Glossary for DVD Player
Aspect ratio
The ratio of vertical and horizontal sizes of a displayed
image. The horizontal vs. vertical ratio of conventional TVs
is 4:3 and that of wide-screen TVs is 16:9.
Chapter
The smallest division on DVD VIDEO. It is a division of a
title and similar to a track for CD or VCD.
Component video signal
A video signal system where parts of information
necessary for reproducing image signal comprised of the
three primary colors of light are transmitted via separate
signal lines. Types of signal, such as R/G/B, Y/P
are available.
Composite video signal
A video signal comprised of three kinds of signals
combined: an image signal made up of luminance and
chrominance signals using the frequency multiplication
technique, burst signal providing the basis for color
reproduction, and synchronization signal.
Disc menu
A screen display prepared for allowing selection of images,
sounds, subtitles, multi-angle, etc. recorded on DVD
VIDEO.
Interlaced scanning
In the conventional video system, a picture is shown on
the display monitor in 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.
JPEG
A still-picture data compression system proposed by the
Joint Photographic Expert Group, which features little
distortion in image quality in spite of its high compression
ratio.
Letter box
A method of displaying wide images like movies in on a
4:3 TV screen with no part of the image deleted by
placing black bands on the top and bottom of the screen.
This name has derived from the screen form looking
literally like a letter box.
Linear PCM (PCM: Pulse Code Modulation)
A system for converting analog sound signal to digital
signal for later processing with no data compression used
in conversion.
MP3
A file format with a sound data compression system.
"MP3" is the abbreviation of Motion Picture Experts Group
1 (or MPEG-1) Audio Layer 3. By using MP3 format, one
CD-R or CD-RW can contain about 10 times as much data
volume as a regular CD can.
Multi-angle
By recording multiple scenes progressing at the same
time in a single title, the user can select view angles. This
feature is called the multi-angle function.
Multi-channel
DVD VIDEO has been designed to have each soundtrack
constitute one sound field. Multi-channel refers to a
structure of sound tracks having three or more channels.
Multi-language
When a title is created to cope with multiple languages, it
is generally called a multilanguage title.
Packed PCM (PCM: Pulse Code Modulation)
A format for DVD AUDIO with a compression ratio of
about 2:1. This supports up to 192 kHz/24 bit and allows
PCM signals to be completely recreated.
/P
, etc.,
B
R
Parental Lock
A feature of this system to automatically determine
whether or not to reproduce particular DVD VIDEO
software by comparing its parental level (a measure of
undesirability of scenes, etc. from educational viewpoint)
set for the software beforehand with that set on this
system by the user; if the software's level is less restrictive
than the user-set level, it will be reproduced.
Playback control (PBC)
Refers to the signal recorded on VCD/SVCD for
controlling reproduction. By using menu screens
recorded on VCD/SVCD that supports PBC, you can enjoy
interactive-type software as well as software having a
search function.
Progressive scanning
By progressive scanning, all the horizontal lines of a
picture are displayed at one time as a single frame. This
system can convert the interlaced video from DVD VIDEO
into progressive format for connection to a progressive TV.
It dramatically increases the vertical resolution.
Region code
A system for allowing discs to be played back only in the
regions designated beforehand. All the countries in the
world are divided into six regions and each region is
identified by a specified region code (or region number).
If the region code of a disc matches that of a player, the
player can play back the disc.
Sampling frequency
Frequency of sampling data when analog data is
converted to digital data. Sampling frequency numerically
represents how many times the original analog signal is
sampled per second.
Surround
A system for creating three-dimensional sound fields full
of realism by arranging multiple speakers around the
listener.
Transfer rate
The rate of transferring digital data. Usually the measure
is in bit per second (bps). The DVD system applies a
variable transfer rate system for high efficiency.
62