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A B C D E F G H I J K L [M] N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

M

Macro.
A single command which can accomplish the same things as multiple commands.

Macro Lens.
A lens that can be focused on a very close (sometimes touching) object.

Macrovision.
A company and a technology, the technology is used widely on VCRs to make it impossible to copy VHS tapes.

Marker.
A pointer on the timeline to show what part of it is playing. As the show plays, the marker moves. It can be quickly positioned to play a short segment of a show, perhaps previewing a simple transition.

Masking (Projection Screen).
Masking on a projection screen used in a front projection video display refers to placing objects of some sort (usually cloth) over parts of the screen which are not needed depending on the aspect ratio of the program material being displayed.

Master Audio Control.
Mixer knob that adjusts, up or down in volume, all mixer inputs at once. Useful for fading out all mikes and sounds together.

Master Disc.
A specially made original videodisc from which distribution copies are reproduced.

Master Fade.
A fade lever that always fades the picture out to black or a chosen colour.

Master Recorder.
In the tape copying process, the VCR that plays the tape that the slaves copy. Also called the VCP, videocassette player.

Master Tape.
The original copy of the finished version of a tape. Could be original footage of a "live" show, or could be a program edited together from other tapes. The master is the best-quality copy of this program in existence.

Mastering Plant.
A company that converts a video tape or other media into a master videodisc and makes copies of it.

Match Frame Edit.
An edit in which a scene is edited onto itself so exactly that there is no apparent interruption in the scene. Matched shots Similar-looking views of a subject from two cameras at the same time.

Material.
Data that creates a surface with colour and design, like wallpaper, wood grain, or marble, that can be wrapped around a wireframe to make it solid.

Material Editor.
Part of a 3-D graphics package that makes the surfaces that cover the wireframes made in modler.

Matrix Surround Sound.
Method of encoding more than two channels of audio into a pair of analog audio channels.

Matrix Switcher.
A device which uses an array of electronic switches to route a number of audio/video signals to one or more outputs in almost any combination. Production quality matrix switchers perform vertical interval switching for interference free switching. Matrix switchers may be operated with RS-232 or RS-422 controls, enhancing flexibility.

Matte.
A special kind of key effect where light parts of a picture are removed and replaced with a chosen colour. Matte box Container that holds lens filters in slots and attaches to the front of the camera lens.

Matte Screen.
A nonglossy smooth white projection screen. Like a white sheet, it reflects light equally in all directions.

MD (Minidisc).
Small digital disc format that uses perceptual coding techniques to store over an hour of CD quality sound on a two and a half inch disc contained in a square, plastic case. Measured spacing Typography where the space between letters is always the same. Manual typewriters use measured spacing.

Megahertz.
One million cycles (vibrations) per second, represented by 1 MHz, which is near the frequency of video signals

Metronome.
A device or software function that produces a discrete pulse. Used to synchronize music with a specific tempo.

Microlenses.
Tiny lenses embossed onto the CCD chip to concentrate light onto the light sensing surfaces and increase the chip's sensitivity to light.

Microphone.
Device used to create an electrical signal that follows and corresponds to sound waves striking it.

Microphone Preamplifier.
A microphone is a device which converts sound waves to electrical impulses. Microphones typically generate very low signal levels requiring low noise, high fidelity, pre-amplification to boost the output signal to a level compatible with audio amplifier circuitry. Good microphone preamplifiers provide precise matching of microphone impedance and low noise electronic components.

Microphone Impedance.
In order to obtain the highest quality output signal from a microphone, a preamplifier input should provide a load (impedance) which exactly matches a microphone's output impedance. Microphone output impedances vary from 150 ohms to several megohms.

Microwave.
Extremely high-frequency radio waves, about 1 billion vibrations per second (1GHz, one gigahertz), used to transmit video, audio, RF, telephone, and computer data over long distances.

Microwave Receiver.
Circuit which converts microwaves to video and audio. It works much like a TV tuner or demodulator, except at higher frequencies.

Microwave Relay.
Device that receives microwaves, boosts them, and beams them out in another direction.

MIDI or .mdi (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).
A standardized way of sending digital instructions between audio devices and musical instruments, telling them for instance, what notes to play.

Midi Clock.
A system real time message that enables the synchronization of different MIDI devices. The standard rate is 24 divisions per beat.

Midi Interface.
A device that adds a MIDI In, Out and sometimes Thru port to a desktop computer.

Midi Merge.
Used to combine MIDI data from various sources into a single source.

Midi Message.
The different packets of data that form a MIDI transmission.

Midi Patcher.
A device that allows the routing of one or more MIDI signals to various MIDI devices. Typically reconfigurable to allow for different routings of the data.

Midi Ports.
The three connectors that pass MIDI data into (MIDI IN), out of (MIDI OUT) and through (MIDI THRU) a MIDI device.

Midi System Message

There are three types of System Messages.

System Common Messages are commands that prepare MIDI devices to play a piece of music. An example is Song Select.

