signal-processing unit that takes an analog input and converts it to digital on the sending end. At the receiving end, another codec reverses the by reconverting the digital signal back to analog. Codec is a contraction of code/decode (some experts in the video industry assert it also stands for compress/decompress). codec conversion The back-to-back transfer of an analog signal from one codec into another codec in order to convert from one proprietary coding scheme to another. The analog signal, instead of being displayed to a monitor, is delivered to the dissimilar codec where it is re-digitized, compressed and passed to the receiving end. This is obviously a bi-directional process. Carriers offer conversion service. color That which is perceived as a result of differing qualities of the light reflected or emitted. Humans see color via the additive process in direct light (e.g., television in which the primary colors are red, green, and blue) and the subtractive process in reflected light (e.g., books, in which the primary colors are yellow, magenta, cyan, and black). The three basic color components are hue, saturation, and brightness. colorburst A few cycles (8 to 12) of sub-carrier frequency that serves as a color synch signal and communicates the proper hues to a video monitor or television. The color burst is part of an NTSC or PAL composite video signal. It provides a reference for the demodulation of the color information. The absence of color burst indicates black and white video or television. colordepth The number of distinct colors that can be represented Video Communication: the Whole Picture by a piece of hardware or software. The number of bits that are used to describe a color determine the system's color depth. color difference signal The first step in encoding the color television signal. Subtracting the luminance information from each primary color forms the color difference signals: red, green or blue. Color difference conventions include the Betacam format, the SMPTE format, the EBU- N10 for