Manual

1025
A
Appendix
A Video Formats
This appendix covers the following:
 Characteristics of Video Formats (p. 1025)
 Types of Video Signals and Connectors (p. 1042)
 A Brief History of Film, Television, and Audio Formats (p. 1045)
Characteristics of Video Formats
All video formats achieve the same basic goal: they store black-and-white or color
information as electronic lines that make up a video frame. The number of video frames
recorded per second varies depending on the video standard the format supports (for
example, NTSC formats are recorded at 29.97 fps; PAL formats are recorded at 25 fps).
Video formats can be characterized by the following factors:
 The medium used to store the video information. This is primarily videotape, but can
also be optical disc, solid-state memory, or a hard disk.
 The size (1/2”, 3/4”, 8 mm) of the tape and the shape of the cassette shell.
 The video standard supported, such as NTSC, PAL, ATSC (HDTV 1080i or 720p), and so on.
 The type of electronic signal recorded on tape. In other words, the way luma
(black-and-white) and chroma (color) information are combined and recorded.
 The aspect ratio of the video frame.
 The dimensions of the video frame: the number of pixels per line, and the number of
lines per frame.
 The aspect ratio of the pixels: This is a subtle factor that is explained in more detail below.
 The frame rate: the number of frames recorded per second.