Glossary -D-
D1 — Very high-quality component video digital recording format. Expensive.
D2 — Very high-quality composite video digital recording format. Expensive.
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.
Data projector — Device designed to project images from computer workstations displaying 1024768 pixels.
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.
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.
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.
DBX — A scheme for reducing audio noise in recordings by encoding and decoding. Effect is more pronounced than with Dolby.
DDR — Digital Disk Recorder, records digital video (or other data) on a disk and plays it back.
Dead border area — Blank margin around a graphic that never shows on TV.
Deck — Short name for a recorder, sometimes the VCR portion of a dockable camcorder, sometimes a stand-alone VCR.
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.
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.
Degauss — Demagnetize (remove residual magnetism).
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.
Delay — The single repeat of a sound after its been made.
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.
Demodulator or tuner — Electronic device which changes channel numbers (RF) into video and audio signals.
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.
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.
Deregulated — Removal of laws and restrictions imposed by Congress, the FCC, or some regulatory body.
Descender — The part of a letter that drops below the line, like the bottom of the lowercase “p.”
Descrambler — An electronic device (usually rented from a pay-TV company) used to convert scrambled TV signals to viewable ones.
Desk stand — A small microphone holder that sits on a desk.
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.
Detail — Image enhancer control adjusting amount of enhancement the device will make.
Detailer — Less expensive image enhancer used in the home video field.
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.
Diagonal split screen — A split screen divided diagonally.
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.
Diffuse color — The overall solid natural color of an object.
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.
Digital animation recorder — Computer card or stand alone device able to record and play back video in real time.
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.
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.
Digital still frame — Electronic method of “grabbing” a still picture on a camcorder or from a tape playing on a VCR.
Digital video recorder — Advanced, professional VCR that records video as 1s and 0s. Digital video tapes can be copied without generational losses.
Digital videocassette (DVC) recorder — A VCR that records and plays back digital data representing a video picture and sound.
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.
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.
Digital-S — JVC’s digital video compression and recording system using SVHS tape. Can also play analog SVHS tapes.
Dimmer — Electronic device to vary the brightness of lamps connected to its circuits.
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.
DIN connector — Round, multipin plug or socket.
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.
DIP switch — Dual Inline Package switch, a tiny computer switch.
Dipole — Antenna with two elements. A rabbit ear antenna is a portable dipole.
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.
Direct — Method of time base correction used with professional equipment yielding high resolution.
Directional microphone — Microphone that needs to be “aimed” as it is more sensitive in one direction than another.
Director — Person in charge of shooting and editing a show, the actual “builder” of the show.
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.
Display monitor — TV monitor designed to make big, bright, pretty pictures for audience consumption.
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.
Distortion — Poor quality sound, usually raspy and loud, often caused by too strong an audio signal.
Distortion — The unfaithful reproduction of sound. For example, turning a portable radio up to full volume often causes distorted sound.
Dithering — An image rendering technique to make fewer colors look like more colors by placing certain colored dots close to each other.
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).
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.
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.
DMD or digital micromirror display — The image reflecting chip at the heart of a DLP projector.
Dockable — Camera/VCR feature whereby the two can work independently or can be joined into a single unit becoming a camcorder.
Dockable — The ability to join a camera with a VCR so that the pair become one unit, such as one camcorder.
Dolby AC-3 — Method of compressing 5 channels of high quality sound data into 384kbps, for use in DTV and DVDs.
Dolly — Bottom part of a camera tripod that has wheels. Also the act of moving the camera toward or away from a subject.
DOS — (Disk Operating System) Software that controls the computer and manages communications between the programs and the hardware.
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).
Double-faced tape — Adhesive tape sticky on both sides-good for use between pictures and backings.
Downconvert — Change a higher frequency signal into a lower frequency.
Downlink — Receiver of signals from an orbiting satellite.
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).
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.
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.
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.
Drag control — Camera head control that resists free motion of the head in a direction.
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.
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.
Drop frame — SMPTE time code mode that keeps accurate time of day by skipping 108 frames per hour following a formula.
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.
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.
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.
DSL — Digital Subscriber Line, a digitized telephone line.
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.
DSS — Digital Satellite System, a satellite using digital rather than analog signals.
DTH — Direct To Home, another name for DBS.
DTV — Digital Television, TV that is broadcast, recorded, and processed digitally, possibly with extended definition like HDTV.
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.
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.
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.
Dulling spray — Aerosol spray used by film and video professionals to reduce shine on objects.
Dulling spray — Spray-on aerosol that reduces surface shine.
Duplication house — A company that duplicates videocassettes, usually hundreds at a time.
DV — Digital Video Format where images and sound are recorded as digital data onto 1/4 inch cassettes with very high quality.
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.
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.
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.
D-VHS — JVC’s digital video recorder using VHS tape. Not the same as DV or Digital-S.
DVR — Digital Video Recorder. A VCR or computer disk recorder that records/plays digits representing audio and video.
Dynamation — Preprogrammed pseudo random motion of particle systems such as snow, rain, fountains, explosions, or flocks of birds.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Dynamic tracking — Professional VTR feature which allows the tape to be played at various speeds including still frame while making a clear picture.
