57 FAQ - Acronyms & Definitions

[hugh]

Updated 2008.09.21

Some of the more popular acronyms that have been used on this forum follow below:

Here's a good Link to DTV Acronyms

I type the item I'm looking for, followed by "acronym" into my favourite search engine and it usually gets me the answer, or the acronym/term followed by wikipedia.

Here's another good Acronym Finder

First, a couple of definitions you might find useful:

macroblocking - The "squares" that you sometimes see on digital programming (HD or SD) when there is too much compression of the signal, or a lot of movement on screen. (Created by MPEG limitations (compression) in HD and compression on SD digital). (sometimes described as a "game of Tetris" on your TV, when you're not playing the game... )These do not go away with increased signal strength. See sample image of macroblocking as attachment at the bottom of this post. It's normal whenever there is a lot of change/movement on screen - new scene - bright lights, nature scenes, confetti, etc. This is but one type (the most common) compression artifact.

pixellation - The "squares" that you can sometimes see on digital channels, but they differ from macroblocking. These are "colourful" (red, green or black etc "very hard" blotches) caused by a borderline signal strength. These go away with increased signal strength, the picture goes away with decreased signal strength.

More examples of Macroblocking and Pixellation in the first link of the following post. Thanks to technut.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...532#post740532

simsub - (Simultaneous Substitution) The practice of Canadian networks putting Canadian commercials into a "US" feed of a programme and making the programme "look like" a Canadian programme (CTV, Global, etc). This SHOULD be seamless and not cause any picture degredation, sound, or other, issues. IF it does cause issues, report to the station, the service provider, the originating network and the CRTC.

