Additional information
Appendix D: Glossary
525i/525p
Indicates the number of scanning lines and scanning format of an
image signal. 525i indicates 525 scanning lines with interlace
format, and 525p indicates 525 scanning lines with progressive
format.
Aspect ratio
A ratio which defines the shape of the rectangular picture in a TV.
It is the width of the picture relative to the height. A conventional
TV picture is 4:3 in aspect ratio.
Bitstream
The digital form of multichannel audio data (e.g., 5.1-channel)
before it is decoded into its various channels.
Chapter/title
Chapter is the smallest division and title is the largest division on
DVD VIDEO. A chapter is a division of a title and similar to a track
for Video CD or Audio CD.
Component video
Video signals with three channels of separate information that
makes up the picture. There are some types of component video,
such as R/G/B and Y/C
(P
)/C
(P
B
B
R
Composite video
A single video signal commonly used in most consumer video
products that contains all luminance, color, and synchronization
information.
Dolby Digital (AC3)
A six-channel system consisting of left, center, right, left rear,
right rear and LFE (Low-Frequency Effect channel, for use with a
sub-woofer) channels. All processing is done in the digital
domain. Not all Dolby Digital discs contain six (5.1) channels of
information.
Dolby Surround/Dolby Pro Logic
Dolby Surround records four channels of front and rear audio in
two channels in a way that allows a decoder to recover the
original four channels for playback. Because the audio is
recorded in two channels, it can be played back naturally by a
two-channel stereo system.
Dolby Pro Logic introduces directional circuits in decoder-side
processing (increasing the level of specific channels and
lowering the level of silent channels) for greater spatial
perspective, and adds a center speaker used primarily for dialog.
The result is enhanced channel separation.
Down-mix
Internal stereo mix of multichannel surround audio by a DVD
player. The down-mix signals are output from stereo output
connectors.
DTS
A Digital Surround audio encoding format configured with six
(5.1) channels, similar to Dolby Digital. It requires a decoder,
either in the player or in an external receiver. DTS stands for
Digital Theater Systems.
Not all DTS discs contain six (5.1) channels of information.
Dynamic range
The difference between the loudest and softest sounds.
Interlaced scanning
In a conventional video system, a picture is shown on the display
monitor in between lines of two halves. The Interlaced scanning
system places lines of the second half of the picture in-between
lines of the first half of the picture.
64
).
R
JPEG
A popular file format for still image compression and storage.
JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group.
There are three sub-types of the JPEG format as follows.
• baseline JPEG: used for digital cameras, the web, etc.
• progressive JPEG: used for the web
• lossless JPEG: an old type, rarely used now
Linear PCM audio
PCM stands for "pulse code modulation." Linear PCM is the
usual method for digitally encoding audio without compression,
and is used for the audio tracks on DVD VIDEO discs, Audio
CDs, etc.
MP3
MP3 is an audio data compression format, which stands for
MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3. Using MP3, you can achieve a data
reduction of about 1:10.
MPEG
A family of Standards for compressing audio-visual information.
"MPEG" standards include MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4.
Video CD and MP3 are based on MPEG-1, while DVD is based
on MPEG-2. MPEG stands for Moving Picture coding Experts
Group.
MPEG Multichannel
This feature expands the 5.1 channel audio format recorded on
the disc to a 7.1 channel format. The further expansion of the 5.1
channel audio makes it easy for you to reproduce the movie
theater experience in your own home.
NTSC (National television system committee)
A black and white and color television system format used in the
U.S.A., Canada, Mexico and Japan.
PAL (Phase Alternation by Line)
A color television system format used extensively in Western
Europe.
PBC
PBC stands for "Playback control" and is a method of controlling
disc play for Video CDs (VCD). You are able to interact with the
disc through menus.
Progressive scanning
Progressive scanning displays all the horizontal lines of a picture
at one time, as a single frame. A progressive scanning DVD
player converts the interlaced (525i) video from DVD into
progressive (525p) format for connection to a progressive
display. It dramatically increases the vertical resolution.
S-video
A video signal which improves picture quality over standard
composite connections. Used on Super VHS, DVD, high end TV
monitors, etc.
Track
The smallest division on SVCD, Video CD and Audio CD discs.
WMA
WMA is an abbreviation of "Windows Media Audio," and is an
audio data compression format developed by Microsoft
Corporation. Sound quality of data compressed using WMA is the
same as that of MP3, though the WMA file size is smaller than
that of MP3.