Waveform monitor

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color bars
.

A waveform monitor is a special type of

television production applications. It is typically used to measure and display the level, or voltage, of a video signal with respect to time
.

The level of a video signal usually corresponds to the brightness, or

luminance, of the part of the image being drawn onto a regular video screen at the same point in time. A waveform monitor can be used to display the overall brightness of a television picture, or it can zoom in to show one or two individual lines of the video signal. It can also be used to visualize and observe special signals in the vertical blanking interval of a video signal, as well as the colorburst
between each line of video.

Waveform monitors are used for the following purposes:

  • To assist with the calibration of professional video cameras, and to "line up" multiple-camera setups being used at the same location in order to ensure that the same scene shot under the same conditions will produce the same results.
  • As a tool to assist in telecine (film-to-tape transfer), color correction, and other video production activities
  • To monitor video signals to make sure that neither the
    color gamut
    , nor the analog transmission limits, are violated.
  • To diagnose and troubleshoot a television studio, or the equipment located therein.
  • To assist with installation of equipment into a television facility, or with the commissioning or certification of a facility.
  • In manufacturing test and research and development applications.
  • For setting camera exposure in the case of video and digital cinema cameras.

A waveform monitor is often used in conjunction with a vectorscope. Originally, these were separate devices; however modern waveform monitors include vectorscope functionality as a separate mode. (The combined device is simply called a "waveform monitor").

Originally, waveform monitors were entirely analog devices; the incoming (analog) video signal was filtered and amplified, and the resulting voltage was used to drive the vertical axis of a

genlocked
, or synchronized to the same timing source).

With the advent of

closed captions and the v-chip
rating systems.

Modern waveform monitors and other oscilloscopes have largely abandoned old-style CRT technology as well. All new waveform monitors are based on a rasterizer, a piece of graphics hardware that duplicates the behavior of a CRT vector display, generating a

VGA
display.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waveform monitors.
  • "MultiScope Lite". Rumble House Media Group (RHMG). Software waveform monitor.
  • "4kScope". Drastic Technologies Ltd. Software waveform monitor with free training mode.


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