• Use this image as a temporary
background when designing the
foreground elements of your slide. When
everything is in place, change the
background image to one of your choice.
To use this image, right click on the
image and select save picture as from
the pop-up menu. Navigate to where
you want to save the image, name it,
and click save. You'll need to drag each
of the center handles until they snap to
the edge of the slide so that the image
is the same size as the slide.
• Design your slide so that all
important foreground elements
(such as title, charts, text, bullet
lists, etc.) fit inside the light area of
the safe image. Anything within the
blue border may get cut off by TVs, video projectors, etc. When aired on television, the DTV8 logo appears in the lower right corner as shown. Avoid this area, as well.
• When designing your content for TV, remove all extra or unnecessary information. Focus on the exact point you’re trying to make, and keep it simple. Remember, when aired on TV, people may only see the slide for about 10 seconds or so. If there's a lot of information, the viewer won't have time to read and process it.
• Make text as large as possible, within reason and style. We recommend a font size of at least 22 or 24. Whenever possible, use a sans serif font (like Arial or Verdana), as these are easier to read on television.
• Contact DTV8 if you have a presentation to make to the Durham City Council or the Durham Planning Commission, DTV8 staff will arrange a time to meet with you prior to the meeting to ensure your presentation meets TV guidelines. Questions? Call (919) 560-4123.
Things to Avoid
• Thin, script, or serif style fonts. Try to use fonts that are thicker or in bold. Thicker fonts work better on television.
• Small font sizes. Text that is too small will become unreadable when converted to video. Try to use 24 as the minimum point size. Details like the horizontal lines in letters such as A or E may also be lost if the font is too small.
• Thin lines. Any lines you draw or outlines that you use should be at least four pixels thick. Smaller lines will appear to jitter and vibrate when seen on video. This is because the video signal is interlaced, meaning that only the odd or even numbered scan lines are displayed at any given time. One pixel equates to one scan line. If your lines aren't thick enough to cover multiple scan lines, they'll appear to be constantly shifting position, causing what is called field flicker.
• Small or thin repeating patterns like grids or plaid. These will cause jittering, vibrating, and strobing effects. If you want to use a grid pattern in your design, make sure the lines are at least four pixels wide and four pixels apart.
• Excessive use of pure colors. A television set can't display graphics and text as clearly as a computer monitor. As a result, pure colors will "bleed" on television causing ghosting patterns and / or smearing and tearing effects. This is especially true for the color red. To avoid this, never use a pure color. A list of common pure colors and their TV safe RGB values can be found below. They appear darker than you're used to on a computer, but they are bright and crisp on TV.