Glossary -A-
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.
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.
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.
Above-the-line costs — Production expenses related only to a particular show. Examples: special talent, writers, travel, charges for special effects.
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.
AC — Alternating Current, which comes from the wall outlet (not DC—Direct Current—which comes from a battery).
Access channel — Cable TV channel set aside for local community use, like town meetings, school sports, local affairs, and news.
Accession number — Numerical order (1, 2, 3, etc.) assigned to tapes as they are acquired or recorded.
Accessory mount — Threaded hole on top of camera or camcorder for attaching a light, microphone, or other accessory.
Achromatic — Ability of a high quality lens to not make colored ridges on contrasty objects in the edges of the picture.
Active — Electrical device which requires electric power to operate. TV antenna preamplifiers and amplified TV couplers are active.
Active — Electronic device that requires power to operate and adds something to the signal passing through it.
Active matrix — A type of liquid crystal that changes quickly, appropriate for LCD panels that also display video.
AD — Audio Director, person who runs the sound.
Adapter — A connector which allows one type of plug to fit into another type of socket.
Adapter — An audio device that allows a plug of one type to fit a socket of another type.
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.
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.
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.
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.
AFC time constant — An internal circuit design on a TV set which determines how much it jitters and flagwaves when playing tapes.
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.
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.
AGC or automatic gain control — Automatically adjusts the brightness and contrast of a camera’s picture.
Air mouse — Infra-red remote control mouse that allows one to operate a computer from some distance away.
Alias — Stair-steppiness of rounded images or letters rendered by computers and character generators.
All-channel antenna — Antenna designed to tune in all TV channels.
Alpha channel — A signal used in video graphics to cut a hole in an image, a hole that gets filled with another image.
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).
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.
Ambient color — The shaded color of an object showing darker color where light doesn’t hit.
Amortization — Splitting up the cost of an expensive item over the number of years the item is used.
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.
Amplifier — Electronic device that makes a weak electrical signal stronger.
Analog — A signal that varies continuously as opposed to a digital signal made of discrete levels. A device that works with analog signals.
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.
Analog — Something that varies in infinite gradations. A light dimmer is analog. Analog circuits suffer noise and distortion.
Analog VTR — Video recorder that records the continuously varying video signal onto the tape (as opposed to digital).
Analog-to-digital (A-to-D) converter — A circuit that samples an analog signal and expresses the information as digital data.
Animation — Technique or result of creating a series of still images and then playing them quickly in sequence to create motion.
ANSI — American National Standards Institute, an organization that, among other things, sets the standards for measuring projector brightness.
Antenna booster — Amplifier, attached to antenna wire, used to strengthen a weak antenna signal.
Antenna joiner — Electrical device which connects to two or more TV antennas and sends the combined signals to your TV set.
Antenna preamplifier — An electrical device usually connected near the antenna which makes a weak antenna signal stronger.
Antenna switch — An electrical switch specially designed for antenna signals.
Antenna switch — Selects whether a TV’s internal (monopole or rabbit-ear) antenna or external (rooftop) antenna is to be used.
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.
Anti-alias — The smoothing out of jagged or stair-steppy edges of electronic graphics or generated characters.
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.
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.
Area light — Soft diffused light, like from a fluorescent fixture.
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.
ASCAP — American Society of Composers and Performers-an agency that licenses the use of copyrighted music.
Ascender — The part of a letter that rises above the main body, like the top of the lowercase “k.”
ASCII — A universal, standardized code for text and numbers used by computers and word processors.
Aspect ratio — The shape of a TV screen expressed in height compared to width. Common TV screens have a 4:3 aspect ratio.
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.
Associate producer — Lower-level production assistant who handles program details; a bookkeeping/clerical position requiring specialization in TV production.
Asynchronous — Not synchronized. Running independently without external sync circuits holding the device to the same rhythm as the rest of the studio equipment.
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.
ATM — Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a method of grouping data into packets and switching them along a route to their destination quickly.
ATR — Audio tape recorder.
ATSC — Advanced Television Systems Committee, a group formed to study DTV and make recommendations to the FCC.
Attenuator — Small electronic device that reduces the strength of an audio signal.
ATV — Advanced Television, a name that replaced HDTV as the specifications evolved, eventually being replaced with DTV.
Audio director — Studio crew member who handles the microphone placement, sound mix, and other audio responsibilities before and during the show.
Audio distribution amplifier of ADA — Electronic device that takes in one audio signal and makes several, each as strong as the original.
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.
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.
Audio insert — An audio dub performed in the midst of an already recorded tape.
Audio level control — A volume control. Adjusts sound recording loudness on VCRs.
Audio level — How “loud” a sound signal is. Adjusting the audio level on a recorder determines the recording’s loudness.
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.
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.
Audio mixer — Mixes audio (sound) signals perhaps from several microphones and combines them into one audio signal.
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.
Audio patch cord — Wire with audio plugs on each end for feeding signals between two audio devices.
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).
Audio splicing tape — Adhesive tape used to join the ends of audio recording tape during the editing process.
Audio — The sound part of a TV broadcast. Sound, turned into an electrical signal.
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.
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.
Audio-follow-video — A switcher feature often found in routing switchers whereby the audio source is automatically switched along with the video source.
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.
Authoring — Process of organizing the materials for an interactive disc and putting them into computer language.
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.
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.
Automatic focus — Electronic system in some cameras that senses whether the picture is sharp and electrically focuses the lens to correct blurry pictures.
Automatic gain control or AGC — Electronic circuit that automatically adjusts the loudness of a recording.
Automatic iris — Camera circuit which senses the amount of light in a scene and opens or closes the lens iris to adapt to it.
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.
Aux send/return — An output/input path on mixers that allow a signal to be manipulated by a device outside the mixer.
AV monitor or multimedia monitor — TV monitor with audio and video inputs to display picture and sound.
Azimuth — Left/right direction, or east/west when tracking satellites.
