Video is an
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
medium for the recording,
copying, playback,
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...
, and display of
moving visual
The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight (th ...
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
. Video was first developed for
mechanical television
Mechanical television or mechanical scan television is a television system that relies on a mechanical scanning device, such as a rotating disk with holes in it or a rotating mirror drum, to scan the scene and generate the video signal, and a si ...
systems, which were quickly replaced by
cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by
flat panel display
A flat-panel display (FPD) is an electronic display used to display visual content such as text or images. It is present in consumer, medical, transportation, and industrial equipment.
Flat-panel displays are thin, lightweight, provide better l ...
s of several types.
Video systems vary in
display resolution
The display resolution or display modes of a digital television, computer monitor or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution ...
,
aspect ratio,
refresh rate
The refresh rate (or "vertical refresh rate", "vertical scan rate", terminology originating with the cathode ray tubes) is the number of times per second that a raster-based display device displays a new image. This is independent from frame rate ...
, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including
radio broadcast
Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio sta ...
,
magnetic tape,
optical disc
In computing and optical disc recording technologies, an optical disc (OD) is a flat, usually circular disc that encodes binary data (bits) in the form of pits and lands on a special material, often aluminum, on one of its flat surfaces. ...
s,
computer files
A computer file is a computer resource for recording data in a computer storage device, primarily identified by its file name. Just as words can be written to paper, so can data be written to a computer file. Files can be shared with and transf ...
, and
network streaming.
History
Analog video
Video technology was first developed for
mechanical television
Mechanical television or mechanical scan television is a television system that relies on a mechanical scanning device, such as a rotating disk with holes in it or a rotating mirror drum, to scan the scene and generate the video signal, and a si ...
systems, which were quickly replaced by
cathode-ray tube (CRT)
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
systems, but several new technologies for video
display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a
live technology.
Charles Ginsburg led an
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
research team developing one of the first practical
video tape recorder
A video tape recorder (VTR) is a tape recorder designed to record and playback video and audio material from magnetic tape. The early VTRs were open-reel devices that record on individual reels of 2-inch-wide (5.08 cm) tape. They were u ...
s (VTR). In 1951, the first VTR captured live images from
television camera
A professional video camera (often called a television camera even though its use has spread beyond television) is a high-end device for creating electronic moving images (as opposed to a movie camera, that earlier recorded the images on film). ...
s by writing the camera's electrical signal onto magnetic
videotape
Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocasse ...
.
Video recorders were sold for US$50,000 in 1956, and videotapes cost US$300 per one-hour reel. However, prices gradually dropped over the years; in 1971, Sony began selling
videocassette recorder
A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the reco ...
(VCR) decks and tapes into the
consumer market.
Digital video
Digital video is capable of higher quality and, eventually, much lower cost than earlier analog technology. After the invention of the
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
in 1997, and later the
Blu-ray Disc in 2006, sales of videotape and recording equipment plummeted. Advances in
computer technology allows even inexpensive
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
s and
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s to capture, store, edit and transmit digital video, further reducing the cost of
video production
Video production is the process of producing video content for video. It is the equivalent of filmmaking, but with video recorded either as analog signals on videotape, digitally in video tape or as computer files stored on optical discs, hard dri ...
, allowing program-makers and broadcasters to move to
tapeless production. The advent of
digital broadcasting
Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital signals rather than analogue signals for broadcasting over radio frequency bands. Digital television broadcasting (especially satellite television) is widespread. Digital audio broadcasting i ...
and the subsequent
digital television transition is in the process of relegating analog video to the status of a
legacy technology in most parts of the world. The development of high-resolution video cameras with improved
dynamic range
Dynamic range (abbreviated DR, DNR, or DYR) is the ratio between the largest and smallest values that a certain quantity can assume. It is often used in the context of Signal (electrical engineering), signals, like sound and light. It is measured ...
and
color gamut
In color reproduction, including computer graphics and photography, the gamut, or color gamut , is a certain ''complete subset'' of colors. The most common usage refers to the subset of colors which can be accurately represented in a given ci ...
s, along with the introduction of high-dynamic-range
digital intermediate
Digital intermediate (typically abbreviated DI) is a motion picture finishing process which classically involves digitizing a motion picture and manipulating the color and other image characteristics.
