Re: Holy ***, when did they invent this thing called a teleprompter?

Wikipedia RSS Feed
Teleprompter
^ US patent 2883902, see also US patent 2926559.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Telescript" redirects here. For the programming language, see General
Magic.

Schematic representation:
(1) Video camera (2) Shroud
(3) Video monitor (4) Two-way mirror
(5) Image from subject  (6) Image from video monitor

Teleprompter in use
This article needs additional citations for verification.Please help
improve this article by adding reliable references (ideally, using
inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
(March 2009)
A teleprompter (also known as an autocue) is a display device that
prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech
or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue
cards. The screen is in front of the lens of the camera, and the words
on the screen are reflected to the eyes of the speaker using a two-way
mirror.
(Note that this is only true in principle â?" when the space
between the lens and the mirror is covered in a shroud, an ordinary
glass pane will work as a two-way mirror).
As the speaker does not need to look down to consult written notes, he
appears to have memorized the speech or be speaking spontaneously, and
will look directly into the camera lens. Cue cards, on the other hand,
will always be placed away from the lens axis, making the speaker look
at a point beside the camera, which leaves a "distracted" impression.
Contents
1 History, 2 Etymology, 3 Modern design
3.1 Television, 3.2 Speeches, 3.3 Concerts, 3.4 Interrotron
, 4 Notes, 5 External links

[edit] History
The first "teleprompters" were simply mechanical devices located near
the camera. The script was printed on a paper scroll, which was advanced
as the performer read.
The TelePrompTer company was founded in the 1950s by Fred Barton, Jr.,
Hubert J. (Hub) Schlafly, and Irving Berlin Kahn. Barton was an actor
who suggested the concept of the teleprompter as a means of assisting
television performers who had to memorize large amounts of material in a
short time.
The first personal computerâ?"based Teleprompter, Compu=Prompt,
appeared in 1982. It was invented and marketed by Courtney M. Goodin and
Laurence B. Abrams in Hollywood, California. The custom software and
specially-redesigned camera hardware ran on the Atari 800 Personal
Computer. Their company later became ProPrompt, Inc., which is still
providing teleprompting services over 25 years later. Other paper-based
Teleprompting companies â?" Q-TV and Telescript â?" followed
suit and developed their own software several years later, when
computers with enough graphics power to provide the smooth scrolling
text became available.
Jess Oppenheimer, producer of I Love Lucy, claims credit for the
original concept of the teleprompter and was awarded the U.S. patent for
its creation.[1] Originally used so that Lucille Ball could read
commercials on-camera, it soon became a staple for television news.
As late as 1992, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was still using
an early mechanical teleprompter.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Autoscript (a UK- and US-based
company) pioneered use of TFT-LCD monitors, rather than the traditional
CRTs. This enabled significantly less weight on the camera and improved
portability. They also introduced high-brightness monitors, enabling
prompters to be used in direct sunlight. A further breakthrough in 2005
introduced Voice Activated Prompting. Along with their partner,
Sysmedia, Autoscript developed a prompter that required no peripheral to
control the scroll of the prompter. The voice-activated prompter simply
scrolled at the speed of the presenter's speech.
[edit] Etymology
The word TelePrompTer, with internal capitalization, originated as a
trade name used by the TelePrompTer Company, who first developed the
electronic device in the 1950s.
The word teleprompter, with no capitalization, had become a genericized
trademark, because it is used to refer to similar systems manufactured
by many different companies. The United States Patent Office does not
have any "live" trademarks registered for the word "teleprompter," but
this does not rule out the possibility of a company enforcing the
trademark without registering it. Some other common generic terms for
this type of device include:
electronic speech notescueing device, idiot board (slang), prompter, ,
autocue (in certain Commonwealth countries)
[edit] Modern design
[edit] Television

Photo of a teleprompter displaying text
Modern teleprompters for news programs consist of a personal computer,
connected to video monitors on each camera. The monitors are often
black-and-white monochrome and have the horizontal scanning reversed to
compensate for the reflection of the mirror. A peripheral device
attached to the serial port has a knob that can be turned to speed up,
slow down, or even reverse the scrolling of the text. The text is
usually displayed in white capital letters on a black background for the
best readability, while cues are in inverse video (black on white).
Difficult words (mainly foreign names) are spelled out phonetically, as
are other particulars like "Nine-eleven" (to specify that the event 9/11
should not be pronounced "nine-one-one," for example).
[edit] Speeches

U.S. President George W. Bush during the 2007 State of the Union. Note
the tinted transparent conference teleprompters on either side of his
lectern.
Teleprompters are often used for speeches as well. In this application,
they are called Conference Teleprompter Systems. In this case, the
reflector is usually a piece of glass with a special partially
reflective coating. It is mostly transparent so as to not block the view
of the speaker by the audience or cameras. Usually, two of these are set
up, one on either side of the lectern (if there is one), so that the
speaker can look around at the audience and always be able to see one.
Except for these aesthetic changes, they work in the same way as they do
for television.
With the development of small, cheap teleprompter software applications,
many different disciplines are now using simple desktop applications to
help them deliver sermons, deliver speeches, and create quality audios.
Unlike their big brothers, these small applications work on a desktop or
laptop computer, enabling the speaker to control the rate and flow of
his speech. They are also used by many different organizations and
schools to deliver prewritten information by relative novices. They are
usually called "personal teleprompters."
[edit] Concerts
Teleprompters are sometimes used in concerts, to assist performers who
have trouble remembering the words to songs. The teleprompter may be of
the kind used in speeches, or it may be only a monitor that is set into
the stage floor.
[edit] Interrotron
Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris uses a teleprompter-like setup in
conducting interviews which he refers to as the "Interrotron." The
prompter equipment is set up on the camera (often a film camera);
however, instead of displaying a written script, it is used to display
the image coming from a video camera trained on Morris who is seated
nearby. In this way, the interview subject can be looking directly into
the lens of the camera to see Morris' face while speaking, instead of
off in some other direction. The camera focused on Morris can also be
set up with a prompter displaying the subject (using the "video assist"
output if a film camera is used on the subject). In this way, the two
people can carry out a virtual face-to-face conversation for the
interview.
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleprompter";
Categories: Television technology | Film and video technology
Hidden categories: Articles needing additional references from March
2009
Views
Article, Discussion, Edit this page, History
Personal tools
Log in / create account

Navigation
Main page, Contents, Featured content, Current events, Random article
Search
Interaction
About Wikipedia, Community portal, Recent changes, Contact Wikipedia,
Donate to Wikipedia, Help
Toolbox
What links here, Related changes, Upload file, Special pages, Printable
version, Permanent link, Cite this page
Languages
اÙ?عربÙ?Ø©
Català
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
×¢×'ר×?ת
Nederlands
���
â?ªNorsk (bokmål)â?¬
Polski
Português
РÑ?Ñ?Ñ?кий
This page was last modified on 24 March 2009, at 15:29.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
License. (See Copyrights for details.)
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) tax-deductible nonprofit charity.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers

67% (100.04 kB) saved
Skweezer | Hide Images | New Bookmark | Translate | Company
Page optimized for mobile device, click here to view without Skweezer.
© 2001-2009 Skweezer




.

Loading