Drop frame is one of the two SMPTE code types, and is the NTSC colour television standard. When using this code type, 108 specific frame numbers are "dropped" for each hour of time code.
Type of SMPTE time code designed to exactly match the real time of common clocks. Two frames of time code are dropped every minute, on the minute, except every tenth minute. This corrects for the fact that video frames occur at a rate of 29.97 per second, rather than an exact 30 frames per second.
Time code that removes frame numbers (not frames themselves) in order to achieve perfect sync with broadcast clocks.
a type of SMPTE time code designed to match clock time exactly. Two frames of code are dropped every minute, on the minute, except every tenth minute, to correct for the fact that color frames occur at a rate of 29.97 per second, rather than an exact 30 frames per second (see Non-Drop Frame). Designed to drive editors crazy
A method of adjusting the nominal 30 frame per second counting rate of SMPTE 12M time code to the actual counting rate of approximately 29.97 frames per second – a difference of 1 part in 1001. This correction drops 108 frames per hour by skipping frame counts 0 and 1 at the beginning of each minute, except minutes 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50. See also LTC and VITC
Video runs at approximately 30 frames per second. However, in television, the frames run at 29.97 frames per second. Because of the .03-second error, at the end of an hour show, there is an error of 108 frames or about 3.5 seconds. In order for an hour show to end in an hour, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers developed a way to compensate for the difference and called it drop frame. To eliminate the 108 frames, an editor drops 2 frames each minute, except minutes ending in zero. It is important to note that it is the numbers that are skipped and not the actual video frames. Videos in which the 108 frames are not dropped are non-drop frame videos.
Frames dropped out of black & white videos to match the broadcast speed of color video. Black & white broadcasts at 30 frames/second; color is a little slower at 29.97 frames/second. Over the course of one hour (3600 seconds) this discrepancy in speeds makes a program in black & white last ((30 f/s × 3600 seconds) – (29.97 f/s × 3600 seconds)) = 108 frames, or 108 frames ÷ 30 f/s = 3.6 seconds longer than its color counterpart. To figure out which frames are dropped, the following standard is used: In every minute of a black & white broadcast, of the ((30 f/s × 60 seconds) = 1,800) 1,800 frames shown, :00 and :01 are dropped, except in minutes divisible by 10. Therefore, in one hour, two frames per minute are dropped a total of 54 times (every minute except for minutes 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50), causing a total loss of 108 frames.