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Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying and broadcasting of moving visual images.



Video recorders were sold for $50,000 in 1956, and videotapes cost $300 per one-hour reel.[1] However, prices gradually dropped over the years; in 1971, Sony began selling videocassette recorder (VCR) decks and tapes to the public.[2] After the invention of the DVD in 1997 and Blu-ray Disc in 2006, sales of videotape and recording equipment plummeted.


Characteristics of video streams[edit]

Number of frames per second[edit]

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 standards (Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.) and SECAM (France, Russia, parts of Africa etc.) specify 25 frame/s, while NTSC standards (USA, Canada, Japan, etc.) specify 29.97 frames. 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 is about sixteen frames per second.

Interlaced vs progressive[edit]

Video can be interlaced or progressive. 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, which would have sacrificed image detail to remain within the limitations of a narrow bandwidth. The horizontal scan lines 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 in the same way, 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 (although with halved detail) of rapidly moving parts of the image when viewed on an interlaced CRT display, but the display of such a signal on a progressive scan device is problematic.

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 specified as 576i50, where 576 indicates the total number of horizontal scan lines, i indicates interlacing, and 50 indicates 50 fields (half-frames) per second.

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. When displaying a natively interlaced signal, however, overall spatial resolution is degraded by simple line doubling—artifacts such as flickering or "comb" effects in moving parts of the image appear unless special signal processing eliminates them. A procedure known as deinterlacing 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, digital video projector or plasma panel. Deinterlacing cannot, however, produce video quality that is equivalent to true progressive scan source material.

Aspect ratio[edit]

Comparison of common cinematography and traditional television (green) aspect ratios

Aspect ratio describes the dimensions of video screens and video picture elements. All popular video formats are rectilinear, and so can be described by a ratio between width and height. The screen aspect ratio of 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.

Ratios where height is taller than width are uncommon in general everyday use, but are used in computer systems where some applications are better suited for a vertical layout. The most common tall aspect ratio of 3:4 is referred to as portrait mode and is created by physically rotating the display device 90 degrees from the normal position. Other tall aspect ratios such as 9:16 are technically possible but rarely used. (For a detailed discussion of this topic, see page orientation.)

Pixels 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 digital video standard, and the corresponding anamorphic widescreen formats. Therefore, a 720 by 480 pixel NTSC DV image displayes with the 4:3 aspect ratio (the traditional television standard) if the pixels are thin, and displays at the 16:9 aspect ratio (the anamorphic widescreen format) if the pixels are fat.

Color space and bits per pixel[edit]

Example of U-V color plane, Y value=0.5

Color model name describes the video color representation. YIQ was used in NTSC television. It corresponds closely to the YUV scheme used in NTSC and PAL television and the YDbDr scheme used by SECAM television.

The number of distinct colors a pixel can represent depends on the number of bits per pixel (bpp). A common way to reduce the amount of data required in digital video is by chroma subsampling (e.g., 4:4:4, 4:2:2, 4:2:0/4:1:1). 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, it reduces the number of distinct points at which the color changes.

Video quality[edit]

Video quality can be measured with formal metrics like PSNR or with subjective video quality using expert observation.

The subjective video quality of a video processing system is evaluated as follows:

  • Choose the video sequences (the SRC) to use for testing.
  • Choose the settings of the system to evaluate (the HRC).
  • Choose a test method for how to present video sequences to experts and to collect their ratings.
  • Invite a sufficient number of experts, preferably not fewer than 15.
  • Carry out testing.
  • Calculate the average marks for each HRC based on the experts' ratings.

Many subjective video quality methods are described in the ITU-T recommendation BT.500. One of the standardized method 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)[edit]

Main article: Video compression

Uncompressed video delivers maximum quality, but with 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 (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 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 and other techniques. The most common modern standards are MPEG-2, used for DVD, Blu-ray and satellite television, and MPEG-4, used for AVCHD, Mobile phones (3GP) and Internet.


Stereoscopic video can be created 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.
  • One channel with two overlaid 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 that read the frame sync from the VGA Display Data Channel 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 applications such as in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment, but reduces effective video framerate to one-half of normal (for example, from 120 Hz to 60 Hz).

Blu-ray Discs greatly improve the sharpness and detail of the two-color 3D effect in color-coded stereo programs. See articles Stereoscopy and 3-D film.

Video formats[edit]

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 ("video connection standard" below). A given physical link can carry certain "display standards" that specify a particular refresh rate, display resolution, and color space.

Many analog and digital recording formats 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 compression format, of which a number are available.

Analog video[edit]

Analog video is a video signal transferred by an analog signal. An analog color video signal contains luminance, brightness (Y) and chrominance (C) of an analog television image. When combined into one channel, it is called composite video as is the case, among others with NTSC, PAL and SECAM.

Analog video may be carried in separate channels, as in two channel S-Video (YC) and multi-channel component video formats.

Analog video is used in both consumer and professional television production applications. However, digital video signal formats with higher quality have been adopted, including serial digital interface (SDI), Digital Visual Interface (DVI), High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) and DisplayPort Interface.

Transport medium[edit]


Video connectors, cables, and signal standards[edit]

Video display standards[edit]

Further information: Display technology

Digital television[edit]

Further information: Broadcast television systems

New formats for digital television broadcasts use the MPEG-2 video codec and include:

Analog television[edit]

Further information: Broadcast television systems

Analog television broadcast standards include:

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 synchronization information or a time delay. 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[edit]

See Computer display standard for a list of standards used for computer monitors and comparison with those used for television.

Recording formats before video tape[edit]

Analog tape formats[edit]

(See List of video recording formats.)

Digital tape formats[edit]

Optical disc storage formats[edit]


Digital encoding formats[edit]


See also[edit]


Video format

Video usage

Video screen recording


  1. ^ Elen, Richard. "TV Technology 10. Roll VTR". 
  2. ^ Sony VO-1600. The worlds first VCR. 1971. "Vintage Umatic VCR". Rewind Museum. Retrieved 2014 February 2014. 
  3. ^ "Serial digital interface Design, SDI Video". Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2014. 

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