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Glossary of Terms
Crossover
(as used in a speaker or a separate stand alone unit)
A device, either passive (as in a speaker) or active (as in a processor)
that directs particular frequencies to particular drivers or speakers.
Digital
Video Recorder
A Digital Video Recorder is like a VCR, but with a hard drive and
without the hassles of videotapes or timers. Think "tape-less" VCR and more.
Digital Video Recorders record shows digitally and save them to a hard
drive. All recorded programs are listed on your TV screen for playback in
any order.
DLP
Invented by Texas Instruments, the Digital Light Processing(TM) technology
refers to a sophisticated combination of a light source, a projection lens,
and a Digital Micromirror Device (known as the DMD chip) that contains over
a million tiny, hinged mirrors used to reflect an image on to a screen. On
this chip, each mirror corresponds to one pixel in the projected image.
Dolby
Digital
Dolby Laboratories' method of encoding and decoding 5.1 discrete channels of
audio for movies and music.
Dolby Digital Surround EX
Co-developed by Dolby and THX, Surround EX adds a center back channel to the
five main channels of audio in Dolby Digital-sometimes referred to as 6.1
channels, the .1 being the LF (Low Frequency) effect channel sent to the
subwoofer.
Dolby ProLogic
Dolby Laboratories' matrix method of encoding four tracks of audio
information (left front, right front, center front, and rear) into two
channels.
DTS
(competitor to Dolby Digital 5.1)
Digital Theater Systems name for a method of encoding 5.1 discrete channels
of audio for movies and music.
DTS-ES
An extension of DTS to incorporate a center rear channel of audio
information (6.1 total), similar to Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES Discrete.
DTV
Short for Digital TV. When used to refer to a TV broadcast, DTV can mean any
one of 18 different broadcast variations approved by the FCC. When used to
refer to a television, DTV can mean any one of three different levels of
television.
DVD
Short for Digital Versatile Disc. If you don't have a DVD player by now, you
should.
EDTV
Short for Enhanced Definition TV. This type of television must be able to
display images at scanning rates higher than 480p but not as good as HDTV.
It must also include a DTV tuner capable of receiving all 18 DTV broadcast
formats.
EDTV Monitor
An Enhanced Definition TV without an included DTV tuner.
Frame
An image on a TV screen using all of the lines. In an interlace system, two
fields (1/60th of a second) combine to make one frame (one 1/30th of a
second).
Front Projection TV
A type of television that projects an image onto a screen or wall in front
of the projector.
HDTV
Short for High Definition TV. This type of television must be able to
display images at scanning rates of either 720p or 1080i. It must also be
able to display these images in a 16:9 aspect ratio and include a DTV tuner
capable of receiving all 18 DTV broadcast formats.
HDTV Monitor
An HDTV without an included DTV tuner.
Interlace Scan
The process of creating an image on a screen by scanning or illuminating
every other line in the image before going back and scanning or illuminating
the skipped lines.
In-wall speaker
A speaker that is mounted flush in the wall or ceiling of a home or office.
LCD TV
A television that uses a Liquid Crystal Display panel to create an image.
Some examples are LCD flat panel TVs, LCD-based rear projection TVs, and
LCD-based front projection TVs.
Line Doubler
Usually an outboard device, although sometimes built in to a high-scan
capable TV, that adds additional scanning lines to images composed of fewer
scanning lines (like NTSC images).
Macro
When referring to remote controls or home automation, a "macro" is a
sequence of commands that are sent to your system ("receiver power on",
"select DVD input", "select Dolby Digital", "DVD power on", "DVD play", "dim
the room lights", etc.) as the result of touching one button.
Midrange
The range of frequencies that lie between midbass and the high
frequencies.
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