Jargon Buster

[[NUTZ]Echo7]

Most people will know these but if it makes things easier for newer people to the HD scene

A:

ANAMORPHIC. Some dvds offer an improved picture on widescreen TV's, banishing the so-called letterbox effect.

ASPECT RATIO. The proportions of a screen or image - a ratio of height and width.

B:

BLU-RAY. One of two rival formats aiming to provide a higher quality successor to DVD.

C:

COMPONENT. Superior to scart, s-video or composite, component cables carry video from a source(eg DVD player) to a display(TV or projector). the cables use three coloured leads

COMPOSITE. The weakest of the video-only connections.

COMPRESSION. When talking about data, compression is the process of squeezing files to make them smaller, sometimes, as with MP3, by discarding some of the information to make files more practical

CRT. Cathode Ray Tube. The technology behind conventional televisions and large high-end video projectors. Three colour tubes one red, one blue and one green are "converged" to create an image on the screen.

D

DECODING. DVD soundtracks usually include multi-channel audio in a certain format. You need a processor or AV amp to decode this info and pass it to multi-channel speakers.

DIGITAL. Digital data is stored in bits - as numbers that can be transferred with very little degradation in quality. Most modern HI-FI and AV components process digital data in the quest for the best video and audio performance.

DOLBY. One of the two companies that creates the multichannel soundtracks for films, which eventually get transfered to DVD. There are many formats, some of which are more advanced than others for example, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital surround EX

DTS. Like Dolby DTS encodes DVD soundtracks for playback on compatible AV recievers

DVD-A. High-resolution audio format that offers multi-channel surround music and 24-bit/96 khz stereo.

DVD or DVD Video. Video on CD-sized disks- have huge capacity for movies, with widescreen and multichannel surround sound

DVD-R/-RW. The most widely used recordable DVD format. DVD-R recordings can't be erased, but DVD-RW disks are re-usable

DVD+R/+RW. Developed by Phillips, this is a DVD recording format with similar properties to DVD-R/-RW but not fully compatible.

DVD-RAM. The third recordable DVD format. Includes a "time-slip" function, so you can watch the start of a show while recording the rest.

DVI-D. A high-quality digital connection for DVD players and displays, which carries a video signal without ever converting it to analogue.

F

FIREWIRE. Ultra-fast data connection used by MP3 players , computers and high-end home cinema equipment.

FREEVIEW. There are 30+ channels avaliable for free using a normal aerial if you have a set top box.


H

HD-DVD. Competing with Blu-Ray to be the high-def format that eventually replaces DVD

HDMI. A high-quality digital connection going from DVD players to displays- competing with - and superior to -DVI-D

HD-READY. Label on any TV thats able to show high-def broadcasts.

HIGH DEFINITION. The next generation of TV broadcasts has a much better quality picture. Already popular in the USA and Japan, its expected that BSkyB will be the first major broadcaster to transmit High-def pictures in 2006. Requires a TV with at least 720 horizontal lines, and a certain standard of DVI or HDMI digital connectors


TBC

[[NUTZ]Echo7]

L

LCD. Along with plasma, LCD is the main flatscreen technology. LCD is the dominant type for sets and screens under 37 inch, though larger sets are becoming avaliable. Picture quality is improving, too. Similar technology is used in cheaper projectors.


M

MEDIA CENTRE. When installed on a suitable PC, this piece of microsoft software allows you to run your computer as a home-entertainment system- with TV tuning, hard-disk recording, DVD playback and more.


N

NTSC. The north american system of Tv broadcasting. Not always compatible with the European PAL system.


O

OPTICAL. A digital audio connector


P

PAL. The european system of TV broadcasting

PLASMA. A type of large, flatscreen TV- these sets are avaliable up to 60 in. Sizes go down to 37in, where they compete with LCD TV's directly.

PROGRESSIVE SCAN. Creates DVD pictures in one hit. Gives clearer, flicker free images than the conventional system, which uses interlaced, rapidly refreshed horizontal lines.


R

REAR PROJECTOR TV. A projector housed behind a screen in a box- these TV's can give huge pictures, are less bulky than CRT's, and can offer excellent value.


S

SCART. Scart cables can be video and audio, or video only. The most commonly used AV connection, notable for its large, rectangular terminals. Not as good quality as component or digital.


T

THX. Developed by LucasFilm, a set of standards for Dolby Pro-Logic gear that should ensure a certain quality of home cinema sound.



W

WIDESCREEN. More and more TV programs, and nearly all DVD disks, are in widescreen format. This can vary from 14:9( a compromise ratio used by TV broadcasters) to 16:9, which is the ratio used on widescreen TV stes and by most DVD's. Many films shown at the cinema are in 21:9, so you'll still get black bars on a widescreen set. Old fashioned (square) TV's use a 4:3 size



Hope this is helpfull to some 1