Glossary -W-
Waterfall effect — A slice across the TV picture that slides down the screen.
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.
Wattage — A speaker’s power-handling capacity, related to how loud it can be.
WAVE or .WAV — A computer file of digitized sound.
Waveform — A graphic representation of a video signal, showing signal levels (whites and blacks), color, and timing (sync).
Waveform monitor — A specialized oscilloscope for displaying video signal levels and timing.
Wavetable synthesizer — Musical device that electronically generates sounds from digitized samples.
Wedge mount — A type of quick release camera mount that slides into a wedge-shaped groove in the tripod head.
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 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.
Wide-angle converter — Lens attachment to decrease a lens’s focal length, giving the image a wider angle of view.
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.
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.
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.
Windows — Microsoft’s software that controls the computer (like DOS) but does so with menus and a graphical user interface (GUI).
Windscreen — Foam boot that fits over a microphone to shield it from wind noises.
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.
Wireframe — Electronic graphics image whereby selected points are connected by lines forming the “skeleton” of an object.
Wireless cable — TV programs delivered via microwave signals. System requires a microwave antenna and decoder box.
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.
Woofer — Big speakers, efficient for reproducing bass notes.
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.
WORM — Write Once Read Many, an optical disk recorder that can’t erase and record the disk over.
Writing speed — The speed of the video heads relative to the tape.