Definition and overview
A digital intermediat ...
data formats with improved
color depth, has caused digital video technology to converge with film technology. the usage of
digital cameras
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...
in
Hollywood has surpassed use of film cameras.
Characteristics of video streams
Number of frames per second
''
Frame rate'', the number of still pictures per unit of time of video, ranges from six or eight frames per second (''frame/s'') for old mechanical cameras to 120 or more frames per second for new professional cameras.
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
standards (Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.) and
SECAM
SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...
(France, Russia, parts of Africa etc.) specify 25 frame/s, while
NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
standards (USA, Canada, Japan, etc.) specify 29.97 frame/s. Film is shot at the slower frame rate of 24 frames per second, which slightly complicates the process of transferring a cinematic motion picture to video. The minimum frame rate to achieve a comfortable illusion of a
moving image
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
is about sixteen frames per second.
Interlaced vs progressive
Video can be
interlaced or
progressive. In progressive scan systems, each refresh period updates all scan lines in each frame in sequence. When displaying a natively progressive broadcast or recorded signal, the result is optimum spatial resolution of both the stationary and moving parts of the image. Interlacing was invented as a way to reduce flicker in early
mechanical and
CRT video displays without increasing the number of complete
frames per second
A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent.
Frame and FRAME may also refer to:
Physical objects
In building construction
*Framing (con ...
. Interlacing retains detail while requiring lower
bandwidth
Bandwidth commonly refers to:
* Bandwidth (signal processing) or ''analog bandwidth'', ''frequency bandwidth'', or ''radio bandwidth'', a measure of the width of a frequency range
* Bandwidth (computing), the rate of data transfer, bit rate or thr ...
compared to progressive scanning.
In interlaced video, the horizontal
scan line
A scan line (also scanline) is one line, or row, in a raster scanning pattern, such as a line of video on a cathode ray tube (CRT) display of a television set or computer monitor.
On CRT screens the horizontal scan lines are visually discernible ...
s of each complete frame are treated as if numbered consecutively, and captured as two ''fields'': an ''odd field'' (upper field) consisting of the odd-numbered lines and an ''even field'' (lower field) consisting of the even-numbered lines. Analog display devices reproduce each frame, effectively doubling the frame rate as far as perceptible overall flicker is concerned. When the image capture device acquires the fields one at a time, rather than dividing up a complete frame after it is captured, the frame rate for motion is effectively doubled as well, resulting in smoother, more lifelike reproduction of rapidly moving parts of the image when viewed on an interlaced CRT display.
NTSC, PAL and SECAM are interlaced formats. Abbreviated video resolution specifications often include an ''i'' to indicate interlacing. For example, PAL video format is often described as ''576i50'', where ''576'' indicates the total number of horizontal scan lines, ''i'' indicates interlacing, and ''50'' indicates 50 fields (half-frames) per second.
When displaying a natively interlaced signal on a progressive scan device, overall spatial resolution is degraded by simple
line doubling
A line doubler is a device or algorithm used to deinterlace video signals prior to display on a progressive scan display.
The main function of a deinterlacer is to take an interlaced video frame which consists of 60 two-field interlaced fields ...
—artifacts such as flickering or "comb" effects in moving parts of the image which appear unless special signal processing eliminates them.
A procedure known as
deinterlacing
Deinterlacing is the process of converting interlaced video into a non-interlaced or Progressive scan, progressive form. Interlaced video signals are commonly found in analog television, digital television (HDTV) when in the 1080i format, some D ...
can optimize the display of an interlaced video signal from an analog, DVD or satellite source on a progressive scan device such as an
LCD television
Liquid-crystal-display televisions (LCD TVs) are television sets that use liquid-crystal displays to produce images. They are, by far, the most widely produced and sold television display type. LCD TVs are thin and light, but have some disadvantag ...
, digital
video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. Video projectors use a very bright ultra-high-performance lamp (a special mercury arc lamp), X ...
or plasma panel. Deinterlacing cannot, however, produce
video quality that is equivalent to true progressive scan source material.
