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Introduction—Continued
■ CD-R (compact disc recordable): A type of CD
that can be recorded only once. Can be used for VCD,
CD, MP3, or JPEG.
■ CD-RW (compact disc rewritable): A type of
CD that can be recorded over and over again. Can be
used for VCD, CD, MP3, or JPEG.
■ Chapter: Titles on DVD-Video discs can be subdi-
vided into chapters.
■ Component video: A video connection format
that separates the luminance (Y) and color difference
signals (P
R, PB), providing better picture quality than
S-Video.
■ Composite video: A video connection format that
combines the luminance and color signals together.
■ Direct Digital Path: Unique Onkyo technology
that uses dedicated shielded cables to connect the digital
audio outputs, protecting the digital output signals
against the possibility of noise and interference.
■ Dolby Digital: Once known as AC-3, this is the des-
ignated surround sound format for DVD-Video, HDTV,
and select digital broadcasts (cable, satellite, over-the-
air). A Dolby Digital bitstream may contain mono, ste-
reo, Dolby Surround, or 5.1-channel audio information.
■ Dolby Pro Logic: The decoders used in home the-
ater equipment to decode Dolby Surround material. See
Dolby Surround.
■ Dolby Surround: The original Dolby surround-
sound format uses matrix encoding to deliver four chan-
nels (left, right, center, and surround) over two audio
channels. Can be used with VHS video, analog TV, and
other analog stereo systems. The movie theater version is
known as Dolby Stereo.
■ Downmixing: The process of mixing multiple
audio channels into fewer channels. For example, a 5.1-
channel surround mix can be downmixed to two chan-
nels for reproduction on stereo systems.
■ Downsampling: The process of reducing the sam-
pling rate of digital audio.
■ DTS (Digital Theater Systems): Like Dolby
Digital, the DTS surround-sound format offers up to 5.1-
channels of information, but uses less compression for a
more faithful sound.
■ DVD-Audio: The DVD format for storing up to six
(5.1) channels of 24-bit/96 kHz digital audio or two
channels of 24-bit/192 kHz digital audio.
■ DVD-R (DVD recordable): A type of DVD disc
that can be recorded only once. Can be used for
DVD-Video or DVD-Audio.
■ DVD-RW (DVD rewritable): A type of DVD disc
that can be recorded over and over again. Can be used for
DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, or DVD-VR.
■ DVD-Video: The format for storing MPEG2 video
on DVD, with interactive menus, multiple soundtracks,
subtitles, camera angles, and so on.
■ DVD-VR (DVD Video Recording): The DVD for-
mat used by DVD recorders for storing video on
DVD-RW discs. Recorded programs can be deleted or
arranged into playlists.
■ Field: In interlaced scanning, a field is a single scan
of the screen. There are two fields per frame. See Inter-
laced Scanning and Progressive Scanning.
■ Frame: An individual TV picture is called a frame.
With the NTSC color system there are 30 frames per sec-
ond (25 for PAL).
■ HD: Abbreviation for high definition, as in HDTV
(high-definition TV).
■ HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface):
A new connection format that greatly simplifies AV con-
nections by carrying uncompressed SD or HD digital
video and up to eight channels of digital audio all in one
cable.
■ i.LINK: Another name for the IEEE 1394 connection
format. Commonly used on AV equipment. It’s a bidirec-
tional format, so connected components can talk to each
other for optimal setup and perfectly synchronized audio
transmission.
■ i.LINK Audio: The protocol for carrying up to six
(5.1) channels and up to 24-bit/192 kHz digital audio
over i.LINK (IEEE 1394). Officially known as the A&M
Protocol—Audio and Music Data Transmission Proto-
col.
■ IEEE 1394: High-speed digital connection format
used for video, audio, and computer applications. See
also A&M Protocol and i.LINK.
■ Interlaced scanning: TV pictures are made by
scanning the screen in horizontal lines from top to bot-
tom. With Interlaced scanning, two scans (fields) are
used to make each picture (frame). Contrast with Pro-
gressive scanning.
■ JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group):
The acronym commonly used to refer to the compressed
file format used to store digital images.
■ LFE (low-frequency effects): The surround-
sound channel used for low-frequency effects.
■ Linear PCM: The uncompressed digital audio for-
mat used for audio CDs. PCM stands for Pulse Code
Modulation.
■ MP3 (MPEG 1 Audio Layer 3): Popular com-
pressed file format for storing digital music.
Terminology