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Glossary of Terms
Here are some brief, mostly
non-technical explanations of some of the terms you may hear in an A/V
store, see in an advertisement, or read about in an article covering home
theater and HDTV. If you're still unsure of what a specific term means after
reading our definition, please call or email. We'll be glad to take the time to give you
a more enlightening (and longer) explanation.
1080i
Refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 1,080
lines of pixels that are scanned in an interlacing manner in which every
other line is scanned/illuminated before the skipped lines are
scanned/illuminated.
480i
Refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 480
lines of pixels that are scanned in an interlacing manner in which every
other line is scanned/illuminated before the skipped lines are
scanned/illuminated.
480p
Refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 480
lines of pixels that are scanned in a progressive manner in which each line
is scanned one after the other.
5.1
Refers to sound systems having five full-range channels (usually left front,
center, right front, right rear, and left rear) plus a low-frequency effects
channel. A 5.1-channel system will typically have six speakers total. Dolby
Digital and DTS are both examples of 5.1-channel surround sound formats.
6.1
Refers to sound systems having six full-range channels (the same as in a
5.1-channel system but with the addition of a center back channel) plus a
low-frequency effects channel. A 6.1-channel system will typically have
seven or eight (if two are used for the center back as recommended by THX)
speakers. Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS-ES are both examples of
6.1-channel formats.
7.1
Refers to sound systems with seven, discrete full-range channels plus a
low-frequency effects channel. Some manufacturers of A/V receivers refer to
their equipment as 7.1-channels when they include two discrete amplifiers
for dual center back speakers. Although this is a good thing in terms of
having available amplifier power, in reality no current surround encoding
formats provide 7.1 discrete channels of information -- but, hey, there's
always tomorrow! (Some companies refer to 7.1 when they mean 6.1 instead.
The 2 speakers in the back are both playing the same information.)
720p
Refers to a TV picture that is broadcast or shown on a screen using 720
lines of pixels that are scanned in a progressive manner in which each line
is scanned one after the other.
Aspect
Ratio
A television's aspect ratio is the relationship of the horizontal
dimension (the width of the screen) to the vertical dimension (the height).
It can be expressed as a ratio of whole numbers (4:3 or 16:9) or a ratio
using fractional numbers for the width compared to the height of one unit
(1.33:1 or 1.78:1). Images with wider aspect ratios tend to engage more of
your peripheral vision and draw you deeper into the theatrical experience.
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