In analog color television technology, a signal consisting of several (8 to 10 in NTSC) cycles of unmodulated color subcarrier, superimposed at a specified location within the composite signal. Note: The color burst (a) enables the color-decoding circuits in the receiver, and (b) serves as an amplitude, frequency, and phase reference to which the local color (subcarrier frequency) oscillator in the receiver is phase-locked to ensure color fidelity and stability in the displayed picture.