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1. National Association of Broadcasters, a US based organization.  2. Gigantic US trade show and conference named after the above, and attended by facilities from all over the world. 3. In sound recording, a standard pre-emphasis named after the above. The NAB spring convention is probably the single most important display of technology assembled in one location in the broadcast industry.

Click here for link to NAB

Named Cutlist

A collection of cuts assembled into an airable program. The named cut list is what the schedulers actually schedule when scheduling material that can air - as opposed to a Container.

Narrowband Channel

Generally refers to a telephone circuit capable of handling a 3000 hertz analog signal. A narrowband facility, by definition, can handle a bandwidth of 20 kHz or less which falls within the frequency bandwidth of an audio signal.

ND (Neutral Density)

A filter positioned on a lens that reduces the amount of light coming into the lens an equal amount over the entire light spectrum, enabling the camera to operate in difficult lighting conditions and where the frequent changes in lighting are greater than the camera’s aperture is able to correct for.

Near-Term Storage Device

A fast access buffer for digital video. Exists between a long-term storage device and RAM.

Near Video On Demand (NVOD)

A/V signals available by subscription near to the original time of ordering.

 Neg. Cut

                         An edit applied to the original camera negative to produce either the source for a film master or a roll of selected takes usually in the

                         edit order.

 Negative

An image where the tonal values are reversed. Specifically used to refer to film stock which when developed produces a negative image. Such stocks have very low contrast, and are designed for the production of positive prints, but are ideal for telecine to video.  Most camera original film stock is Negative.

Netiquette

Network

An interconnected and coordinated system of geographically dispersed communication devices (terminals) so that signal transmission to or among any of the devices is practical and reliable.

Newsgroup

Network Panels

Newvicon

A very sensitive video-image pick-up tube that uses a cadmium and zinc telluride target. Newvicon-equipped cameras are used in low-light situations, providing good resolution and minimal burn or lag.

NG

NIT (Network Information Table)

Provides information about the physical network of a DVB system.

 Nitrate

Cellulose Nitrate is a highly flammable material once used as a film base. Once it starts to decompose, it is a serious risk. Once it starts burning it cannot be extinguished, because it produces its own oxygen, during combustion to feed the fire. Removing exposure to air may stop the flames, but on re exposure, the film will self ignite.

Node

Noise

A change in the characteristics of an electronic signal (amplitude, frequency, or phase) which is not directly related to the information being communicated. All electronic circuits are subject to noise.

Non-Composite Video Signal

A video signal containing picture and blanking information, but no sync signals. Non-composite video signals are used as input and output signals for some video equipment.

Non-Drop Frame

A type of SMPTE time code that continuously counts a full 30 frames per second. As a result, non-drop-fame time code does not exactly match real time. (See also Drop Frame.)

Non-Drop Frame Timecode

See Timecode.

Non-Linear

Term used to differentiate between A/V material recorded on a RAID or other similar device allowing for instantaneous random (non-linear) access to the data and A/V material recorded on tape (linear) which does not allow instantaneous random access.

Non-Linear Distortion

A video system suffers from non-linear distortions when it cannot transfer all the amplitude properties of a video signal faithfully as the signal level changes.  Typical non-linear distortions include cross talk, varying hue and saturation, and clipping of blacks and whites (resulting in a loss of resolution).

Nonlinear Editing

Nonlinear distinguishes editing operation from the "linear" methods used with tape. Nonlinear refers to not having to edit material in the sequence of the final program and does not involve copying to make edits. It allows any part of the edit to be accessed and modified without having to re-edit or re-copy the material that is already edited and follows that point. Nonlinear editing is also non-destructive-the video is not changed but the list of how that video is played back is modified during editing.

Normalized

Condition of a patch panel when all patch cords are disconnected.

NRSC

National Radio Standards Committee

NSI

Stands for Nielson Station Index.  Nielson is a TV audience rating service that determines how many people/households are watching the programs aired by the broadcasters. It is closely related to the DMA. Designated Market Areas (DMA’s) are used by Nielsen Media Research to identify TV stations whose broadcast signals reach a specific area and attract the most viewers. A DMA consists of all counties whose largest viewing share is given to stations of that same market area. Non-overlapping DMA’s cover the entire continental United States, Hawaii and parts of Alaska. There are currently 210 Designated Market Areas throughout the U.S.

