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| Adobe | A software manufacturer based in San Jose, California, and traded on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol ADBE. |
| AGC | Automatic Gain Control. A circuit which automatically adjusts the input gain of a device, in order to provide a safe and consistent signal level. can be handy features, but professional applications often require manual gain control for optimum results. |
| Amperage | The amount of electrical current transferred from one component to another. |
| Amplifier | A device which increases signal amplitude. See also: Differential Amplification |
| Amplify | To increase amplitude. |
| Amplitude | The strength or power of a wave signal. The "height" of a wave when viewed as a standard x vs. y graph. |
| Anamorphic Lens | A special type of wide-angle lens which stretches the width of the image but not the height, creating a widescreen aspect ratio. |
| Analogue | Information stored or transmitted as a continuously variable signal |
| Antenna | A device which radiates and/or receives electromagnetic waves. |
| Aperture | Literally means "opening". The camera iris; the opening which lets light through the lens. |
| Aspect Ratio | The ratio of width to height of an image. Can be expressed as a number, or a relationship between two numbers. For example, the standard television screen ratio is 4:3 (4 units wide by 3 units high) or 1.33 (the width is 1.33 times the height). The new "wide screen" television ratio is 16:9 (1.78), and many new video cameras have the option to record using this format. Theatrical film aspect ratios vary, but the most common is 18.5:10 (1.85). More Info: Aspect Ratios |
| Audio | Sound. Specifically, the range of frequencies which are perceptible by the human ear. |
| Audio Dub | The process of adding audio to a video recording without disturbing the pictures. The original audio may be replaced, or kept and combined with the new audio. |
| Auxiliary Channel | On audio mixers, a bus which has an independent feed from each individual channel. Each channel has a pot to adjust the level being sent to the auxiliary master output, which in turn has a pot to adjust the overall level at the output bus. The auxiliary channel may be a simple output (to feed a device such as a tape machine or monitor), or it may be a "loop". An auxiliary loop sends a signal from the auxiliary output bus to a signal processing device such as a reverb generator, then brings the output of that device into an "auxiliary return" bus (thus creating a loop from the desk to the device, back to the desk). This return bus will have a level control pot, which is used to mix the incoming signal into the mixer's master output bus. |
| AVI: "Audio Video Interleaved | A common digital video format, in which the audio is interleaved as "packets", into the video frames. Used for switcher. |
| Backlight: | A light which is positioned behind the subject. Its primary purpose is to make the subject stand out from the background by highlighting the subject's outline. More info: 3-point lighting |
| Balanced Audio | Two audio channels canceling out interference. |
| Bandwidth | A range of frequencies. |
| Barn Doors: | Metal projections attached to the front of a light, which can be positioned in various ways to control the dispersal of the light. |
| Batch Capture: | The process of capturing multiple video clips automatically. A batch command is set up from the capture software which includes in and out points for each clip. |
| Bindary | Codes based on 0s and 1s |
| Bisquit | Slang term for tripod plate |
| Broadband: | A general term to describe an internet connection faster than 56K |
| Burn: | The process of recording information to an optical disk (CD or DVD). |
| Bucket | A solid colored horizontal bar across the bottom of a color bar test pattern |
