◷ 3:03
Maja turns on the TV and wonders how a fish can swim across the screen—and where its splash comes from. This song explores how a signal guides pixels and speakers, how changing still pictures appear to move, and how a vibrating speaker moves the air to make sound.
Original explanations based on the cited sources.
Sound
Sound is a travelling vibration in a material, such as air, water or metal. It needs a medium, so it does not travel through a vacuum.
Sources
Pixels
A pixel is one element in the grid of a digital image and stores colour information. Many pixels together form a photo or video frame.
Sources
RGB colour model
RGB describes a colour using red, green and blue light components. Screens combine these components to display many different colours.
Sources
Additive colour mixing
Additive mixing combines light of different colours. A suitable combination of red, green and blue light produces white; mixing paint works differently.
Sources
Sequence of video frames
A video displays successive still images called frames. Showing them rapidly in the right order lets us perceive motion.
Sources
Signal decoding
Decoding reads data stored according to a particular code. During video playback, a decoder turns encoded data into images or sound that can be played.
Sources
Text from the recording’s subtitles.
Song lyrics
Maya pulsa: ¿qué aparece en pantalla?
El control manda encender la tele
Un pez de colores cruza las burbujas
Del altavoz se oye un chapuzón
La señal trae datos de imagen y audio
Los circuitos los convierten en órdenes
La señal dice a la pantalla qué mostrar
Los píxeles dan color a la luz
El altavoz mueve el aire y suena
Imagen y sonido van a la par
Con la lupa, Maya ve una cuadrícula
Los píxeles no cambian de lugar
Cada uno controla tres luces
Una roja, una verde y una azul
Cambian de brillo y forman muchos colores
La señal dice a la pantalla qué mostrar
Los píxeles dan color a la luz
El altavoz mueve el aire y suena
Imagen y sonido van a la par
Imágenes fijas cambian muy deprisa
El pez parece nadar por la pantalla
Vibra la membrana, mueve el aire: ¡chapuzón!
La señal dice a la pantalla qué mostrar
Los píxeles dan color a la luz
El altavoz mueve el aire y suena
Imagen y sonido van a la par
Maya ve al pez nadar y oye el chapuzón
Señal, píxeles y altavoz trabajan juntos
Language version lyrics
Maja clicks—what lights up the screen?
The remote sends the power-on command
A bright fish swims among the bubbles
The speaker gives a watery splash
The signal carries picture and sound data
Inside, circuits turn them into commands
The signal tells the screen what to show
Pixels make the colors out of light
The speaker moves the air for sound
Picture and sound work side by side
Maja's lens reveals a tiny grid
The pixels stay fixed in their places
Each one controls three colors of light
Red, green, and blue grow bright or dim
Together they make the colors we see
The signal tells the screen what to show
Pixels make the colors out of light
The speaker moves the air for sound
Picture and sound work side by side
Still pictures change very fast, one by one
The fish seems to glide across the screen
The speaker membrane shakes and moves air—splash!
The signal tells the screen what to show
Pixels make the colors out of light
The speaker moves the air for sound
Picture and sound work side by side
Maja sees it glide and hears the splash
Signal, pixels, speaker work as one
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