K

Kbps (or Kb/s)

Kilobits per second, or one thousand bits per second.

K-Factor

A measure of the fidelity with which a waveform can be reproduced and is expressed as a percentage. The closer the K-factor is to 0%, the better the fidelity. The definition of K factor is also used in cellular radio. It is simply the ratio of power in the dominant path to power in the scattered paths. In tropospheric radio propagation, the ratio of the effective Earth radius to the actual Earth radius. Note: The k-factor is approximately 4/3. Also, in ionospheric radio propagation, a correction factor that (a) is applied in calculations related to curved layers, and (b) is a function of distance and the real height of ionospheric reflection.

Kell Factor

The vertical definition of a scanned image is only around 70% (the Kell Factor) of the line count due to scan's inability to show detail occurring between the lines. Note that, for interlaced scans, vertical definition is further reduced by the Interlace Factor to 50% or less during most vertical image movement.

See also: Interlace Factor
Key

A combination of two images where one image covers a portion, or cuts a hole in the picture, of the other as in a title. A key signal has three components: a key source, a key fill, and a background image. The key source cuts a hole in the background video, and the fill signal fills in that hole. Titles are usually keyed in.

Keycode

A barcode on the edge of motion picture film which allows the film edge numbers to be electronically read and inserted into an edit list. Very useful for generating a negative cut list from a video off-line EDL.

Kilo....

When used in conjunction with any other unit of measure is one thousand times the base unit.

Kilobyte (K)

One thousand bytes or “characters” of digital information, consisting of from six to eight bits. In reality, one kilobyte equals 1024 bytes of information.

Kilohertz (kHz)

1,000 hertz.

Kilovectors

Extremely powerful digital secondary correction process available in all da Vincis from Renaissance onwards. Kilovectors allow secondary color corrections to be qualified by hue width ( from 3-360 degrees) and center (+/- 0.3 degrees). Once defined hue, saturation, luminance and contrast can be modified.

Kinescope

Proper term for a picture tube. Also a film recording of a video image displayed on a specially designed television monitor. Also called "Kine." Only means of recording TV programs before video recorders and tape were invented.

Kiosk

In interactive video application terms, it describes the housing for a self-contained, free-standing, interactive system that is generally located in a public access area.

Ku Band

A portion of the frequency spectrum between 12 GHz and 14 GHz, used by communications satellites for transmission and reception.