Vertical blanking interval

Ok kiddo, do you know how you watch videos or TV shows on your screen? It's made up of thousands of tiny little dots called pixels that light up to create pictures. When you watch something on your screen, your eyes can't see the screen refreshing the pictures quickly enough, so it looks like the picture is staying still.

Now, sometimes the screen needs a little break between frames to catch its breath and get ready for the next picture. That little break is called the vertical blanking interval, or VBI for short. During this break, the screen goes blank, or black, and doesn't show any pictures.

“But why does my screen need a break?” you might ask. Well, screens need time to catch up and prepare for the next frame of the video, which means they need a little break to get ready for the next picture.

Also, the VBI can be used to send important information between the TV station and your screen. For example, closed captioning, which is the text you read on your screen when people are speaking on TV, can be broadcasted during this break time. So when you see that little pause in between scenes, just remember it's the vertical blanking interval giving your screen some time to rest before the next picture loads.