8VSB - 8-level Vestigial Sideband Modulation (ATSC standard for OTA)
8PSK - 8-Phase-shift keying (Satellite Modulation)
AC-3 – Audio Code 3
ADC - Analog to Digital Conversion
AM - Amplitude Modulation
ATSC – Advanced Television Systems Committee
AVR - Audio/Video Receiver
BD - Blu-ray Disc
BEV - Bell ExpressVu (now BTV)
bps – bits per second (also b/s)
Bps - Bytes per second (8 bits per Byte)
BNC – Bayonet Neill-Concelman (A connector named after the two gentlemen)
BTV - Bell TV
BDU - Broadcasting Distribution Undertaking (Service Provider)
BUD - Big Ugly/Useful Dish
CATV – Cable TV (Community Antenna TV)
CAB – Canadian Association of Broadcasters
CD – Compact Disc
CD-R – Recordable CD
CD-ROM – Computer Data CD
CD-RW – Rewritable CD
CG – Computer Graphics
CPU – Central Processing Unit
CRT – Cathode Ray Tube (Direct View TV) Also used in older large RP & FP TVs
CRTC: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
DAB – Digital Audio Broadcasting
DAC - Digital to Analog Conversion
DAT – Digital Audio Tape
dB - decibel (a measure of sound level, loudness)
DBS - Direct Broadcast Satellite
DD - Dolby Digital (DD5.1 - Surround or DD2.0 - Stereo)
DIY - Do it Yourself
DLP – Digital Light Processing (Texas Instruments)
DMD – Digital Micromirror Device (used in DLPs)
DPL - Dolby Pro Logic
DSP – Digital Signal Processing
DTH - Direct To Home (DBS service)
DTS - Digital Theater System (similar to Dolby Digital)
DTV - Digital Television (All HDTV is DTV, but all DTV is not HDTV)
DVD – Digital Video/Versatile Disc
DVI - Digital Video/Visual Interface
DVR - Digital Video Recorder (same as a PVR)
E* - Echostar
ECM – Electronic Counter Measures (satellite receiver disable)
EDTV - Enhanced Definition Television (480P)
EPG - Electronic Programme Guide (see also IPG)
ESL - English as a Second Language
FAQ - Frequently Asked Question(s)
FM - Frequency Modulation
FTA - Free To Air DBS service (not to be confused with OTA)
GTA - Greater Toronto Area
HBO – Home Box Office (US Movie Channel)
HD – High Definition
HDD – Hard Disk Drive
HDCP - High Definition Content Protection
HDMI - High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDTV - High Definition Television (720P, 1080i, 1080P)
HTIB - Home Theater In a Box (DD5.1 Receiver/Speakers and/or DVD)
HTPC - Home Theatre Personal Computer (recording TV on a PC)
Hz – Hertz (cycles per second) kilo (1,000) mega (1,000,000), giga, etc.
IC - Integrated Circuit
IEEE – Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers
IEEE 1394 – Firewire, I-Link interface
IPG - Interactive Programme Guide (see also EPG)
IR – Infrared (used for remote controls)
IRD - Integrated Receiver Decoder
IRE – Institute of Radio Engineers
ISF - Imaging Science Foundation (TV Calibration)
IT – Information Technology
LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
LCoS – Liquid Crystal on Silicon
LD – Laserdisc
LED – Light Emitting Diode
LFE - Low Frequency Effects (signal for subwoofer)
LNB - Low Noise Block (Downconverter for Satellite Dishes)
MD - Minidisc
MMD - Micro Mirror Device (DLP Technology)
MP3 – MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio encoding
MPEG - Moving Picture Experts Group
NAB – National Association of Broadcasters
NBR - Name-Based Recording (used by DVRs instead of time-based)
NTSC - National Television Systems Committee
OAR - Original Aspect Ratio (1.33:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1 are some standards)
OFC – Oxygen Free Copper
OFHC – Oxygen Free High Conductivity Copper
OP - Original Poster (first post in a thread)
OS – Operating System
OTA – Over The Air
P&S – Pan and Scan
PAL – Phase Alternation Line (European TV)
PAP - Picture alongside Picture
PCM – Pulse Code Modulation
PIP – Picture in Picture
POP - Picture outside of Picture (side by side PIP)
POD – Point Of Deployment (PCMCIA-like device on new HDTVs)
PQ - Picture Quality
PPV – Pay Per View
PSIP - Program and System Information Protocol (data component of ATSC)
PVR - Personal Video Recorder (see also DVR)
QAM - Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (binary data over Cable)
RAM – Random Access Memory
RF – Radio Frequency (some remotes are RF, instead of IR)
RGB – Red Green Blue (TV CRTs) (also type of connection)
ROM – Read Only Memory
RPTV- Rear Projection Television
RTFM - Read The F... (fine operating) Manual
SA – Scientific Atlanta (Maker of STBs)
SACD - Super Audio Compact Disc (Sony)
SAP – Secondary Audio Programme
SD - Standard Definition (480i)
SDE - Screen Door Effect
SDTV – Standard Definition Television
SKU – Stock Keeping Unit (inventory, piece of equipment)
S/N – Signal to Noise Ratio
SPL – Sound Pressure Level
*C - Star Choice
SPDIF - Sony Phillips Digital Interface (Coax for digital sound)
SSE - Silk Screen Effect
STB - Set top box (Cable, Satellite or OTA)
S-VHS – Super VHS (about 400 lines resolution)
SVM - Scan Velocity Modulation
SVOD - Subscription Video on Demand
THD – Total Harmonic Distortion
TMN - The Movie Network (Canadian)
UHF - Ultra High Frequency TV channels (14-69) where most DTV stations are
UPS – Uninteruptable Power Supply
USB – Universal Serial Bus
VBI - Vertical Blanking Interval. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vertical_blanking_interval
VCR – Video Cassette Recorder
VGA - Video Graphics Array (480 x 640)
VHF - Very High Frequency TV channels (2-6 = low band, 7-13 = high band)

VHS – Video Home System (about 240 lines resolution)
VTR - Video Tape Recorder
VOD - Video On Demand
WS – Widescreen
XGA - eXtended Graphics Array (768 x 1024)
Y – Luminance
Y/C – Luminance + Chrominance (S-Video)
YCbCr – Digital Luminance + Colour Difference
YPbPr – Analogue Luminance + Colour Difference (Component Video)

If you have any comments or suggestions on this, or any other FAQ post, please PM 57.

[57]

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