ATSC (Advanced Television System Committee): Broadcast standards for digital television formats. You must have an ATSC tuner in order to receive an HD, ED or SD television signal.

Bipolar Loudspeaker: A speaker system that radiates signals from the front and back of the enclosure with both signals in phase to each other.

CD-R/RW: A CD-R is a blank CD for one time recording, while CD-RW denotes a CD that can be recorded on and over numerous times. Both CD formats are able to support both data and MP3/WMA files in download.

Cinemotion™ Reverse 3:2 Pulldown: Sony’s answer to progressive scan, this technology returns film-oriented images to their original state by de-interlacing the sequenced frames.

Comb Filters: This is circuitry that separates detail, or luminance, information and the color information from the video signal. Comb filters minimize detail and color artifacts such as dot crawl. A digital 3-line comb filter converts the analog video signal to digital, then holds three lines in memory for comparison during the “combing” process. A 3D Y/C Comb Filter analyzes a series of scan lines from the current frame and compares them with the two adjacent frames.

CompactFlash™: A removable media card that allows for pictures, video or even music to be shared between digital devices like digital still camera, MP3 players and computers.

Component Video: Component Video is a very high quality video transmission in which color separation is directly transmitted via individual red, green and blue jacks.

Composite Video: By far the most common type of connector, Composite video has three jacks: yellow, white and red. Most “A/V inputs” will be composite.

Compression: The process of reducing the size of a data file.

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube): The traditional tube television, CRTs can also be used for projection and digital television.

Digital Signal Processing (DSP): A manipulation of a sound signal to replicate the acoustics of a club, hall, church, stadium, theater, etc.

Digital Theater Surround (dts®): A “5.1” channel surround sound format, similar to Dolby® Digital. dts® features up to five independent (discrete) channels of full frequency sound, plus a sixth channel for low frequency effects (LFE).

Digital Output: This is the coaxial or fiber-optic output that can pass digital signals to outboard D/A converters, surround processors or digital recorders.

Dolby® Digital: This format is characterized by five full frequency (20 to 20 KHz) discrete channels (left, center, right, left rear, right rear) of information.

Dolby® Pro Logic®: Sometimes abbreviated DPL, this is an enhanced version of Dolby® Surround Sound that employs analog or digital “steering” circuitry to enhance surround effects.

Dolby® Pro Logic®II: A processing technology from Dolby that delivers a 5-channel experience from old stereo format products like VHS HiFi and stereo TV.

DTS®-ES: This refers to the dts® version of the new “6.1” channel surround format that extends the “5.1” surround format with one (or two) additional speaker(s) located in the back of the audience.

DVHS: This is the only format available that can record High Definition signals without loss of digital quality. In addition, DVHS players are capable of playing both DVHS and traditional VHS tapes.

Electrostatic Speaker: A design that uses the attractive and repulsive forces of electrostatic charges between fixed surfaces and a lightweight, typically large, movable diaphragm. The prime advantage of this design is the uniform distribution of force on the moving mass, and the ability to deliver exceptional resolution and detail.

HDTV, EDTV and SDTV: These are the names for different types of DTV signals. In all, there are 18 different types of DTV signals: six are labeled HDTV (High Definition Television) and are the highest picture quality, nine are EDTV (Enhanced Definition Television) and are lower resolution then HDTV but still its film like quality, and three are SDTV (Standard Definition Television) which is equivalent to DVD picture quality.

Horizontal Resolution: The number of horizontal lines that a video device can reproduce in a single frame. The higher the number of horizontal lines, the sharper, clearer and better the video looks.

IEEE 1394: A new port on the computer capable of transferring large amounts of data. Currently the fastest available port. Also known as i.LINK™ and FireWire™.

Image Compression: Reducing a file’s size to increase the number of images stored.

Invar Shadow Mask: A metal screen filled with holes that sits just behind the phosphor layer of a CRT. Electron beams pass through individual holes and hit single pixel triads on the phosphor layer. Compared with conventional shadow masks, the Invar mask provides greater resistance to the effects of heat produced by electron beam bombardment and ensures a brighter picture with less color blur.

MP3: A music compression format that allows for hundreds of songs to be recorded on a single CD.

MPEG: A digital video compression format developed by the Motion Pictures Expert Group.

NTSC: Analog broadcast format for North American television.

Optical Zoom: Optical zoom lets you zoom in on your subject without any loss of resolution or clarity.

Pixels: The small picture elements (square dots) that make up a digital photograph or video. The larger number of pixels, the greater the detail and clarity of the display, or image.

Plasma TV: A flat-panel television in which lighted gas sandwiched between glass panels is manipulated to produce images.

Progressive Scan DVD: A process in which the DVD player actually restores film that has been converted to video to a more film-like frame structure for viewing on a digital television. Eliminates certain motion artifacts in the picture such as stairstepped image edges.

Resolution: An indication of the sharpness of images on a printout or display screen, based on the number and density of the pixels used.

Resolution, Interpolated: A process that enlarges an image by adding extra pixels without actually capturing light from those pixels in the initial exposure.

SVHS-C: This format records a better picture than VHS-C camcorders but keeps the convenience of playing your recorded tapes in your VCR.

S-Video: A high-quality video transmission, S-Video separates the color information from the brightness, or luminance, preventing color bleeding and dot crawl among other things.

THX: A LucasFilm Corporation performance certification program for A/V software and hardware, particularly dealing with Dolby® Pro Logic® and Dolby® Digital behavior but also involving TV monitor and laser-video picture and sound quality.

THX Surround EX: An improvement over the conventional 5.1-channel system in terms of positioning the sound at the rear, the acoustic image of sound moving from the two sides to the back, as well as sound moving from the front to the rear with the multi surround speaker systems used in movie theaters, thereby enabling various types of surround sound.

VCR+ Gold: The programming system that allows you to enter a numbered code from a TV Program Guide and simply record the show, game or event.

Velocity Scan Modulation: An image is converted to the face of a CRT by scanning an electron beam from left to right. Velocity Scan Modulation actually slows the beam’s progress when processing sharp transitions between light and dark for crisper detail, then speeds up the beam during less demanding times.

WMA: A music compression format that allows for hundreds of songs to be recorded on a single CD.