Chapter 5: The Television Camera

Question 1

additive primary colors

Answer 1

red, green and blue. ordinary white light (sunlight) can be separated into the three primary light colors. When these three colored lights are combined in various proportions, all other colors can be reproduced. The process is called additive color mixing

Question 2

analog

Answer 2

a signal the fluctuates exactly like the original stimulus

Question 3

aspect ratio

Answer 3

the width to height proportions of the standard television screen and therefore of all standard television pictures: 4 units wide by 3 units high. For HDTV the aspect ratio is 16x9. The small mobile media (cell-phone) displays have various aspect ratios

Question 4

beam splitter

Answer 4

compact internal optical system of prisms within a television camera that separates white light into the three primary colors: red, green and blue also called prism block

Question 5

binary

Answer 5

a number system with the base of 2

Question 6

bit

Answer 6

stands for binary digit, the smallest amount of information a computer can hold and process. A charge is either present, represented by a 1 or absent, represented by a 0. One bit can describe two levels, such as on/off or black/white

Question 7

camcorder

Answer 7

a portable camera with the videotape recorder or some other recording device built into it to form a single unit

Question 8

camera chain

Answer 8

the television camera (head) and associated electronic equipment, including the camera control unit, sync generator and power supply

Question 9

camera control unit (CCU)

Answer 9

equipment, separate from the camera head, that contains various video controls, including color fidelity, color balance, contrast and brightness. The CCU enables the video operator to adjust the camera picture during a show

Question 10

charge coupled device (CCD)

Answer 10

the imaging sensor in a television camera. It consists of horizontal and vertical rows of tiny image sensing elements called pixels, that translate the optical (light) image into an electric charge that eventually becomes the video signal

Question 11

CMOS

Answer 11

Stands for complementary metal oxide semiconductor. A camera imaging sensor similar to a CCD but which operates on a different technology. It translates light into an electronic video charge that eventually becomes the video signal

Question 12

digital

Answer 12

usually means the binary system- the representation of data in the form of binary digits (on/off pulses)

Question 13

digital cinema camera

Answer 13

a high definition tv camera with sensors that can produce extremely high resolution pictures exceeding 4,000 (4K) pixels per line. It records on memory cards, with a variable frame rate for normal, slow and accelerated motion capture

Question 14

EFP camera

Answer 14

high quality portable, shoulder mounted field production camera that must be connected to an external video recorder

Question 15

ENG/EFP camcorder

Answer 15

high quality portable field production camera with the recording device built in

Question 16

field

Answer 16

one half of a complete scanning cycle, with two fields necessary for one video frame. There are 60 fields, or 30 frames per second in standard NTSC tv

Question 17

frame

Answer 17

the smallest picture unit in film, a single picture. // a complete scan from top to bottom of all raster lines by exposure and subsequent electric charge, or one single frame of a motion series.

Question 18

frame rate

Answer 18

the number of complete video frames the video system is producing each second. Also expressed as fps. The NTSC standard of traditional American tv is 30 fps. The 480p and 720p scanning systems normally have a frame rate of 60 fps. Some HD digital cinema cameras have a frame rate of 24 fps and or a variable frame rates. The standard 1080i HDTV system has a frame rate of 30 fps

Question 19

gain

Answer 19

electronic amplification of the video signal, boosting primarily picture brightness

Question 20

HDTV camera

Answer 20

video camera that delivers high definition video of superior resolution, color fidelity, and light and dark contrast, uses high quality imaging sensors and lenses

Question 21

imaging device

Answer 21

the imaging element in a television camera. Its sensor CCD or CMOS transduces light into electric energy that becomes the video signal, also called chip and sensor

Question 22

pixel

Answer 22

short for picture element. a single imaging element like the single dot in a newspaper picture. that can be identified by a computer. The more pixels per picture area, the higher the picture quality // the light sensitive elements on a CCD that contain a charge

Question 23

raster

Answer 23

the scanning pattern of a video image

Question 24

refresh rate

Answer 24

the number of complete digital scanning cycles (frames) per second

Question 25

resolution

Answer 25

the measurement of picture detail, expressed in the number of pixels per scanning line and the number of visible scanning lines. Resolution is influenced by the imaging device, the lens, and the tv set that shows the camera picture (aka definition)

Question 26

RGB

Answer 26

stands for red, green and blue - the basic colors of television

Question 27

sensor

Answer 27

the CCD or CMOS imaging device in a video camera

Question 28

standard television (STV)

Answer 28

a system based on the NTSC scanning system 525 interlaced lines

Question 29

studio camera

Answer 29

high quality camera with a large zoom lens that cannot be maneuvered properly without the aid of a studio pedestal, or other camera mount

Question 30

sync generator

Answer 30

part of the camera chain, produces an electronic synchronization signal, which keeps all scanning in step

Question 31

white balance

Answer 31

the adjustments of the color circuits in the camera to produce a white color in lighting of various color temperatures (relative reddishness or bluishness of white light)