What is a waveform monitor?
A waveform monitor is a device that monitors television signals over time. It is used in all aspects of film and television, from production to troubleshooting to research and development. Waveform monitors have evolved to keep up with changes in television and camera technology. A television receives video signals as a series of lines. The order of these lines and the way in which they are scanned is called a raster pattern. Each line is made up of tiny points of color, called pixels. In order for a television signal to come in clearly, the raster pattern used by the television must match that used by the transmitter. Almost every aspect of a video signal can be measured and recorded using a waveform monitor. It can keep track of the vertical blinking interval (VBLANK). The VBLANK is the time difference between the last line of one raster image and the first line of the next one. If the VBLANK is too great, television viewers may notice their screen flickering.