Aspect ratio
Aspect ratio describes the proportional relationship between the width and height of video screens and video picture elements. All popular video formats are
rectangular
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is a quadrilateral with four right angles. It can also be defined as: an equiangular quadrilateral, since equiangular means that all of its angles are equal (360°/4 = 90°); or a parallelogram containin ...
, and so can be described by a ratio between width and height. The ratio width to height for a traditional television screen is 4:3, or about 1.33:1. High definition televisions use an aspect ratio of 16:9, or about 1.78:1. The aspect ratio of a full 35 mm film frame with soundtrack (also known as the
Academy ratio) is 1.375:1.
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...
s on computer monitors are usually square, but pixels used in
digital video often have non-square aspect ratios, such as those used in the PAL and NTSC variants of the
CCIR 601
ITU-R Recommendation BT.601, more commonly known by the abbreviations Rec. 601 or BT.601 (or its former name CCIR 601) is a standard originally issued in 1982 by the Comité consultatif international pour la radio, CCIR (an organization, ...
digital video standard, and the corresponding anamorphic widescreen formats. The
720 by 480 pixel raster uses thin pixels on a 4:3 aspect ratio display and fat pixels on a 16:9 display.
The popularity of viewing video on mobile phones has led to the growth of
vertical video. Mary Meeker, a partner at Silicon Valley venture capital firm
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneur ...
, highlighted the growth of vertical video viewing in her 2015 Internet Trends Report growing from 5% of video viewing in 2010 to 29% in 2015. Vertical video ads like
Snapchat’s are watched in their entirety nine times more frequently than landscape video ads.
Color model and depth
The
color model
A color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components. When this model is associated with a precise description of how the compon ...
the video color representation and maps encoded color values to visible colors reproduced by the system. There are several such representations in common use: typically
YIQ is used in NTSC television,
YUV
YUV is a color model typically used as part of a color image pipeline. It encodes a color image or video taking human perception into account, allowing reduced bandwidth for chrominance components, compared to a "direct" RGB-representation. H ...
is used in PAL television,
YDbDr
YDbDr, sometimes written YDBDR, is the colour space used in the SECAM analog terrestrial colour television broadcasting standard (adopted in France and some countries of the former Eastern Bloc) and PAL-N (adopted in Argentina, Paraguay and Urugu ...
is used by SECAM television and
YCbCr
YCbCr, Y′CbCr, or Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr, also written as YCBCR or Y′CBCR, is a family of color spaces used as a part of the color image pipeline in video and digital photography systems. Y′ is the luma component and CB and CR are the blue-diff ...
is used for digital video.
The number of distinct colors a pixel can represent depends on
color depth expressed in the number of bits per pixel. A common way to reduce the amount of data required in digital video is by
chroma subsampling
Chroma subsampling is the practice of encoding images by implementing less resolution for chroma information than for luma information, taking advantage of the human visual system's lower acuity for color differences than for luminance.
It is u ...
(e.g., 4:4:4, 4:2:2, etc.). Because the human eye is less sensitive to details in color than brightness, the luminance data for all pixels is maintained, while the chrominance data is averaged for a number of pixels in a block and that same value is used for all of them. For example, this results in a 50% reduction in chrominance data using 2-pixel blocks (4:2:2) or 75% using 4-pixel blocks (4:2:0). This process does not reduce the number of possible color values that can be displayed, but it reduces the number of distinct points at which the color changes.
Video quality
Video quality can be measured with formal metrics like
Peak signal-to-noise ratio
Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) is an engineering term for the ratio between the maximum possible power of a signal and the power of corrupting noise that affects the fidelity of its representation. Because many signals have a very wide dynamic ...
(PSNR) or through
subjective video quality
Subjective video quality is video quality as experienced by humans. It is concerned with how video is perceived by a viewer (also called "observer" or "subject") and designates their opinion on a particular video sequence. It is related to the fiel ...
assessment using expert observation. Many subjective video quality methods are described in the
ITU-T
The ITU Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). It is responsible for coordinating standards for telecommunications and Information Comm ...
recommendation
BT.500. One of the standardized methods is the ''Double Stimulus Impairment Scale'' (DSIS). In DSIS, each expert views an ''unimpaired'' reference video followed by an ''impaired'' version of the same video. The expert then rates the ''impaired'' video using a scale ranging from "impairments are imperceptible" to "impairments are very annoying".
