Teleprompters: Basic Terms & Series Overview - Episode 1

This video kicks off our four-part series on teleprompters with a broad overview of the indispensible tool that facilitates truly professional on-camera presentation. The series examines what a professional through-the-glass teleprompter can help you do, and spells out some of the advantages it provides over other options such as cue cards and off-camera teleprompters. You’ll learn the basic components of a through-the-glass teleprompter system, including both hardware and software. In addition, the series delves into more high end, professional hardware setups and software options—software that might include advanced script-management features for environments like newsrooms and applications such as distance prompting.

A through-the-glass teleprompter allows on-camera talent to read naturally from a script, with their eyes fixed on the two-way mirror that displays scrolling text directly in front of the camera’s lens. The lens shoots, as the name suggests, through that two-way glass. Teleprompter software enables the formatting and playback of the text, and typically a producer actively controls the rate of scrolling. This series does not serve as a buyers’ guide to various specific models and systems, but rather serves as a primer on teleprompter technology, so that you can get a comprehensive idea of the hardware and software options that are available.

Follow the series: 

Episodes 2: Software & Entry-Level Options	Episodes 3: Better Hardware for Pros	Episode 4: Broadcast Quality, High-End Prompting