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| Knowledgebase Categories |
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| The knowledgebase is organized into different categories; please select a category that you are interested in. You can also search the entire knowledgebase by entering keywords in the navigation bar beside this text. |
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 | YUV (Glossary) |  |
| Component video format that separates picture information into brightness (Y) and color (Red/U, and Blue/V).
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| VHS (Glossary) | |
| (Video Home System) JVC developed the video
recording system for consumers in 1975 in the United States and was
introduced in Europe shortly thereafter. It dominated the format war in
the early 1980s and pushed its competitors |
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| VCD (Glossary) | |
| (Video-CD) A CD that contains pictures and
sound. Because the capacity is limited to 74 minutes and the quality is
barely that of VHS tapes, the Video CD format was quickly superseded by
the DVD format.
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| tvtv (Glossary) | |
| A programming guide provider in several European countries.
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| Transponder (Glossary) |  |
| A transmission channel on a satellite. A transponder can hold one analog channel or several digital channels.
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| TitanTV (Glossary) | |
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Our former provider of electronic programming information for the United States. TitanTV has been replaced by TV Guide.
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| S-Video (Glossary) | |
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(Separated Video) Video hardware interface where brightness and color information is transmitted on separate cables (or separate wires in one cable). The cable usually has 4 pins at each end.
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| SVCD (Glossary) | |
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(Super-Video-CD) A format that improves on the
Video CD format. The picture is encoded in MPEG-2 format, similar to
DVDs, with a variable bit rate capped at 2.6 Mbit/sec.
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| SECAM (Glossary) | |
| A television standard developed in 1957 that
transfers color information on a frequency modulated carrier signal.
SECAM is used in France and in some eastern European countries, and in
the Middle East.
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| S/PDIF (Glossary) | |
| (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) A standardized hardware interface to tranfer digital audio data via an optical cable. Also known as SPDIF.
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| QuickTime (Glossary) | |
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Technology developed by Apple to play back multimedia content on Mac OS and Windows.
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| QAM (Glossary) | |
| (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) A modulation method to transmit digital video and audio signals via cable networks.
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| Progressive Scan (Glossary) | |
| A method to deinterlace by doubling the
picture frame rate and advanced motion detection. Used by high end
plasma and LCD televisions and is optionally available in EyeTV.
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| Pay-TV (Glossary) | |
| Public television is funded by private
donations and state taxation. Private television is funded by income
generated by advertising. To avoid watching advertising, viewers can
purchase subscriptions to Pay TV premium channels |
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| PAL (Glossary) | |
| (Phase Alternation Line) Television standard in use in Europe, Australia, Africa, and parts of Asia.
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| NTSC (Glossary) | |
| (National Television System Committee) United
States standardization organization that defined the US color
television standard ?NTSC? in 1953. The system has been adoped in
additional countries such as Canada, Mexico, Japan, S |
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| MPEG-4 (Glossary) | |
| Most recent MPEG standard that describes
methods for video and audio compression. MPEG-4 expands upon MPEG-2 and
offers support for video objects, 3D content, and denser compression.
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| MPEG-2 Transport Stream (Glossary) | |
| The MPEG-2
specifications define the basis for the transmission of digital
television under the heading MPEG-2 Transport Stream. A transport
stream carries the video and audio signals as well as additional
information such as |
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| MPEG-2 (Glossary) | |
| MPEG standard for video decoding with video
compression and audio decoding with audio compression. In both cases
the compression is lossy. MPEG-2 was introduced in 1994 as a successor
to MPEG-1. MPEG-4 is the successor to MPEG- |
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| MPEG-1 (Glossary) | |
| This standard for compression of
movie data was developed in the 1980s. The goal was to bring the
compressed data rate down to the data rate of a standard audio CD (1.5
MBit/sec max.) Video CDs contain data in MPEG-1 format. |
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| LNB (Glossary) | |
| (Low Noise Block Converter) Electronics for
reception of satellite television that are located at the focal point
of a satellite antenna.
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| Interlaced (Glossary) | |
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A method of transmitting analog television
that uses two fields (half pictures) to transmit a single frame (full
picture). A field contains every second line of a picture. Even and odd
lines are transmitted one after another. |
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| HDV (Glossary) | |
| (High-Definition Digital Video) A
format that enables recording HDTV onto a standard DV tape cassette.
Developed by Canon, Sony, Sharp and JVC.
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| HDTV 720p (50/60Hz) (Glossary) | |
| HDTV format with 720 lines and a frame rate of 50 or 60 full pictures (progressive scanning.)
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| HDTV 1080i (50/60Hz) (Glossary) | |
| HDTV format with 1080 lines and a frame rate of 50 or 60 interlaced half pictures (fields.)
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| H.264 (Glossary) | |
| Video codec by Apple to compress video
efficiently, yet retain HDTV quality. The underlying technology is
based on MPEG. Apple includes H.264 with the latest version of
QuickTime 7.
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| Free-To-Air (Glossary) | |
| TV programming that can be accessed without a CA module.
