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Additional Information
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Glossary
Analog audio
An electrical signal that directly represents
sound. Compare this to digital audio,
which can also be an electrical signal, but
is an indirect representation of sound. See
also Digital audio.
Aspect ratio
The width of a TV screen relative to its
height. Conventional TVs are 4:3 (in other
words, the screen is almost square);
widescreen models are 16:9 (the screen is
almost twice as wide as it is high).
Chapter (DVD only)
Just as a book is divided up into several
chapters, a title on a DVD disc is usually
split into chapters. See also Title.
Digital audio
An indirect representation of sound by
numbers. During recording, the sound is
measured at discrete intervals (44,100
times a second for CD audio) by an analog-
to-digital converter, generating a stream of
numbers. On playback, a digital-to-analog
converter generates an analog signal based
on these numbers. See also Sampling
frequency and Analog audio.
Dolby Digital (DVD only)
A surround sound system developed by
Dolby Laboratories containing up to six
channels of digital audio (front left and
right, surround left and right, center and
low-frequency channels). See also DTS.
DTS
A surround sound system developed by
Digital Theater Systems as an alternative to
Dolby Digital. DTS discs contain up to eight
channels of digital audio. See also Dolby
Digital.
Dynamic range
The difference between the quietest and
loudest sounds possible in an audio signal
(without distorting or getting lost in noise).
Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks are
capable of a very wide dynamic range,
delivering dramatic cinema-like effects.
MPEG video
The video format used for Video CDs and
DVDs. Video CD uses the older MPEG-1
standard, while DVD uses the newer and
much better quality MPEG-2 standard.