| Ultimatte |
Trade name of a high-quality special effects system similar to a chromakey switcher. Electronic version of the blue screen technique used for motion picture special effects. |
| U-matic |
See three-quarter-inch. |
| Umbrella |
What the name implies, lighting accessory available in various sizes usually made of textured gold or silver fabric. Facilitates soft, shadowless illumination by reflecting light onto a scene. |
| unbalanced line |
Audio cables that have two wires: one for positive and one for both negative and ground. |
| Underscan |
Special video monitor that can reduce the size of the video image so the four outer frame edges can be viewed in their entirety. |
| Unidirectional |
Highly selective microphone pickup pattern, rejects sound coming from behind while absorbing that from in front. [See bidirectional, omnidirectional.] |
| User Bits |
Portions of VITC and LTC (time code) reserved for recording information of the user's choosing, e.g., date, scene numbers. |
