VJ hardware falls into five functional roles: Source, Playback, Mixing, Effects, and Output

A complete VJ signal chain is understood through five functional roles: (1) Source hardware generates a video picture — cameras and video synthesizers; (2) Playback hardware reproduces stored material — VHS decks, DVD players; (3) Mixing hardware combines multiple streams — video mixers or a computer running VJ software; (4) Effects hardware processes the signal — e.g. colour-correction units; (5) Output hardware displays the final signal — projectors, LED displays, plasma screens. The taxonomy is function-first, not device-first: in a software-only setup a single application can fill several roles at once, but the routing logic is the same — you need a source before you can mix, and a mix output before you can display.

Examples

A software rig: media files on disk (Source/Playback) -> Resolume as mixer + FX (Mixing/Effects) -> laptop output to projector (Output). A hardware rig: two VHS decks (Playback) -> Panasonic MX-50 video mixer (Mixing) -> LED screen (Output).

Assessment

Assign each component of a laptop-plus-projector VJ setup to one of the five roles, and identify which roles collapse into a single application in a software-only rig.