Portable DVD player terminology is accurate; the essential vocabulary is:

Anamorphic

Refers to a DVD-Video that is encoded in the 16:9 wide screen aspect ratio format. DVD-Video can accommodate video encoding in either 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 aspect ratio. The 16:9 aspect ratio better suits movies that are theatrically shown in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 aspect ratios

16:9

Video can be stored on a DVD in 4:3 format (standard TV shape) or 16:9 (wide screen). The width-to-height ratio of standard televisions is 4 to 3. New wide screen televisions, specifically those designed for HDTV, have a ratio of 16 to 9. The screen is more rectangular and much wider than a standard TV screen. Some DVD titles are now available in wide screen format

BD

Is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by thirteen leading consumer electronics and pc companies (Dell, Hitachi, HP, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition television (HDTV). Blu-ray makes it possible to record over 2 hours of HDTV, or more than 13 hours of SDTV on a 25GB disc. Discs of even higher capacity (up to 50GB of data) are expected soon

Byte

Is an 8-bit data word, where a bit is a binary digit that represents a "0" (zero) or a "1" (one). An example of a byte is "10011011"

CD

Is short for audio Compact Disc (or audio CD). This is the dominant digital audio format for the past 20 years. It is also known as Compact Disc - Digital Audio (CD-DA) or Compact Disc Audio (CD-Audio). It may soon be replaced by the new DVD-Audio and/or Super Audio CD formats

CD-R

Is a recordable CD format that supports one-time recording

CD-ROM

Is a computer data storage format based on the CD medium

Coaxial digital audio output

Is a digital audio connection used to connect a digital source component (such as DVD player, CD player) to a receiver (or pre-amplifier). The data passed is the "raw" digital audio signal. This means of interconnection minimizes the interference and degradation

DAC

Is an integrated circuit that converts a digital audio signal to an analog audio signal. The output analog audio signal is ready for amplification to drive loudspeakers

Dashboard

Is an instrument panel on an automobile or airplane containing dials and controls electrical device consisting of an insulated panel containing switches and dials and meters to control other electrical devices (also known as in dash or in-dash)

DivX

Is a video code created at DivXNetworks Inc., known for its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes and has been the center of controversy because of its use in the replication and distribution of copyrighted DVDs. Many newer DVD players are able to play DivX movies

Dolby

United States electrical engineer who devised the Dolby system used to reduce background noise in tape recording

DVD-audio

Is a new emerging format for high-resolution, audiophile quality audio and multi-channel music. It is based on the DVD medium, but contains only audio information. DVD-Audio/Video players appeared in the summer of 2000 and can play back both DVD-Audio and DVD-Video, and were once called DVD-Universal players (that is until the introduction of the Super Audio CD format)

DTS

Digital Theater Systems Digital Surround is a DVD audio encoding format similar to Dolby Digital. It requires a decoder, either in the player or in an external receiver. Developed by Digital Theater Systems Inc., it is also used in many movie theaters around the world. Six audio channels are used to create accurate sound field positioning and realistic sound

DVD-RAM

Is one of the competing DVD recordable formats. This format is supported by Panasonic, which makes the Panasonic DMR-E10 DVD recorder

DVD

Stands for Digital Versatile Disc (it once stood for Digital Video Disc). DVDs can be one sided or two sided, and each side can have a single layer or two layers of data. Depending on the construction of the DVD disc, DVDs have different capacity for video and audio information. There are several DVD formats: DVD-Video for movies and other video titles, DVD-Audio for audiophile quality audio and multi-channel music, and DVD-ROM for computer data storage

Gigabyte

Is approximately one million bytes. 4.7 Gigabytes hold enough digital video and multi-channel audio for a two-hour movie

Full screen

Is the image aspect ratio that completely fills a screen of a conventional analog TVs (the type that you are familiar with), no horizontal black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Another way to refer to this is an image aspect ratio of 1.33:1 (a picture that is 1.33 times wider than it is high). This is equivalent to a display that is 4 units wide by 3 units high. This term is used interchangeably with "full frame". This is in contrast to a wide screen TV with 16:9 aspect ratio

JPEG

Is a commonly used standard method of compressing photographic images. The file format which employs this compression is commonly also called JPEG; platforms with short file extensions may use .JPG or .JPE to identify this format. JPEG/JFIF is the most common format used for storing and transmitting photographs on the World Wide Web

LCD

Stands for liquid-crystal display. It was created by sandwiching an electrically reactive substance between two electrodes; LCDs can be darkened or lightened by applying and removing current. Large numbers of LCDs grouped closely together can act as pixels in a flat-panel display

Letterbox

Refers to a DVD-Video that is encoded in the 4:3 (full frame) aspect ratio format. DVD-Video can accommodate video encoding in either 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 aspect ratio. Because most movies are theatrically shown in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 aspect ratios, a letterbox (i.e., the black horizontal bars at the top and bottom of the TV screen) presentation is used to preserve the theatrical aspect ratio within a 4:3 aspect ratio screen

HDTV

Is High Definition Television, which is a subset of the new ATSC Digital Television (or Digital TV) specification. HDTV commonly refers to either 1080i or 720p formats. The 1080i format consists of 1080 lines of resolution in interlace scanning (the "i" is for short for interlaced scanning), whereas the 720p format is comprised of 720 lines of resolution in progressive scanning (the "p" stands for progressive scanning). The complete Digital TV standard consists of no less than 18 different picture formats

