"bps" is also used more generically to describe the information-carrying capacity of a digital channel. branch Part of a cable television distribution system. Branches in the network are analogous to tree limbs that attach to a main trunk. Branches provide separate locales or communities with cable television service. Branch and tree systems are being replaced with fiber-optic distribution systems in which the cable television head-end is connected via fiber optics Video Communication: the Whole Picture to a local hub. Basic Rate Interface. In ISDN there are two interfaces, the BRI and the PRI or Primary Rate Interface. The BRI offers two circuit-switched B (bearer) channels of 64 Kbps each and one packet-switched D (delta) channel that is used for exchanging signals with the network. Known in Europe as the Basic Rate Access or bridge A bridge connects three or more conference sites SO that they can simultaneously communicate. In video communications, bridges are often called MCUs, multipoint conferencing units. In IEEE 802 parlance, a bridge is a device that interconnects LANs or LAN segments at the data-link layer of the OSI model to extend the LAN environment physically. brightness The luminance portion of a television or video signal. broadband The term applied to networks that have bandwidths significantly greater than that found in telephony networks. Broadband systems can carry a large number of moving images or a vast quantity of data simultaneously. Broadband techniques usually depend on coaxial or optical cable for transmission. They utilize multiplexing to permit the simultaneous operation of multiple channels or services on a single cable. Frequency division multiplexing or cell relay techniques can both be used in broadband transmission. broadcast To send information to two or more receiving devices simultaneously. The term originated in farming in which it referred to the scattering of seeds. Now it is used to describe the transmission of radio and television signals. broadcast quality In the US thi