Also: "No Significant Interference" and is used in conjunction with contours on maps showing radio frequency probagation. Grade B coutours are considered to be areas of NSI.

NT  (Windows NT)

One of several video editing and 3D graphics creation platforms. It does not have any of the inherent limitations of Windows 3.1x. Unlike Windows, there is no longer a 4-gigabyte file limit, there is an improved system for handling drivers and it is written in 32-bit code throughout, so everything works faster. Since NT is a 32-bit system running on a 32-bit machine, there is a dramatic performance increase. There is also multiprocessor support for even faster rendering speed. Windows NT can run on Intel, Alpha, and MIPS platforms, giving you a wide choice of system speed and price. Its enhanced reliability protects against  system crashes. NT is also Network and Internet ready, allowing easy distribution of the finished video product. (Note:  this is written from a broadcasters prospective.)

NTSC  

National Television Standards Committee. The television and video standard in use in the United States. Consists of 525 horizontal lines at a field rate of approximately 60 fields per second. Only 487 of these lines are used for picture. The rest are used for sync or extra information such as VITC and Closed Captioning. Half Jokingly referred to as “Never The Same Color”

NTSC is also commonly used to refer to composite video, RS-170A.  NTSC first set the television standards in the USA in 1940 at 60 fields – 30 frames and 525 lines (approx. 480 active) and revised them for color in 1956.  Since everything in NTSC color is directly related to the color burst frequency, 3.579545 MHz, the 30 frames becomes 29.95 frames.

(M) NTSC

 (M) NTSC is the color video standard used in North America and other parts of world to get video into your home and to record onto video tape. One of the requirements for the color television broadcast standard that the NTSC created was that it had to be capable of being received on a black-and-white set. When it came down to selecting what color space to use for this new color TV standard, RGB couldn't be used since all three colors, or planes, are independent. This means that each plane-red, green, or blue-has the same chance, or probability, of representing the picture as any other, so all three are needed. Because a black-and-white set, that receives only one plane, cannot receive three, the NTSC decided to make a new color space based on a black and white component and two color difference signals. Since, in the RGB space, each color may represent the image as any other color (equal bandwidth), the black- and-white component is made up of portions of all three colors. This black and white component is referred to as the luma. The two color difference signals were developed by taking the red signal and subtracting out the luma, and taking the blue signal and also subtracting out the luma. Thus, the color space for (M) NTSC is a luma component (Y') with red minus luminance (R'-Y') and blue minus luminance (B'-Y'). The R'-Y' component turns into an I component while the B'-Y' component turns into a Q component. I and Q are modulated and added together to create the chroma, which contains all of the color information for the picture. The color information is then added to the black-and-white information. Therefore, the (M) NTSC system is just like a black-and-white sketch with a water color wash painted over it for color.  The (M) NTSC system uses 525 lines per frame, a 29.97 frame per second update rate, and the Y'IQ color space. Modern (M) NTSC encoders and decoders may also use the Y'UV color space instead.

Number of Cameras

The number of cameras required for a videoconferencing system varies with the complexity of the application for which it is intended. For the simplest applications, a single camera that records meeting participants is adequate. When transmitting visual aids or continuous presence (see codec options above), additional cameras are required. Sophisticated room environments frequently have secondary cameras trained on white board or lectern. Continuous presence cameras are often added for large board-room type systems.

Number of Monitors

Most videoconference room environments are built around two monitors: One to display the people at the other end and the other to display visual aids. Some systems, such as desktop type configurations use just one monitor. And other, more sophisticated set-ups include more than two monitors. A third monitor might be used as a "preview" monitor to allow participants to monitor what is being sent to a remote location.

NVOD (Near-Video-on-Demand)

Almost, but not quite video-on-demand. A video event that airs on different channels with the start times staggered across each channel. In the case of a 2-hour event, the viewer at home has only to wait an average of 15 minutes for the event to start on one of four channels. Thus, Near-Video-On-Demand.

Nyquist Frequency (Nyquist Rate)

The digital sampling frequency of at least twice (2x oversampling) the highest frequency recorded. To produce a digital signal retaining the resolution of an analog signal source, the digital sampling rate must be at least twice the highest frequency in the original analog signal. Named after the Bell Laboratories researcher who developed the concept.

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