Video compression method (digital only)
Uncompressed video
Uncompressed video is digital video that either has never been compressed or was generated by decompressing previously compressed digital video. It is commonly used by video cameras, video monitors, video recording devices (including general-purp ...
delivers maximum quality, but at a very high
data rate. A variety of methods are used to compress video streams, with the most effective ones using a
group of pictures
In video coding, a group of pictures, or GOP structure, specifies the order in which intra- and inter-frames are arranged. The GOP is a collection of successive pictures within a coded video stream. Each coded video stream consists of successive ...
(GOP) to reduce spatial and temporal
redundancy. Broadly speaking, spatial redundancy is reduced by registering differences between parts of a single frame; this task is known as ''
intraframe
Intra-frame coding is a data compression technique used within a video frame, enabling smaller file sizes and lower bitrates, with little or no loss in quality. Since neighboring pixels within an image are often very similar, rather than storing ...
compression'' and is closely related to
image compression. Likewise, temporal redundancy can be reduced by registering differences between frames; this task is known as ''
interframe compression'', including
motion compensation
Motion compensation in computing, is an algorithmic technique used to predict a frame in a video, given the previous and/or future frames by accounting for motion of the camera and/or objects in the video. It is employed in the encoding of video d ...
and other techniques. The most common modern compression standards are
MPEG-2, used for
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
,
Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...
and
satellite television
Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...
, and
MPEG-4, used for
AVCHD
AVCHD (Advanced Video Coding High Definition) is a file-based format for the digital recording and playback of high-definition video. It is H.264 and Dolby AC-3 packaged into the MPEG transport stream, with a set of constraints designed around t ...
, Mobile phones (3GP) and Internet.
Stereoscopic
Stereoscopic video for
3d film and other applications can be displayed using several different methods:
* Two channels: a right channel for the right eye and a left channel for the left eye. Both channels may be viewed simultaneously by using
light-polarizing filters 90 degrees off-axis from each other on two video projectors. These separately polarized channels are viewed wearing eyeglasses with matching polarization filters.
*
Anaglyph 3D
Anaglyph 3D is the stereoscopic 3D effect achieved by means of encoding each eye's image using filters of different (usually chromatically opposite) colors, typically red and cyan. Anaglyph 3D images contain two differently filtered colored ...
where one channel is overlaid with two color-coded layers. This left and right layer technique is occasionally used for network broadcast or recent anaglyph releases of 3D movies on DVD. Simple red/cyan plastic glasses provide the means to view the images discretely to form a stereoscopic view of the content.
* One channel with alternating left and right frames for the corresponding eye, using
LCD shutter glasses
An active shutter 3D system (a.k.a. alternate frame sequencing, alternate image, AI, alternating field, field sequential or eclipse method) is a technique of displaying stereoscopic 3D images. It works by only presenting the image intended for t ...
that synchronize to the video to alternately block the image to each eye, so the appropriate eye sees the correct frame. This method is most common in computer
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
applications such as in a
Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, but reduces effective video framerate by a factor of two.
Formats
Different layers of video transmission and storage each provide their own set of formats to choose from.
For transmission, there is a physical connector and signal protocol (see
List of video connectors
This is a list of physical RF and video connectors and related video signal standards.
By signal standard
Physical connectors
D-subminiature family
DVI-related
DIN/Mini-DIN
Others
See also
*Computer display standard
Computer dis ...
). A given physical link can carry certain
display standards that specify a particular refresh rate,
display resolution
The display resolution or display modes of a digital television, computer monitor or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution ...
, and
color space
A color space is a specific organization of colors. In combination with color profiling supported by various physical devices, it supports reproducible representations of colorwhether such representation entails an analog or a digital represen ...
.