System Exclusive Messages allow MIDI manufacturers to create customised MIDI messages for their own MIDI devices.

System Realtime Messages synchronise the timing of MIDI devices in performance. Examples of such messages are System Reset and Timing Clock.

Midi Time Code (MTC).
A timing system used as a universal reference for all the devices in a MIDI network. Represents the information contained in a SMPTE signal using MIDI messages.

MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. The standard for attaching non-text files to standard Internet mail messages. Non-text files include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted word-processor documents, sound files, etc.

Mix.
1). One of the ways of going from one TV picture to another (as opposed to wipe and key). Mix is often the name on the button that tells the fader levers to dissolve rather than wipe or key from one picture to the next.
2.) Switch on a two-channel or stereo VCR which allows both channels to be mixed and heard together.

Mixer.
A recording device that allows several different audio sources to be combined. Provides independent control over each signal's loudness and stereo position.

MMDS Multichannel Multipoint Distribution System.
A wireless cable system that delivers data.

MOD (Minimum operating distance).
The closest a lens can focus normally. Mode selector Knob or button on an editing VCR that sets the VCR into the insert edit, assemble edit, video insert, or audio insert mode.

Modem (Modulator-demodulator).
A device that turns digital data into tones that can travel over phone wires, as well as convert tones back to digits to be used by a computer.

Modular.
Created of multiple, independent, easily integrated component pieces that can be added or changed out easily to enhance functionality or add features.

Modulation.
Modulation is a method of placing one signal on top of another by altering the base or carrier signal in a particular way that can be decoded to extract the additional, modulated signal. Modulator RF generator. Combines audio and video into a channel number.

Modulation Wheel.
One of several common continuous controls on a MIDI device. Often used to add a vibrato effect to a sound.

Moiré Patterns.
Video artifact. Form of image distortion found on video displays when cross-hatch or screen-like patterns are almost parallel to the scan lines creating the image or when multiple screen-like patterns are superimposed over one another.

Monitor.
A display that gets its signal directly from a camera or VCR, as opposed to a television, which relies on RF signals, such as those from cable television or broadcast. A monitor uses composite (RCA-style), S-Video (Y/C*) and/or BNC video jacks.

Mono
Consisting of only one channel.

Monochrome.
Consisting of only one colour.

Monophonic.
The ability to play only one note at once. A characteristic of some older synthesizers.

Moore's Law (1965)

Increased density of components on chip
Gordon Moore - cofounder of Intel
Cost of a chip has remained almost unchanged
Higher packing density means shorter electrical paths, giving higher performance
Smaller size gives increased flexibility
Reduced power and cooling requirements
Fewer interconnections increases reliability

Morph.
2-D or 3-D graphic effect that gradually stretches one image into another while simultaneously dissolving from one image to the other. Thus the object changes shape while also changing colour and surface character.

Mosaic
Digital effect where an image (or part of it) is broken into tiny tiles or coloured squares. Mosaic filter An array of tiny coloured lenses that cover a CCD chip used in one-chip colour cameras. The lenses allow different pixels in the chip to sense different colours of light.

Motion JPEG or MJPEG.
JPEG compression performed on each video frame in real time (30 frames per second). Motion JPEG is used in nonlinear editors. MPEG is a digital compression standard for moving video images that allows the images to occupy less memory or disk space. Like the JPEG standard, it includes options for trading off between storage space and image quality.

MP3 Compression
The first stage is based on a perceptual model and joint stereo coding.
The second stage is based on non-linear quantisation and Huffman coding
MP3 can be used to compress audio to different levels
96:1 compression gives telephone quality audio
48:1 compression gives shortwave radio quality
24:1 compression gives AM radio and FM quality
16:1 compression gives near CD quality
12:1 compression gives CD quality

MPEG-1.
Video compression format developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group using perceptual coding and predictive technologies to eliminate data from an audio/video signal and thus encode it into a smaller size.
MPEG-1 - VHS video quality; CD delivery.

MPEG-2.
High-quality audio/video compression format developed by the Motion Picture Experts Group using perceptual coding and predictive technologies similar to MPEG-1 but including a higher bit-rate and more control over the compression and technology.
MPEG-2 - digital broadcast quality; DVD delivery

MPEG-4.
MPEG-4 - low bandwidth; WWW delivery.

Multimedia.
A term that describes the ability to combine audio, video and other information with graphics, control, storage and other features of computer-based systems. Applications include presentation, editing, interactive learning, games and conferencing. Current multimedia systems also use mass storage computer devices such as CD-ROM.

Multi-Scan Monitor.
A monitor (also referred to as multi-sync or multi-frequency) which synchronizes to different video signal sync frequencies, allowing its use with various computer video outputs.

Multitimbral.
Having the ability to produce many different musical timbres (sounds) at once.

Multitrack.

In traditional recording technology, the ability to layer multiple different audio signals at once. In MIDI software, the ability to layer numerous MIDI data streams.

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