What is meant by “generation loss”, where does it happen?

Generation loss refers to the loss of quality and potential increase of file size between subsequent copies of data. Anything that reduces the quality of the representation when copying, and would cause further reduction in quality on making a copy of the copy, can be considered a form of generation loss.

In analog systems (including systems that use digital recording but make the copy over an analog connection), generation loss is mostly due to noise and bandwidth issues in cables, amplifiers, mixers, recording equipment and anything else between the source and the destination. Poorly adjusted distribution amplifiers and mismatched impedances can make these problems even worse. Repeated conversion between analog and digital can also cause loss.

Describe what a codec is.

Codec is a short name for coder-decoder, the software that takes a raw data file and turns it into a compressed file. Because compressed files only contain some of the data found in the original file, the codec is the necessary “translator” that decides what data makes it in to the compressed version and what data gets discarded.
Different codecs translate in different ways, so a video file compressed using the Intel Indeo codec will be different from a file compressed using the Cinepak codec, for example. Sometimes the difference is noticeable, sometimes not, but it’s good to be aware of what codecs are best for what you’re trying to do in order to maintain the best ratio of file size to quality.

Why do digital video cameras use video compression

Many types of video compression exist for serving digital video over the internet and on optical disks. The file sizes of digital video used for professional editing are generally not practical for these purposes, and the video requires further compression with codecs such as the Windows Media format, MPEG2, MPEG4, Real Media, and more recently H.264. Probably the most widely used formats for delivering video over the internet are MPEG4 and Windows Media, while MPEG2 is used almost exclusively for DVDs, providing an exceptional image in minimal size but resulting in a high level of CPU consumption to decompress.

What is an IEEE 1394 port

IEEE 1394, also known as FireWire,originated from Apple which, like USB, allows the connection of peripherals to a computer.IEEE 1394 supports much higher bandwidth than USB, allowing you to get feed from a high-resolution video camera onto a computer without experiencing issues. Today, IEEE 1394 has become a computing standard for high-bandwidth devices
IEEE 1394 works through peer-to-peer networking, meaning that devices can connect and talk to each other without needing a computer. IEEE 1394 has the capability of plug-and-play. This means that a device connected to a computer is detected without need of a driver disk or other software.

Which standard do we use in Australia

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PAL, NTSC, and SECAM,

Pal: short for Phase Alternating Line, is the analogue video format.The name "Phase Alternating Line" describes the way that part of the colour information on the video signal is reversed in phase with each line, which automatically corrects phase errors in the transmission of the signal. 

NTSC: The National Television Standards Committee The NTSC format consists of 29.97 interlaced frames of video a second, each consisting of 480 lines of vertical resolution out of a total of 525 (the rest are used for sync, vertical retrace, and other data such as captioning)

Secam: (Sequentiel Couleur avec Mémoire, French for "sequential color with memory") is an analog television system, using frequency modulation to encode chrominance information. It is so named because it uses memory to store lines of color information, in order to eliminate the color artifacts found on systems using the NTSC standard.

What is the colour system called RGB

It is an additive colour system involves light emitted directly from a source, before an object reflects the light. The additive reproduction process mixes various amounts of red, green and blue light to make other colors.

Combining one of these additive primary colors with another produces the additive secondary colors cyan, magenta, yellow. Mixing all three primary colors produces white.

Television and computer monitors create color using the primary colors of light. Each pixel on a monitor screen starts out as black. When the red, green and blue phosphors of a pixel are illuminated simultaneously, that pixel becomes white. This known as additive color.

To illustrate additive color, imagine three spotlights, one red, one green and one blue focused from the back of an ice arena on skaters in an ice show. Where the blue and green spotlights overlap, the color cyan is produced; where the blue and red spotlights overlap, the color magenta is produced; where the red and green spotlights overlap the color yellow is produced. When added together, red, green and blue lights produce what we perceive as white light

What is meant by resolution, how is it measured.

Resolution is lines and pixels in simpler terms. A television or recorded video image is basically made up of scan lines. In films the full image is projected on a screen at once, a video is made up of rapidly scanning horizontal lines starting at the top and moving down to the bottom. These lines can be displayed in two ways. The first way is to split the lines into two fields in which all of the odd numbered lines are displayed first then all even numbered lines are next, in essence producing a complete frame. This is called interlacing or interlaced scan. 

The second method is used in digital video recording, digital TVs and computer monitors is referred to as progressive scan. This allows the horizontal (odd&even) lines to be displayed sequentially. 

These points just mentioned convey the vertical resolution  

Horizontal resolution is the number of dots displayed within each line it can vary according to the input source of the ability of the TV monitor itself. 

The resolution is measured in picture elements, or "pixels" for short.

What is meant by frame rate in video?

What is meant by frame rate in video?
The frame-rate says how many images of a movie are displayed every second a movie is played.

Are all videos/movies the same frame rate, explain your answer

No, not all videos and movies are the same frame rate. For example if a interview is being filmed there is not much movement if it is a lower frame rate it would not have a major effect on quality, on the other hand if a football match is being filmed there would be a lot of movement so   a lower frame rate would have an effect on quality. So the frame rate of a video/movie really just depends on what is being filmed. 

What are some advantages of digital video

What are some advantages of digital video Better learning as moving pictures with sound are more effective than stills. Footage can be updated or changed with ease. Digital video adds a whole new dimension to presentations as it can be easily incorporated into computer presentations. With network capabilities, presentations can be distributed easily. Since digital video clips are basically files, they can be integrated into many databases just like text or numeric fields for useful applications. For example, video clips of historical/educational/marketing events or trips can be integrated with more mundane information to provide a more interesting presentation.