Video Terms: Camcorder Glossary

aperture/exposure A setting that manipulates the amount of light falling onto the camera's CCD(s). This control adjusts the size of the camcorder's iris.

CCD (charge coupled device) Light-sensitive integrated circuit in video cameras that converts images into electrical signals. Sometimes referred to as a "chip."

component video Signal transmission system, resembling S-video concept, employed with professional videotape formats. Separates one luminance and two chrominance channels to avoid quality loss from NTSC or PAL encoding.

composite video Single video signal combining luminance and chrominance signals through an encoding process, including RGB (red, green, blue) elements as well as sync information.

edit control protocols Types of signals designed to communicate between editing components, including computers, tape decks and camcorders. Allows components to transmit instructions for various operations such as play, stop, fast forward, rewind, record, pause, etc.

f-stop Numbers corresponding to variable size of a camera's iris opening, and thus the amount of light passing through the lens. The higher the number, the smaller the iris diameter, which means less light is able to enter the camcorder.

flying erase head Accessory video head mounted on spinning head drum, incorporated in many camcorders and VCRs to eliminate glitches and rainbow noise between scenes recorded or edited. By design, all 8mm-family and DV-family equipment has flying erase heads.

focal length Distance from a camcorder's lens to a focused image with the lens focused on infinity. Short focal lengths offer a broad field of view (wide-angle lens); long focal lengths offer a narrow field of view (telephoto lens). Zoom lenses have a variable range of focal leng…