A character generator (CG for short) is a device or software that produces static or animated text (such as crawls and rolls) for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are actually computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text. A news crawl is a moving line of text most often seen at the bottom of a television screen. ... Look up Video in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Video is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures, typically using celluloid film, electronic signals, or digital media. ...

In the television business in North America, the graphics generated by character generators are also often called "Chyrons", after the Chyron Corporation, whether or not Chyron made the character generator. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, such graphics are often called "astons", after Aston Broadcast Systems. These are examples of somewhat genericized trademarks. Even though genericized trademarks are present, it is generally known throughout the world that many character generator companies give more cost efficient alternatives than the companies mentioned above. World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... A genericized trademark (Commonwealth English genericised trade mark), sometimes known as a generic trade mark, generic descriptor or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name which is often used as the colloquial description for a particular type of product or service as a result of widespread popular or cultural... A genericized trademark (Commonwealth English genericised trade mark), sometimes known as a generic trade mark, generic descriptor or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name which is often used as the colloquial description for a particular type of product or service as a result of widespread popular or cultural...

Character generators are primarily used in the broadcast areas of live sports or news presentations, given that the modern character generator can rapidly (i.e., "on the fly") generate high-resolution, animated graphics for use when an unforseen situation in the game or newscast dictates an opportunity for broadcast coverage -- for example, when, in a football game, a previously unknown player begins to have what looks to become an outstanding day, the character generator operator can rapidly, using the "shell" of a similarly-designed graphic composed for another player, build a new graphic for the previously unanticipated performance of the lesser known player. The character generator, then, is but one of many technologies used in the remarkably diverse and challenging work of live television, where events on the field or in the newsroom dictate the direction of the coverage. In such an environment, the quality of the broadcast is only as good as its weakest link, both in terms of personnel and technology. Hence, character generator development never ends, and the distinction between hardware and software CG's begins to blur as new platforms and operating systems evolve to meet the live television consumer's expectations.

Before character generators were available, the primary method of adding titles to video images was to dedicate one camera to shooting white letters on a black background, which then was combined with the video from a live-action camera to form what appeared to be a single image with white letters seemingly superimposed over it. In fact, to this day (and despite the fact that this technology is long-since antiquated by the modern CG) some directors of live TV continue to order the Technical Director to "add the super" when they want the CG output "superimposed" over the image of another camera. As technology advanced, the ability to "key" these white letters over live video became available, involving electronically "cutting a hole" (analogous to cutting a keyhole) in the shape of the letters from the title camera and then electronically adding the letters to the holes cut into the live action camera image. Again, some directors today still call this "keying the graphic". Finally, the modern CG allowed not only more precise and realistic "keying", but also the addition of multiple picture elements from the CG to further the illusion of a 3-dimensional graphic physically overlying a video image. Today, the addition of full-motion video from the CG and the animation of graphic elements by the CG blurs the line between "character generator" and "graphics computer", combining the CG's ability to elegantly present graphics and video with the computer's ability to interface with game scoring and timing systems, to keep running totals of an athlete's performance on the field or the court and to derive statistics both for individual players and the teams involved, and to interface with computer systems located at other game venues or at a television network's central broadcast center. Today, when you watch a sporting event on television, you're likely seeing not only CG data from that game, but CG data from other games in progress, other games already completed, and games yet to come, all in an effort to keep you, the viewer, from having to "surf" to another station to catch what's going on at another event. And the less often you surf away to another station, the more often you see advertising (also included in CG output) which then generates revenue for the TV network.

So, although the distinction between hardware and software CGs is becoming less evident as technology advances (and as consumer-grade computing equipment becomes more graphically sophisticated), it remains easiest to view CG's as either hardware- or software-dependent.

Hardware CGs

Hardware CGs are used in television studios and video editing suites. A DTP-like interface can be used to generate static and moving text or graphics, which the device then encodes into some high-quality video signal, like digital SDI or analog component video or even RGB video. In addition, they also provide a key signal, which the compositing vision mixer can use an alpha channel to determine which areas of the CG video are translucent. A television studio is an installation in which television or video productions take place, either for live television, for recording live on tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for postproduction. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with film editing. ... Desktop publishing (also known as DTP) combines a personal computer, page layout software and a printer to create publications on a small economic scale. ... Serial Digital Interface (SDI), standardized in ITU-R BT.656 and SMPTE-259M, is a digitized video interface used for broadcast grade video. ... Three RCA cables are often used to carry analog component video Component video is a type of analog video information that is transmitted or stored as two or more separate signals. ... The RGB color model utilizes the additive model in which red, green, and blue light are combined in various ways to create other colors. ... The word key has several uses: Look up Key on Wiktionary, the free dictionary // Instrument or Tool A key (instrument) comprises a moving part of a musical instrument. ... A Sony BVS-3200CP vision mixer A vision mixer (also called video switcher or production switcher) is a device used to select between several different video sources and in some cases composite (mix) video sources together and add special effects. ... In computer graphics, alpha compositing is often useful to render image elements in separate passes, and then combine the resulting multiple 2D images into a single, final image in a process called compositing. ...

Manufacturers of Hardware CGs include:

• Compix Media, Inc.
• Chyron
• Aston
• PixelPower
• Pesa
• Inscriber
• VertigoXmedia

VertigoXmedia is a developer of broadcast graphics automation software and real-time character generators. ...

Software CGs

Software CGs run on standard off-the-shelf hardware and are often integrated into video editing software such as nonlinear video editing applications. Some stand-alone products are available, however, for applications that do not even attempt to offer text generation on their own, as high-end video editing software often does, or whose internal CG effects are not flexible and powerful enough. Some software CGs can be used in live production with special software and computer video interface cards. In that case, they are equivalent to hardware CGs. Video editing software is application software that handles the editing of video sequences on a computer. ...

Software CGs include:

• GenCG, NewsScroll, RCES by Compix Media, Inc.
• Display Systems International Family of CGs
• LiveType (by Apple, bundled with Final Cut Pro)
• Inscriber CG
• TitleDeko (by Pinnacle Systems, bundled with their Liquid family of products)
• viz|Trio (by Vizrt)
• VertigoCG (by VertigoXmedia)
• Xpresenter (by VertigoXmedia)