Many analog and digital
recording format
A recording format is a format for encoding data for storage on a storage medium. The format can be container information such as sectors on a disk, or user/audience information (content) such as analog stereo audio. Multiple levels of encodi ...
s are in use, and digital
video clips can also be stored on a
computer file system as files, which have their own formats. In addition to the physical format used by the
data storage device or transmission medium, the stream of ones and zeros that is sent must be in a particular digital
video coding format
A video coding format (or sometimes video compression format) is a content representation format for storage or transmission of digital video content (such as in a data file or bitstream). It typically uses a standardized video compression algori ...
, of which a number are available.
Analog video
Analog video is a video signal represented by one or more
analog signals. Analog color video signals include
luminance, brightness (Y) and
chrominance
Chrominance (''chroma'' or ''C'' for short) is the signal used in video systems to convey the color information of the picture (see YUV color model), separately from the accompanying luma signal (or Y' for short). Chrominance is usually represente ...
(C). When combined into one channel, as is the case, among others with
NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
,
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
and
SECAM
SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...
it is called
composite video. Analog video may be carried in separate channels, as in two channel
S-Video
S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video ) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate chan ...
(YC) and multi-channel
component video
Component video is an analog video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video (CAV) information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Compo ...
formats.
Analog video is used in both consumer and professional
television production
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
applications.
Composite-video-cable.jpg, Composite video
(single channel RCA)
Close-up_of_S-video_female_connector.jpg, S-Video
S-Video (also known as separate video, Y/C, and erroneously Super-Video ) is an analog video signal format that carries standard-definition video, typically at 525 lines or 625 lines. It encodes video luma and chrominance on two separate chan ...
(2-channel YC)
Component-cables.jpg, Component video
Component video is an analog video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video (CAV) information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals. Compo ...
(3-channel YPbPr
YPbPr or Y'PbPr, also written as , is a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables. YPBPR is gamma corrected YCBCR color space (it is not analog YUV that was used for analog TV, though component ...
)
SCART_20050724_002.jpg, SCART
SCART (also known as or , especially in France, 21-pin EuroSCART in marketing by Sharp in Asia, Euroconector in Spain, EuroAV or EXT, or EIA Multiport in the United States, as an EIA interface) is a French-originated standard and associated 2 ...
Vga-cable.jpg, VGA
3.5mm.jpg, TRRS
D4_video_connector.jpg, D-Terminal
Digital video
Digital video signal formats have been adopted, including
serial digital interface (SDI),
Digital Visual Interface
Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video display interface developed by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). The digital interface is used to connect a video source, such as a video display controller, to a display device, such as a com ...
(DVI),
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controller ...
(HDMI) and
DisplayPort
DisplayPort (DP) is a digital display interface developed by a consortium of PC and chip manufacturers and standardized by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). It is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device su ...
Interface.
BNC_connector_%28male%29.jpg, Serial digital interface (SDI)
Dvi-cable.jpg, Digital Visual Interface
Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video display interface developed by the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). The digital interface is used to connect a video source, such as a video display controller, to a display device, such as a com ...
(DVI)
HDMI-Connector.jpg, HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from an HDMI-compliant source device, such as a display controlle ...
Displayport-cable.jpg, DisplayPort
DisplayPort (DP) is a digital display interface developed by a consortium of PC and chip manufacturers and standardized by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). It is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device su ...
Transport medium
Video can be transmitted or transported in a variety of ways including wireless
terrestrial television
Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...
as an analog or digital signal, coaxial cable in a closed-circuit system as an analog signal. Broadcast or studio cameras use a single or dual coaxial cable system using
serial digital interface (SDI). See
List of video connectors
This is a list of physical RF and video connectors and related video signal standards.
By signal standard
Physical connectors
D-subminiature family
DVI-related
DIN/Mini-DIN
Others
See also
*Computer display standard
Computer dis ...
for information about physical connectors and related signal standards.
Video may be transported over networks and other shared digital communications links using, for instance,
MPEG transport stream,
SMPTE 2022
SMPTE 2022 is a standard from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that describes how to send digital video over an IP network. Video formats supported include MPEG-2 and serial digital interface The standard was introduc ...
and
SMPTE 2110
SMPTE 2110 is a suite of standards from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that describes how to send digital media over an IP network.
