Kate's Corner: How the green screen works

You may have noticed that the meteorologists here at WDTV never wear green. It's not because we all hate the color green. It's because we use technology called a chroma key or a green screen.

When we're on air with our graphics behind us, we actually aren't seeing anything but green. This is a special effects tool used for weather forecasts and even feature films and television shows.

So how does this work?

Well, our camera here is connected to a computer. That computer tells it to take out anything colored bright green and replace it with your graphics.

Chroma keys are usually bright green or blue because those colors contrast the most with human skin tones. This makes its easier for the computer to remove just the green wall behind me and not any part of my face or arms.

Since we are only seeing green while giving you your forecast, who do we know where to point? Well, on our sides and under the camera, we have screens that show us what you are seeing.

So what exactly happens if I were to wear any green? Well, anything that is green becomes invisible because the graphics are over it.