Slate (broadcasting)
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File:Example broadcast slate.svg
In broadcasting, a slate is a title card listing important metadata of a television program, included before the first frame of the program. The broadcasting equivalent of a film leader, the slate is usually accompanied with color bars and tone, a countdown, and a 2-pop. In videotape workflows, slates help ensure that the tape received is the right one to broadcast (or to project, in the case of digital cinema) or to ingest into a digital playout system. It also provides helpful context for consideration in the re-editing of the material into a larger package. A convention from the videotape era of television broadcasting, the need for slates in a tapeless workflow has largely been usurped by the Material Exchange Format. However, the slate is still a regular and often-required fixture of television stations and other media companies {{as of|2023|lc=y}}.{{cite journal | last= | first= | date=2020 | url=https://d1qbemlbhjecig.cloudfront.net/prod/filer_public/pbsproducerhandbook-bento-live-pbs/Production%20Guidelines%20(Red%20Book)/5c3352a824_2020%20TOS%20Pt%201%20Submission%20Update_(7.1.2020)%20(1).pdf | title=Technical Operating Specification: Part 1: Program Submission | journal=PBS Technology & Operations | publisher=Public Broadcasting System | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528010342/https://d1qbemlbhjecig.cloudfront.net/prod/filer_public/pbsproducerhandbook-bento-live-pbs/Production%20Guidelines%20(Red%20Book)/5c3352a824_2020%20TOS%20Pt%201%20Submission%20Update_(7.1.2020)%20(1).pdf | archivedate=May 28, 2022}}
Common information
Common information to include in a slate includes, but is not limited to:
- Title of the program
- Name of the production company and contact info
- Total run time (TRT)
- Production code number
- Date of edited master
- Type of master (e.g. broadcast master, duplication master, projection master)
- Timecode of start of first frame (typically 01:00:00.00, with the slate and associated leader material occurring before this)
- Frame rate
- Audio channel configuration
- Presence of textless elements (typically labelled as textless at/@ tail)
See also
References
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Category:Television terminology
Category:Film and video technology
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