4 Video Standards and Formats We tend to like to draw postproduction workflows as flowcharts, boxes, and arrows to represent stages and resources and tasks. We imagine our project flowing through these paths and processes, but what exactly is this stuff? For that matter, what do the lines and arrows and boxes really represent in terms of real-world equipment? While we are at it, what about all those acronyms and numbers: DV-25, XLR, BNC, 720p? Let's put it this way--video technology and the associated terminology are complex. Unless you like to read manuals as bedtime reading or can quote format bandwidth down to the megabit, you're probably confused about a lot of things. This chapter is by no means the end-all of technical literature. It is a quick resource for some common ques- tions and answers about formats, connectors, and other video and audio terminology. To really develop a postproduction workflow, it is necessary to understand some principles of video technology. It is helpful to be familiar with the different types of