HD DVD

Is the next-generation optical disc format for the recording and playback of high-definition content. The disc adopts the same structure as current DVD with two 0.6 millimeter thick discs bonded back to back to assure the high-yield, cost-effective production of high capacity dual-layer discs - an advanced version of the discs that have proved their versatility and popularity in current DVD. The HD DVD format is supported by cutting-edge blue-laser technology, new high level data-processing techniques and highly-efficient video-compression technologies

HT

It refers to a system of audio and video components working together to re-create the theatrical movie experience in the comfort and privacy of the home. A typical DVD-based home theater system consists of: (1) DVD player, (2) television, (3) A/V receiver, (4) five speakers (center speaker, left speaker, right speaker, and a pair of surround speakers), and optionally (5) subwoofer. Today's state-of-the-art home theaters feature a DVD player, since DVDs offer superior video and unsurpassed surround sound

Minijack

Standard 1/8" jack/plug connector that is commonly used for connecting and transmitting signal to headphones or other audio components

MP3

Is an audio compression algorithm capable of greatly reducing the amount of data required to reproduce audio, while sounding like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to the listener

MPEG-1

Is video compression algorithm that is part of the Video CD standard. The algorithm is developed by the Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG). MPEG-1 effectively compresses the video picture to about 1/140 of its original size

MPEG-2

Is a video compression algorithm that is part of the DVD-Video, Digital Broadcast Satellite, and Digital TV (including HDTV) standard. The algorithm is developed by the Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG). MPEG-2 effectively compresses the video picture to about 1/40 of its original size. The picture quality from a MPEG-2 encoded source is superior to that of MPEG-1

Multi-channel

Usually refers to the use of more than two channels, for either movie surround sound (5-channel or 6-channel) or music surround sound (5-channel or 6-channel DVD-Audio and Super Audio CD). Stereo is equivalent to two-channel. Mono is one-channel

Multi-system

They are compatible with any VCR, code-free DVD and TV, PAL/SECAM/NTSC, 110/220 V, anywhere in the world

Optical digital audio output

Is a fiber optic digital audio connection used to connect a digital source component (e.g., DVD player, CD player, etc.) to a receiver or pre-amplifier. The data passed is the "raw" digital audio signal using laser (light) pulses. This means of interconnection minimizes the interference and degradation. Also called "Toslink"

PAL

Refers to a video standard that is used in most European countries and elsewhere in the world. This is different from the NTSC system that is used in the U.S. and Canada

4:3 (Pan & Scan)

Is the ratio of the width to height of standard television screens and some other displays. When viewing DVD titles meant for wide screen (16:9) playback the sides of the image may be chopped off (Pan & Scan). However this can be avoided using a Letterbox playback mode

PBC

Is a method of controlling disc play is included on version 2.0 Video CDs (VCD). You are able to interact with the disc through menus. Using these menus to play Video CDs is called "menu play" in these operating instructions

QSurround

This system decodes and virtualize multi-speaker surround sound from various matrix surround encoded sources: Dolby Surround, stereo down mixed AC-3, stereo down mixed DTS. Produces normal and wide 3D sound expansion from any stereo input signal

RCA (cable/connector)

Is a common, standard connection method used to transmit analog audio and video signals between devices. Commonly used on most receivers, televisions, satellite receivers, VCR's, game console systems and speakers

Receiver

Is a single unit box that performs the functions of a tuner, pre-amplifier (performs input and output switching, performs tuner functions, decodes multi-channel sound), and power amplifier (amplifying the audio signal to drive loudspeakers). Use of a receiver is the more common and cheaper alternative to separates (use of pre-amplifier and power amplifier as separate components)

Region code

DVD software is distributed with a region encoding. To play back a DVD title with a specific region code, you will need a DVD player with the same region code. For example, a DVD encoded with "region 1" (United States and Canada) can only be played back on a DVD player with "region 1" capability. The movie studios and software distributors have imposed the region encoding feature to control distribution of DVD software only to those regions where they are ready to distribute

SDTV

Is part of the ATSC's digital television standard. Together with High Definition Television (HDTV), Enhanced Definition Television (EDTV), SDTV make up the U.S. digital television standard. SDTV is essentially 480 lines of resolution in interlaced scan, or 480i (the "i" stands for interlace scanning). SDTV used to mean either 480i or 480p (480 lines of resolution in progressive scanning, the "p" stands to progressive scanning), but now SDTV only stands for 480i. The 480p format is now designated as Enhanced Definition Television. 480p is the video format output by progressive scan DVD players

single-layered

Refers to a DVD disc that has one layer of information per side. A single-layered DVD may still have one side (single-sided) or two sides (double-sided) of information, holding two hours and four hours of video information, respectively. The double-sided, single-layered disc requires manual "flipping" of sides

SVCD

Is a format used for storing video on standard compact discs or CD-Rs. Picture and audio quality are less than those of the DVD format, but higher than in its predecessor Video CD (VCD). SVCDs store digital video in MPEG-2 format at a resolution of 480x480 pixels (for NTSC) or 480x576 pixels (for PAL). Video may be encoded at a variable bit rate between 1.5 and 2.6 megabits per second. Audio is stored in MPEG-2 Layer 2 format, with a bit rate varying from 128 to 384 kilobits per second