editing-type VCRs to preserve color quality. [5]
Y/C or S --- A method of transmitting color video over two wires, one carrying luminance (Y) and the other carrying
color (C). Also called super or S-video as it is employed on super VHS (SVHS) VCR's and camcorders. Hi8
camcorders also use Y/C video. [1]
Y/C or S connector --- Multipin connector designed to carry Y/C video on two wires inside one cable. [1]
Y/C --- Video signal separated into two parts: brightness (Y) and color (C). Such signals yield sharper, cleaner color
than composite video signals. Also another name for S connector. [5]
Y/I/Q --- Another form of Y/(R-Y/(B-Y) making component color video using luminance and two color difference
signals. [1]
Y/Pb/Pr --- Another form of Y/(R-Y)/(B-Y). [1]
Y/U/V --- A form of Y/(R-Y)/(B-Y) making component color video, popular in Europe. [1]
Yagi --- A type of outdoor TV antenna.[3]
Zoom lens --- A lens which can "zoom in" or "zoom out" to give a closer-looking picture or a wider angle of view. [6]
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