SMPTE 2110 is intended to be used within broadcast production and distribution fac ...
.
Display standards
Digital television
Digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative adva ...
broadcasts use the
MPEG-2 and other
video coding format
A video coding format (or sometimes video compression format) is a content representation format for storage or transmission of digital video content (such as in a data file or bitstream). It typically uses a standardized video compression algori ...
s and include:
*
ATSC – United States,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
*
Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) –
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
*
ISDB –
Japan
**
ISDB-Tb
ISDB-T International, or SBTVD, short for Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital ( en, Brazilian Digital Television System), is a technical standard for digital television broadcast used in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Botswana, Chile, Honduras, Ve ...
– uses the MPEG-4 video coding format –
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
*
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) –
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
Analog television
Analog television broadcast standards include:
* Field-sequential color system (FCS) – US, Russia; obsolete
*
Multiplexed Analogue Components
Multiplexed Analogue Components (MAC) was an analog television standard where luminance and chrominance components were transmitted separately. This was an evolution from older color TV systems (such as PAL or SECAM) where there was interferen ...
(MAC) – Europe; obsolete
*
Multiple sub-Nyquist sampling encoding (MUSE) – Japan
*
NTSC
The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
–
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Japan
**
EDTV-II "Clear-Vision" - NTSC extension, Japan
*
PAL
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
–
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
,
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
**
PAL-M
PAL-M is the analogue TV system used in Brazil since 19 February 1972. At that time, Brazil was the first South American country to broadcast in colour. Colour TV broadcast began on 19 February 1972, when the TV networks Globo and Bandeirantes t ...
– PAL variation,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
**
PAL-N
Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
– PAL variation,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
,
Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
and
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
**
PALplus
PALplus (or ''PAL+'') is an analogue television broadcasting system aimed to improve and enhance the PAL format by allowing 16:9 (or 1.77:1) aspect ratio broadcasts, while remaining compatible with existing television receivers, defined by Internat ...
– PAL extension,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
*
RS-343 (military)
*
SECAM
SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...
–
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, former
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
,
Central Africa
Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo ...
*
CCIR System A
*
CCIR System B
*
CCIR System G
*
CCIR System H
*
CCIR System I
CCIR System I is an analogue broadcast television system. It was first used in the Republic of Ireland starting in 1962 as the 625-line broadcasting standard to be used on VHF Band I and Band III, sharing Band III with 405-line System A signals ...
*
CCIR System M
An analog video format consists of more information than the visible content of the frame. Preceding and following the image are lines and pixels containing metadata and synchronization information. This surrounding margin is known as a ''blanking interval'' or ''blanking region''; the horizontal and vertical
front porch and back porch are the building blocks of the blanking interval.
Computer displays
Computer display standard
Computer display standards are a combination of aspect ratio, display size, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. They are associated with specific expansion cards, video connectors and monitors.
History
Various computer displa ...
s specify a combination of aspect ratio, display size, display resolution, color depth, and refresh rate. A
list of common resolutions
This article lists computer monitor screen resolutions that are defined by standards or in common use. Most of them use certain preferred numbers.
Computer graphics
; Pixel aspect ratio (PAR): The horizontal to vertical ratio of each pixel.
; ...
is available.
Recording
Early television was almost exclusively a live medium with some programs recorded to film for distribution of historical purposes using
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 194 ...
. The analog
video tape recorder
A video tape recorder (VTR) is a tape recorder designed to record and playback video and audio material from magnetic tape. The early VTRs were open-reel devices that record on individual reels of 2-inch-wide (5.08 cm) tape. They were u ...
was commercially introduced in 1951. The following list is in rough chronological order. All formats listed were sold to and used by broadcasters, video producers or consumers; or were important historically.
*
2" Quadruplex videotape (
Ampex
Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...
1956)
*
VERA (
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
experimental format ca. 1958)
*
) (1994)
Digital video tape recorders offered improved quality compared to analog recorders.
Optical storage mediums offered an alternative, especially in consumer applications, to bulky tape formats.
. In the context of video compression, ''