Lingo Lessons

By Scott Reagles

In the AV biz we tend to throw around a lot of terminology that we take for granted. As an event planner, you may or may not be familiar with our AV lingo. So here’s some terminology that can help you jive with your AV provider and, perhaps, even more groovy people.

A1 — The head audio engineer responsible for the audio mix to the main audience.
Aspect Ratio — The ratio of width to height of any display device or screen. Most large screens and projectors have an aspect ratio of 4:3 (4 parts wide by 3 parts tall, 12’ wide x 9’ tall for example). Most new TV’s and High Definition displays use a 16:9 ratio.
Back Line — Musical instruments and equipment that musicians often do not travel with, such as drum sets, percussion instruments, electronic keyboards, speaker/amplifiers, etc. (usually instruments that sit toward the back of the stage).
Bone Yard — Storage area for empty and unused road cases and equipment. A bone yard is usually back stage. However, in rooms where there is little or no back stage area a separate room or area is needed.
Confidence Monitors — A display used for people on stage to see what is on the main screens without having to turn and look at them.
Deck — The stage. Deck is also often referred to as the top of the stage (for example, 20 feet off the deck would refer to 20’ above the top of the stage).
DLP (Digital Light Procession) — A projection technology that uses millions of microscopic mirrors to create an image (using a DMD “chip” or digital micromirror device).
FOH (Front of House) — The place in the house (audience) where the audio mixer and the audio engineer
are located.
FOH Speakers — Speakers that project sound to the house (where the audience sits).
Handheld Camera/ROV — A camera that an operator holds rather than using a tripod.
Hang Point — A place on the ceiling to attach rigging equipment such as chain motors. Hang points always have weight limits called Load Ratings.
I-Mag (Image Magnification) — When a live image from a video camera is displayed to the audience on a large screen.
Key — Part of a video image that is “cut out” (like a keyhole in a door) and replaced with another image, such as song lyrics, title slides and background images.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) — A projection and display technology that uses millions of microscopic cells of liquid crystal that act as a “shutter,” allowing different amounts of light through a grid to create an image.
LD (Lighting Director) — The head lighting technician who designs the lighting scheme and programming for a show.
Line Array — A type of speaker system where multiple speakers are hung in a vertical array and designed to work together to form evenly distributed sound to a large area.
Load Rating — The maximum amount of weight that can be hung from a point or span.
Monitor Mix — Stage monitor speakers having their own settings separate from the main speakers. This is for people on stage to hear.
Monitor Beach — Where the monitor mixer, processing gear and engineer are located during show, usually off to one side of the stage nearest performers and bands.
Movers — A lighting instrument that can not only move the location of the light beam but also change colors, intensity and patterns.
Multi-Camera System — A package of equipment that includes multiple cameras, switching and monitoring.
Snake — A cable with multiple connections used to get audio signals from the stage to the FOH (Front of House) audio position. There are also video snakes and power snakes.
Stick Camera — A camera on a tripod, rather than handheld.
Switcher — Device with a series of video inputs that permits one or more selected sources to be combined, manipulated and sent out to screens or recording devices. In short, it controls what you see on the screen.
TD (Technical Director) — A video technician that operates the switcher and often “calls” (directs) the video cameras for a show.
Throw Ratio — A formula based on screen width used to calculate how far a projector needs to be away from the screen.
Trim Height — The distance between the floor and the bottom of something being flown (hung).
Video Village — Location of the video switching gear and operators, usually located back stage or in another room.

Scott Reagles is a production manager and video director for IPG (Initial Production Group), based in Denver, Colo. He has focused on bridging the gap between clients and technology. You can reach him at scott@initialpro.com.