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| Frame Rate (Glossary) | |
| Playback speed or frame repetition rate of a
video or an animation. Specified as frames-per-second (fps.) A larger
fps value improves video quality, but also increases the volume of
video data. To render motion realistically, t |
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| Frame (Glossary) | |
| A single picture of a movie. A film is
composed of frames that are played back sequentially. To trick the
human eye into not seeing individual pictures, the frames are played
back rapidly.
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| Firewire (Glossary) | |
| An interface standard developed by Apple (also referred to as IEEE 1394) for data transfer between computers and peripherals.
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| Field (Glossary) | |
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See Interlaced.
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| EPG (Glossary) | |
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(Electronic Program Guide) A digitally available listing of available television programming.
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| DVD (Glossary) | |
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(Digital Versatile Disc) Optical storage medium, similar to CDs but with larger storage capacity, between 4.7 and 18 GB.
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| DVB-T (Glossary) | |
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DVB standard that defines the transmission of digital video and sound signals via terrestrial antennas.
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| DVB-S2 (Glossary) | |
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Refinement of the DVB-S standard
that achieves an approximately 30% higher data rate. DVB-S2 requires a
new tuner, presently shipping receivers, set top boxes, and TV adapters
cannot be upgraded.
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| DVB-S (Glossary) | |
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DVB standard that defines the transmission of digital video and sound signals via satellite.
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| DVB-H (Glossary) | |
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DVB standard that defines the
transmission of digital video and audio signals via antenna to mobile
devices such as cellular phones, smart phones, PDAs, etc.
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| DVB-C (Glossary) | |
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DVB standard that defines the transmission of digital video and sound signals in cable networks.
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| DVB Radio (Glossary) | |
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Digital radio that can be received by DVB compatible set top boxes or TV adapters or other specialized devices.
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| DVB EPG | |
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Programming Guide information (EPG) data that is sent along with the DVB data stream.
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| DVB (Glossary) | |
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(Digital Video Broadcasting group) European standardization commission for digital television.
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| DV (Glossary) | |
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(Digital Video) Standard for a digital
recording technique for video data on video recording decks and
camcorders. The standard refers to the storage media as well as the
compression algorithm.
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| Dolby Digital (Glossary) | |
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A digital sound format
developed by Dolby Laboratories. Dolby Digital can combine up to 6
audio channels into one encoded stream. The most popular combinations
are Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo) and Dolby Digital 5.1.
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| DivX (Glossary) | |
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A MPEG-4 codec sold by DivX, Inc.
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| Digitization (Glossary) | |
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The conversion of an analog signal into a digital one.
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| Deinterlacing (Glossary) | |
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Refers to a method that reduces the motion artefacts inherent in the display of interlaced material on non-interlaced screens.
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| Decoder (Glossary) | |
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The unit inside a set top box or TV adapter that decodes a digital television broadcast.
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| Composite Video (Glossary) | |
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Analog video format that combines brightness, color, and synchronization information into one signal.
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| Codec (Glossary) | |
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A name for the method that
transforms data into other formats via encoding and decoding. There are
hardware and software codecs. When using digital formats such as MPEG,
MP3, AAC, etc. the method used for decoding must match |
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| Coaxial Cable (Glossary) | |
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High frequency compatible cable with a coaxial inner conductor that is used for cable and satellite television reception.
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| Clear QAM (Glossary) | |
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(Clear Quadrature Amplitude
Modulation) Refers to the standard for transmitting digital video and
audio signals in cable networks.
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| Cinch (Glossary) | |
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Coaxial connector for audio or video
signals. Different colors designate usage: Red for the right audio
channel, white for the left audio channel, yellow for video.
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| CI (Glossary) | |
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(Common Interface) Standardized slot on DVB set top boxes or TV adapters for the CAM.
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| CAM (Glossary) | |
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(Conditional Access Module) This PC
card (also called CA module) enables DVB reception of encrypted
television and radio. A programming subscriber receives a Smartcard
from a Pay TV provider, which needs to be inserted into a |
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| CA (Glossary) | |
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(Conditional Access) The process that decrypts television uses the CA module to grant access to programming.
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| Bus-Powered (Glossary) | |
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A peripheral that is supplied with electrical power via the FireWire or USB connector of the Macintosh.
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| Backup (Glossary) | |
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An archival copy of data on a different piece of storage media.
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| ATSC-Guide (Glossary) | |
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Programming Guide information (EPG) data that is sent along with the ATSC data stream.
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| ATSC (Glossary) | |
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(Advanced Television Systems
Committee) The name of the standardization committee in North America
that began to develop standards for digital television, starting at the
end of the 1970s. Used today as a term for digital tel |
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| AC-3 (Glossary) | |
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Digital audio encoding technique that Dolby developed for multi-channel sound applications.
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| AAC (Glossary) | |
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(Advanced Audio Coding, MPEG-4-AAC) An audio format used in MPEG-4.
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| I need help understanding some of the technical terms and acronyms in this FAQ | |
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AAC(Advanced Audio Coding, MPEG-4-AAC) An audio format used in MPEG-4.AC-3Digital audio encoding technique that Dolby developed for multi-channel sound applications.ATSC(Advanced Television Systems C |
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