Errors in drop frame and non-drop frame timecodes

Timecodes are a labeling system, and the frame rate is the speed of frames per second (fps). The speed of black and white TV broadcasting in the USA was originally 30 fps as a non-drop frame. When color TV was introduced in 1953, the speed of the frame rate was slowed down to a 29.97 fps drop frame, so that the millions of people who had black and white TVs could also receive color TV programs without any visible artifacts.

With the invention of electronic video tape editing in the 1960s, SMPTE timecode was introduced and allowed each individual frame to be labeled. The frame number of the timecode was dropped in the labeling system without any changes to the frames of the video itself. It was done by dropping 2 frames each minute, except every 10th minute, in the SMPTE timecode labeling.

For the film composer, it is important to identify and check with the film director/editor what the correct frame rate is. Let’s review...