Glossary
AVI
– A Windows video format.
Bit rate
– The bit rate indicates the volume of the data stream per second. A higher bit rate results in
higher quality. A distinction is made between constant bit rates (for -> VCD, for example) and variable bit
rates, e.g. for -> SVCD and -> DVD. Unlike constant bit rates, variable bit rates adjust the size of the data
stream according to the video material.
Blue screen
– A variation of -> Chroma keying
Capture
– Recording.
Chroma keying
– Chroma keying uses a surface with a single color in front of which an actor, for
example, is filmed. This color area is then made transparent during subsequent editing and can be
replaced by a different background.
Chrominance
– Chrominance refers to the color signal in -> YUV, which is comprised of two color
components: U, the balance between red and cyan, and V, the balance between yellow and blue.
Clip
– A short piece of video material.
Composite video – Composite video is a transmission method common in the consumer sector that is
generally realized using cinch connectors and which is frequently used, for example, on TVs. In this
process, all signals (chrominance and luminance) share a single cable. The quality of composition video
is lower than that of -> S-video, for example, in which chrominance and luminance are transmitted
separately.
CPU
– Central processing unit. The part of your computer (the processor, i.e. Pentium or Athlon) that
does the actual computing.
D8
– Digital 8 is the successor to the Hi8 and VHS-C camcorder formats. Hi8 or D8 cassettes are still
used, but the video data is recorded digitally in DV format.
Data throughput
– see Data transfer rate
Data transfer rate
– The data transfer rate describes the speed at which a hard drive can read or write
data over a sustained period. The data transfer rate is usually measured in seconds, e.g. 7 Mbps.
Device control
– In DV terms, this refers to the ability to control your camcorder from your PC.
DirectDraw
– This is a graphics standard that was initially developed by Microsoft. Its features include
the capability to write graphics data directly to the memory of the graphics board for the fluid display of
video material.
Dropped frames
– These are individual images missing from the video data stream, usually due to a
slow hard drive.
DV
– DV stands for Digital Video. The DV standard uses a compression rate of 5:1. This corresponds to a
data rate of 3.125 Mbps, which can be handled by virtually all newer hard drives. The quality of the DV
standard is very high; it is therefore frequently used in professional productions. A number of different
cassette types exist in the DV sector, which vary in size and maximum playing time, but which are
compatible with one another in terms of video data. MiniDV is designed for the consumer sector and
supports playing times of up to one hour. The DV format used in the professional sector supports
playing times of up to three hours.
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Cameo 400 AV mobile (English)
