RTVF 330 Quiz 02 Fall 2026 Study Guide

AGC

Automatic gain control; picks a recording level automatically, can boost noise during pauses

Balanced cable

Shielded paired-wire cable (XLR or TRS) that resists hum.

Backlight

Light from behind/above the subject that separates it from the background.

BWF

Broadcast Wave Format; .wav with metadata including timecode.

Clipping

Distortion when a digital signal exceeds 0 dBFS.

Color temperature

Color of light in kelvins (3200 K tungsten, 5600 K daylight).

CRI / TLCI

Scores (0–100) of a light's color accuracy; it is video-specific.

CTO / CTB

Orange / blue gels that lower / raise color temperature

Fill light

Soft light that fills the key's shadows

Fill light

Soft light that fills the key's shadows

Gain structure

Setting level correctly through the whole audio chain

Hard / soft light

Parallel rays with crisp shadows / diffuse rays with gentle shadows

HMI

Daylight-balanced, efficient light that can flicker without proper frame rate/shutter

Incident / reflective meter

Measures light falling on the subject / reflecting off it.

Inverse square law

Twice as far from a light = one-quarter the intensity

Jam sync

Transferring timecode to another device, which then runs on its own

Key light

The brightest light; casts the primary shadows.

Lighting contrast ratio

Brightness of the bright side vs. shadow side of a face (2:1 = one stop).

Low-key / high-key

High-contrast, dark / low-contrast, bright lighting.

Nyquist theorem

sample rate must be at least twice the highest frequency captured

Phantom power

12–48 V (usually +48V) sent over XLR to condenser mics

Practical

A household lamp that is part of the set

Prerecord buffer

Captures seconds of audio before record is pressed.

Room tone

About 20 seconds of a location's silence, used to fill gaps

Slate / marker

Visible and audible sync reference for picture and sound

Three-point lighting

Key, fill, and backlight.

White balance

Camera setting that defines which light is rendered as white