What does the term 'frame rate' refer to?

• A. The resolution of the video
• B. The number of frames displayed per second
• C. The color depth of the image
• D. The rate at which the shutter opens

Answer: (B)

Frame rate refers to the number of frames shown per second in a video. This quantity determines how smooth or choppy motion appears: more frames per second make movement look more fluid, while fewer frames per second can look staccier. In practice, different contexts use different typical rates—film often uses about 24 fps, television uses around 30 or 60 fps, and some broadcasts or games push higher rates for smoother motion. Keeping up with higher frame rates also means more data to store and transmit.

This concept is distinct from resolution, which is about how many pixels make up each frame; from color depth, which concerns how many colors or bits per pixel are available; and from shutter speed or exposure, which controls how long the camera’s shutter is open to capture each frame.