Back Focus is the alignment of the rear of the lens to the imaging device.

Back Light Compensation is a feature of cameras that automatically adjusts the image to compensate for bright sunlight or bright lights, to give more detail on the darker areas of the image. For example to focus on the detail of a face of a person that has the sunlight shining from behind. BLC indicates the image sensor's ability to automatically adjust in conditions where lighting is from behind the camera to deliver the sharpest and highest quality video image possible.

Balanced Signal is a method of transmitting audio or video signals over a pair of wires, often twisted pair cable. By sending two equal, but opposite signals, this system minimises external interference, and maintains signal quality.

Balun stands for Balanced - Unbalanced. It is a device used to interface between balanced lines and unbalanced lines. For example, twisted pair to co-axial.

Bandwidth indicates the complete range of frequencies over which a circuit or electronic system can function with minimal signal loss. In effect, bandwidth indicates the amount of information and its complexity which can be carried over a signal. More complex information requires more bandwidth for an effpixels signal. (i.e. color video bandwidth > monochrome video bandwidth > bandwidth for one channel of audio). The capacity of the transmission medium stated in bits per second or as a frequency. Or, the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second. For analogue devices, the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).

Battery refers to a stored power device. For mobile and remote applications, one or more batteries can be used.

Battery Run Time indicates the amount of time a piece of electronic equipment can realistically be powered using a particular battery pack. For instance, the CC-1HAD color board camera has a battery run time of about 24 hours when using eight fresh "AA" alkaline batteries in our BAT-1 or BAT-3 battery packs. More battery time could potentially be obtained with a higher capacity battery. It must also be noted that the more power consumption load on a battery or battery pack.

Baud A unit of measurement that denotes the number of bits that can be transmitted per second. For example, if a modem is rated at 9600 baud it is capable of transmitting data at a rate of 9600 bits per second.

Bit Abbreviated with small "b".  Binary Digit. The smallest unit of data in a computer.

Black & White (monochrome) Camera - Cameras are available with either color or monochrome image sensors. Monochrome cameras are typically referred to as black and white because video image they produce is in shades of gray. Only black and white CCD cameras have the ability to utilize IR infrared lighting. Also, even without infrared lighting, a monochrome camera will generally perform better in low light conditions than will a color camera equipped with a comparable CCD imager, lens, and quality of manufacture. The black and white cameras deliver amazingly crisp video, and in fact much better than the human eye when only a tiny amount of light is available.

Blanking the process whereby the beam in a CRT is cut off during the retrace period.

Blooming The defocusing of regions of the picture where the brightness is at an excessive level, due to enlargement of spot size and halation of the fluorescent screen of the CCTV monitor

BNC Bayonet Neil-Concelman or British Naval Connector BNC is the type of connector plug commonly found on CCTV devices for video and audio input / output connections. BNC is the choice for broadcast video and security video professionals because of its locking design. BNC plugs are easily adapted to standard consumer RCA connectors using a simple one-piece plug adapter. Nearly all products include the necessary adapters so that users can select either BNC or RCA connections to suit their individual requirements for immediate plug and play use. A connector widely used in the CCTV industry, usually for coaxial cable. Easy to install and reliable with little video signal loss.

Bps Bits per Second is the unit used for measuring line speed, the number of information units transmitted per second.

Brightness Control The manual bias control on a cathode ray tube or other display device that controls the average brightness and the contrast of a picture. Brightness Control is a feature found on many monitors. It allows the user to manually select the level of screen backlighting (brightness).

Bridging term used to describe a type of automatic sequential switcher which has the ability to send a signal to two monitors (dual output) - one continually sequencing and the second one able to display any one of the CCTV camera inputs on the "bridged" monitor.

Bullet Camera - A bullet design refers to a camera with a cylindrical shape using an inline video imaging chip (rather than a board design). These cameras are sometimes also called "lipstick cameras" or "inline CCD cameras."

Burned-In Image An image which persists in a fixed position in the output signal of a CCTV camera tube after the camera has been turned to a different scene or, on a CCTV monitor screen.

Byte Abbreviated with capital "B". A unit of data that is eight bits long and is used by most computers to represent a character such as a letter, number or symbol.

Composite Video is the standard type of analog video signal utilized by most CCTV video cameras. This signal is plug and play compatible with most consumer television and VCR equipment. However, this type of video should not be confused with digital "component" inputs which may ALSO found on newer televisions and other home video equipment. A composite video signal has the correct phase rate, luminance, and chrominance information to be compatible with a particular video format such as NTSC, PAL, EIA, CCIR, etc. A full video signal that combines picture signal and synchronisation pulses.

Compression Digital video pictures can be compressed with a number of techniques. These include: JPEG and JPEG-2000 (for still images), M-JPEG and MPEG (for moving pictures).

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is a level of image correction or enhancement which takes place within a device using a digital computer element. This digital element encodes the information into digital information for the highest level of detail and quality. Cameras with DSP imagers do not necessarily produce "digital video," but they do provide very crisp video images. Quads and multiplexers offering DSP do not necessarily produce "digital video" either, but they do deliver very high tvres and often other dynamic characteristics.

Digital Video (DV) refers to video which has been compressed into digital information for storage onto digital storage media like a hard disk drive, CD, or DVD. The quality of digital video will vary depending on factors such as the camera quality and compression method.

Signal System refers to the basic electrical system frequency a video image is phased on. In the United States and many other places across the world, 60 Hz is the standard for most all types of AC and DC electrical devices (including video cameras and monitors). For this reason, standard NTSC video is phased at a frequency of 60 Hz. PAL format video, on the other hand, has a signal phased at a rate of 50 Hz.

Simplex, Duplex, and Triplex concern the operation of video recorders and multiple camera video processors like quads and multiplexers. Simplex, duplex, or triplex capability reveals the number of device capacities which can be used simultaneously. For instance, a simplex device is only capable of performing one type of task at a time, whether that be recording or playback. A duplex device can perform two simultaneous functions like record and configure the monitor display for a certain close-up view. Triplex devices are capable of three tasks at the same time (usually record, playback, and zoom or other display functions).

S/N (Signal-to-Noise) Ratio indicates the ratio of noise to actual total signal (in a video or audio signal generally speaking). The S/N number measures how much higher the signal level is to the level of background electronic noise, so a higher number means a clearer and crisper picture. Signal-to-noise ratio is expressed in decibels (dB).