Glossary -U-
UHF — Ultra high frequency; TV channels 14-69.
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.
Umbrella — A light reflector made like an umbrella with a silvery underside, used to soften portable lights.
Unbalanced line — An audio cable with two wires, one of which is a shield surrounding the other.
Underscanned monitor — TV monitor which can shrink its picture to display the edges.
Underscanned — TV picture which is smaller than the screen, showing the black edges of the picture on the screen.
Undo — Paint feature that allows you to restore a picture to its condition before you changed it.
Unidirectional light — Hard light from a far away source.
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.
Uniplexer — Device to couple a film projector to a TV camera, useful for making video copies of movies, etc.
Universal remote — Remote control that works with many devices, once it is programmed.
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.
Unsynchronized — Cameras that create their pictures independently of one another, not using an external sync source to lock their electronics in step.
Uplink — Transmitter that sends signals to an orbiting satellite.
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).
