A digital on screen graphic (known in the UK and New Zealand by the acronym DOG; in the US and Canada as a bug; and in Australia as a watermark) is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to assist viewers in identifying the channel. They are thus a form of permanent visual station identification, increasing brand recognition and asserting ownership of the video signal.
In some cases, the graphic also shows the name of the current program. Some networks use an on-screen graphic to advertise later programs in the day's television schedule—this is generally displayed after the opening, during in-programme credits, and when returning from a commercial break. The graphic identifies the source of programming even if it is time-shifted—that is, recorded to videotape, DVD, or via a digital personal video recorder such as TiVo. Many of these technologies allow viewers to skip or omit traditional between-programming station identification.
The graphic can be displayed on any of the four corners of the screen: the top right corner on the screen (as in NDTV Profit, Zee News, Star News, the TV Today group channels) or on the top left hand corner (as in DD News and many of the international channels like BBC and CNN) or on the left bottom corner (as used by NDTV 24x7, NDTV India, CNN-IBN and IBN-7) or right bottom corner (as in Times Now, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Aawaz).
Adverse effects: While most bugs are simply small, transparent logos, some are not transparent and a few are large. Nickelodeon GAS uses their normal logo in the conventional size, but because it is not transparent, it blocks the timers that are commonly used in their programs.
Toon Disney uses a transparent logo, but it is larger than usual. Some are not entirely transparent, and may slightly obscure the item they are in front of, like the bug used by Nickelodeon. Furthermore, there have also been reports of TV screens being damaged by phosphor burn-in, when a channel displaying a non-transparent logo has been left on for a prolonged period of time.
Connections with sponsor tags: Another graphic on television usually connected with sports is the sponsor tag. It shows the logos of certain sponsors, accompanied by some background relevant to the game, the network logo, announcement and music of some kind.
In some cases, the graphic also shows the name of the current program. Some networks use an on-screen graphic to advertise later programs in the day's television schedule—this is generally displayed after the opening, during in-programme credits, and when returning from a commercial break. The graphic identifies the source of programming even if it is time-shifted—that is, recorded to videotape, DVD, or via a digital personal video recorder such as TiVo. Many of these technologies allow viewers to skip or omit traditional between-programming station identification.
The graphic can be displayed on any of the four corners of the screen: the top right corner on the screen (as in NDTV Profit, Zee News, Star News, the TV Today group channels) or on the top left hand corner (as in DD News and many of the international channels like BBC and CNN) or on the left bottom corner (as used by NDTV 24x7, NDTV India, CNN-IBN and IBN-7) or right bottom corner (as in Times Now, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Aawaz).
Adverse effects: While most bugs are simply small, transparent logos, some are not transparent and a few are large. Nickelodeon GAS uses their normal logo in the conventional size, but because it is not transparent, it blocks the timers that are commonly used in their programs.
Toon Disney uses a transparent logo, but it is larger than usual. Some are not entirely transparent, and may slightly obscure the item they are in front of, like the bug used by Nickelodeon. Furthermore, there have also been reports of TV screens being damaged by phosphor burn-in, when a channel displaying a non-transparent logo has been left on for a prolonged period of time.
Connections with sponsor tags: Another graphic on television usually connected with sports is the sponsor tag. It shows the logos of certain sponsors, accompanied by some background relevant to the game, the network logo, announcement and music of some kind.