A term that often is used loosely and has several meanings. While there are specifications created by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to define "broadcast quality," these specs have more to do with airwave transmission characteristics than they do with visual quality. In practical terms, broadcast quality means "of high enough quality to satisfy the stringent demands of commercial broadcast facilities." This would normally require, for example, 3-chip broadcast cameras instead of consumer or industrial cameras; Betacam, D-1 or D-2 tape formats instead of VHS or 8mm; etc. Equipment and formats generally fall into three categories: Consumer, Industrial and Broadcast.

Standard of quality associated with current expectations of clearly-received network or cable television.

NAB (National Association of Broadcasters)

A nebulous term used to describe the output of a manufacturer's product . Usually at least means that the technical specifications meet the FCC rules for broadcasting.

An nebulous term used to describe the output of a manufacturer's product no matter how bad it looks.