Printable View
What is the purpose of the black and white striped square that appears in the corner of the TV screen when an advert break is about to occur? Who is this aimed at? The viewer, some sort of machine, or somebody else? If so, why aren't the patterns standardised? Some seem to have diagonal lines, and others are vertical.
Sounds like a cue dot, which is a notice for whoever's putting the commercials in. You get these before reel changes in movies too. Like what this guy describes? I've never seen it on television over here though.
Not sure if this is the same thing, but in the US, movies which have made their way to TV will sport little circles in the upper right hand corner of the screen, which seem to coincide with commercial breaks, based upon how the plot was moving. Or I could be full of crap.
I thought the dots on movie prints were to signal the projectionist that it was about time to change reels. Obviously, this was from way back in The Dark Ages.
Never seen it on TV shows here.