A
character generator, often abbreviated as
CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text (such as
news crawls and
credits rolls) for
keying into a
video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text. (The
integrated circuit, usually in the form of a
PROM, that decodes a
keystroke in a
keyboard, and outputs a corresponding character, is also referred to as a "character generator.")