time code - Common time code formats

A series of digitally coded signals appearing sequentially on the magnetic tape of a video or audio recording, and sometimes on film, to provide specific identification for each frame in editing and post-production. In its simplest form it denotes Hours, Minutes, Seconds, and Frames, which may be selected as 24, 25, or 30 per second.

Common time code formats

The SMPTE time code family of timecodes are almost universally used in film, video and audio production, and can be encoding in many different formats:

Linear timecode Vertical interval timecode Burnt-in timecode CTL timecode MIDI timecode AES-EBU embedded timecode

Other related time and sequence codes:

Keykode

Time codes for purposes other than video and audio production:

IRIG time codes Used for military, government and commercial purposes.