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This article need not be merged with multichannel audio but the definition of the word itself should not be limited to its audio application, since multichannel is an adjective which describes and includes more than one channel of things other than audio, specifically in the realm of visual material, where it can be used to describe multiple streams of video on cable, for example (hence the name of the trade publication for cable, Multichannel News) or in multiple camera shoots, as in televising a sporting event or a soap opera and in several other technical broadcasting uses (witness some 600,000 Google entries on the word 'multichannel video.")
Multichannel is also used to describe in a work of video art where more than one stream of video is being used simultaneously in a video installation. From this origin, it is sometimes used to describe works that divide a visual frame in any form. Hence, split screen would be a subgenre of multichannel, as are film installation, web graphics, commercials, interstitial materials and music videos which divide up the frame, usually using digital technology, to create effects and/or make their point.
Lastly, multichannel can be combined with the word 'narrative' to describe works in which multiple visual streams are combined to create a narrative form. In multichannel narrative, the interrelationships of these simultaneous images for the basis for its storytelling. Several recent films go beyond mere split-screen and use this capacity as an inherent part of the story itself.
In my opinion, this page could be best used as a jumping off point for discussing the variety, history and technology of these forms.
- I've merged and redirected for now - feel free to create an article with the information above and link across to the audio page. I don't know the subjects well enough to do so. Kcordina Talk 14:41, 11 April 2006 (UTC)
- When I merged Multichannel audio into Surround sound, I converted this Multichannel page into a disambiguation page. This was because it wasn't sensible for it to #REDIRECT to Surround sound (or anywhere else). If Kcordina or somebody else wants to convert the disambiguation page into an article on "multichannel", along the lines suggested above, then they are welcome to try. Martin.leese 22:58, 19 January 2007 (UTC)