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Teleprompter

A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script.

For the racehorse, see Teleprompter (horse).

Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually below, the lens of a professional video camera, and the words on the screen are reflected to the eyes of the presenter using a sheet of clear glass or other beam splitter, so that they are read by looking directly at the lens position, but are not imaged by the lens. Light from the performer passes through the front side of the glass into the lens, while a shroud surrounding the lens and the back side of the glass prevents unwanted light from entering the lens. Optically this works in a very similar way to the Pepper's ghost illusion from classic theatre: an image viewable from one angle but not another.


Because the speaker can look straight at the lens while reading the script, the teleprompter creates the illusion that the speaker has memorized the speech or is speaking spontaneously, looking directly into the camera lens. Notes or cue cards, on the other hand, require the presenter to look at them instead of at the lens, which can cause the speaker to appear distracted, depending on the degree of deflection from the natural line of sight to the camera lens, and how long the speaker needs to glance away to glean the next speaking point; speakers who can internalize a full sentence or paragraph in a single short glance timed to natural breaks in the spoken cadence will create only a small or negligible impression of distraction.


The technology has continued to develop, including the following iterations:


'TelePrompTer' in the US, and 'Autocue' in Commonwealth and some European countries, were originally trade names, but have become genericized trademarks used for any such display device.

the trademark of Autocue Group Ltd, most commonly used in Commonwealth countries

Autocue

Autoscript is used to brand the devices in the United States

cueing device

electronic speech notes

idiot board (slang)

prompter

The word "TelePrompTer", with internal capitalization, originated as a trade name used by the TelePrompTer Corporation, which first developed the device in the 1950s. The word "teleprompter", with no capitalization, has become a genericized trademark, because it is used to refer to similar systems manufactured by many different companies. Some other common terms for this type of device are:

(A) The first three teleprompters: A monitor screen partly embedded in the lectern's desktop displays the scrolling text of the speech in synchrony with two screens embedded in the podium floor. They are on either side of the speaker, reflected by the angled glass teleprompters above them. Click this image and the ones below to see the four-teleprompter system more clearly.

(A) The first three teleprompters: A monitor screen partly embedded in the lectern's desktop displays the scrolling text of the speech in synchrony with two screens embedded in the podium floor. They are on either side of the speaker, reflected by the angled glass teleprompters above them. Click this image and the ones below to see the four-teleprompter system more clearly.

(B) The fourth teleprompter: A large confidence monitor displays the scrolling text of the speech immediately below the lenses of the broadcast TV cameras, several meters/feet away from the speaker.

(B) The fourth teleprompter: A large confidence monitor displays the scrolling text of the speech immediately below the lenses of the broadcast TV cameras, several meters/feet away from the speaker.

(C) The above-described four-teleprompter set-up in use at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, USA (the large confidence monitor under the TV cameras is near the bottom far right of this frame).

(C) The above-described four-teleprompter set-up in use at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, USA (the large confidence monitor under the TV cameras is near the bottom far right of this frame).

TV camera at ZDF in the nano studio.

TV camera at ZDF in the nano studio.

ORF broadcasting studio of Salzburg today (Bundesland heute)

ORF broadcasting studio of Salzburg today (Bundesland heute)

Two teleprompters at Latvian Television

Two teleprompters at Latvian Television

Teleprompter glass on left and right from speaker's point of view

Teleprompter glass on left and right from speaker's point of view

Three teleprompters near a stage

Three teleprompters near a stage

Teleprompter used during NBC Sports coverage of 2008 Olympics

Teleprompter used during NBC Sports coverage of 2008 Olympics

Various types of modern teleprompters

Cue card

a similar device displaying a live image of an interviewer or interviewee instead of text, allowing both to look straight at the camera[32][33]

Interrotron

1966 Cinécraft production film demonstrating the use of multi-cameras with teleprompters. Source: Hagley Library digital archive

Kevin Martin, Innovation At Cinécraft: Multi-Camera Production For Television. Hagley Collection Research and News

Joseph Stromberg, A Brief History of the Teleprompter. Smithsonian Magazine, October 22, 2012