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CineMaster User’s Guide44
Bandwidth –
The amount of data that can be transferred to or from a graphics
card in a given length of time. Typically, when playing back digital video, the
write data bandwidth of the VGA card is most important. The amount of
bandwidth available is dependent on the type and speed of memory used on the
VGA card, on the efficiency of the VGA controller’s hardware, and on the
current display mode (because high-end modes consume more memory read
bandwidth due to display updating). A VGA card that does not simultaneously
have sufficient read bandwidth to update the display and write bandwidth to
accept live video data may not produce an acceptable quality image unless less
video data is written or the display mode is changed to one that is less
demanding. Available bandwidth is directly related to, and the best measure of,
VGA card performance.
Chapter (in a DVD title) –
Divisions of a DVD title that are defined by the
content provider. Chapters normally begin at a particular scene in a movie, and
break it down into smaller portions, analogous to tracks on an audio CD. DVD
allows random access, and the “Jump to a scene” option in many root menus
actually goes to the beginning of a chapter that contains that scene.
Chrominance –
The portion of the analog video signal that carries all of the
color information (hue and saturation). The chrominance signal (C) is carried
as a separate channel on the S-video output, but is mixed with the luminance
(Y) signal to create Composite video.
Color Depth –
A representation of how much digital data will be used to
encode (digitally represent) a pixel in the display memory. It relates directly to
how many colors a pixel can be. An 8-bit color depth allows a pixel to be one
of 256 colors. A 16-bit color depth allows a pixel to be one of 65,536 colors,
but obviously requires twice as much memory to store. A 24-bit color depth
allows a pixel to be one of 16.7 million colors. The 24-bit color depth is also
called “true color”, because a pixel can be any color that the eye is capable of
seeing. Together with resolution, color depth defines a display mode.
Composite video –
A single video signal that contains all the information
(sync, color, and intensity) necessary to form a complete image on a video
display or recording machine. A composite signal contains a sync pulse, a color
burst and modulated luminance and chrominance subcarriers. Composite
video, like S-Video, is encoded according to one of the video standards
(NTSC, PAL, or SECAM).