Them little dots in the corner of the screen just before the adverts come on
 

Edster wrote:

Subject: Them little dots in the corner of the screen just before
the adverts come on

I always assumed, rightly or wrongly, that they were there to tell
someone to get ready to put the tape in with all the adverts on.
Like similar blobs in films that told projectionists to get the next
reel
ready in old style cinemas. But I somehow doubt that TV companies work
that way any more, and are more likely to use computers than people to
do that sort of thing.

They're called "cue dots". I asked about them a while ago in
"uk.tech.broadcast". Here's the discussion (make sure you get all of the
URL):

p
pii.net

Are they there for the benefit of foreign transmissions,

At least this foreigner has never seen them in any other than UK-sourced
programmes.

--
znark