Glossary 2 chip:  In the context of Camcorders, this refers to very good but below broadcast quality processing power (ie good enough for TV). 3 chip:  In the context of Camcorders, this refers to broadcast quality processing power (ie good enough for TV). 5.1:  This is home cinema speak for 2 rear speakers for the background, 2 front speakers for the foreground and 1 centre speaker for the dialogue. 7.1:  This is home cinema speak for 2 rear speakers for the background, 2 front speakers for the foreground, 1 centre speaker for the dialogue and 2 side speakers for the extra surround feeling. BMP:  This is a format for pictures. It compresses your pictures so you can get much more picture for your pound ie loads of lovely holiday snaps while leaving lots more space for music and video. The actual loss in quality depends on the compression rate and this is presented differently by each software package. The most common format is jpg, bmp is used on more basic packages and gif is used for text or images with fewer colours. Broadcast quality:  Good enough for TV ie it's what TV film crews could use. Componant:  This is a format for a Video or visual signal. If you need to get your video or TV from one box to another you will need a cable, the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. There are 4 main types of format/socket, componant, RGB, S Video, composite, there are listed in terms of quality, highest first. Composite video:  This is a format for a Video or visual signal. If you need to get your video or TV from one box to another you will need a cable, the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. There are 4 main types of format/socket, componant, RGB, S Video, composite, there are listed in terms of quality, highest first. Compression:  The ability to squash/reduce the size of something without completely losing it's purpose ie to compress a video from 30mb to 5mb with an end video which is still good enough to watch. Decibels 5-80db:  This is sound volume, if you want to know how loud your new projector is going to be in case the noise of the fan spoils those quiet moments in a film, get the decibels stats. Digital out:  This is the name for the socket/protocol for connecting boxes together such as your DVD and surround sound processor, you don't need to know how it works but you need the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. Digital zoom:  The amount of zooming you can do with some clever techie bits in your camera which enlarge the image, this is good but will inevitably be simply enhancing the best optical zoom so you will start to see a loss in quality. Directional tweeter:  Your speaker is generally made up of 2 parts, the tweeter gives you the high frequency ie the detail and the woofer gives you the bass. It's best to have the tweeter pointing right at your ears, in some cases, such as ceiling speakers, this is not easy, so some clever peeps have come up with a tweeter which you can move so it's pointing in the right direction. Dual Tweeter:  Your speaker is generally made up of 2 parts, the tweeter gives you the high frequency ie the detail and the woofer gives you the bass. Stereo requires 2 speakers but if space is limited, you can use one bass unit with 2 tweeters to give a stereo sounds, it's better than you'd think. DVD Recorder:  This can record onto DVD disks (like CDs but more oomph). DVD+:  A format for recording DVDs, NOT compatible with DVD- DVD+/-:  There are 2 main formats for recording DVDs, + and -, this little beauty can cope with both. DVD-:  A format for recording DVDs, NOT compatible with DVD+ Firewall:  You are in a war and you must protect yourself against enemy fire, why not build yourself a wall to stop the hackers, excellent idea, that should do the trick. The firewall should stop nasty people from getting into your system when you are online. Flash:  Also known as Memory cards or sticks. This is the medium on which you can store data, uh! It's like a tape, you can record your music and pictures onto it, very small, extremely easy to lose, sorry portable, mainly used in cameras to allow you to take more snaps without docking in the mother ship to download or MP3 players. The alternative to flash is usually hard drive, flash is smaller(both in size and capacity), lighter, cheaper and extremely robust. Format:  There are lots of different ways to do things, especially in the IT world, some are better than others, some good at some things while being bad at others, the key thing to be aware of here is that the thing you have must be compatible ie the same format as the thing you want it on. IE If you want to play music in the MP3 format, the music player you buy must be able to play MP3 files. Hard Disk recorder:  This is like a video recorder except it records your shows into it's own memory, this means no more hunting for tapes, your whole collection is accessible at the touch of a button. Hard Drive:  This is the memory of your box, all your files are stored on the hard drive. They are however getting smaller in size so are starting to appear in portable devices such as MP3 players. In the portable context the alternative is Flash based memory but hard drives have more capacity. HDTV:  This stands for High Definition TV and not surprisingly it’s a banging picture. You need an HDTV set and these are only just coming out so expect to have to get your wad out for a while to come. Infra Red:  This is invisible light which is used to send signals between your boxes, your remote control uses this to control your TV. JPG:  This is a format for pictures. It compresses your pictures so you can get much more picture for your pound ie loads of lovely holiday snaps while leaving lots more space for music and video. The actual loss in quality depends on the compression rate and this is presented differently by each software package. The most common format is jpg, bmp is used on more basic packages and gif is used for text or images with fewer colours. LAN:  Local Area Network, this is a fancy word for saying your computer and the bits it talks to are all connected to each other, in other words, they work!! Basically, you need one of these if you have more than one computer or computer type devide, such as a media adapter. In practice this means wherever you are in the house and however many bits you have, everyone can talk to everyone else if you have a network. LCD TV:  This type of screen is very thin and can be hung on a suitable wall, it works by using lots of tiny LCDs, which are like bulbs, consequently the images it produces and extremely sharp and clear. The important things to look out for are response times so fast moving images are not blurred and brightness and contrast. Lumen:  Brightness or light can be measured in Lumens, a bit like the wattage of bulbs. Luminance:  Brightness or light can be measured in Lumens, a bit like the wattage of bulbs. Macro mode:  In the context of cameras, this allows you to get really close to the subject. Media Adapter:  This is a box which allows you to use your TV or Hi-Fi to play music, video or watch pictures, stored on your PC. Megapixel:  The molecule of the picture world, this is the smallest unit in a screen, in other words, a tiny dot, 3 million or so make up the snap of your son's sand castle in Great Yarmouth. Memory card:  Also known as Memory cards or sticks. This is the medium on which you can store data, uh! It's like a tape, you can record your music and pictures onto it, very small, extremely easy to lose, sorry portable, mainly used in cameras to allow you to take more snaps without docking in the mother ship to download or MP3 players. The alternative to flash is usually hard drive, flash is smaller(both in size and capacity), lighter, cheaper and extremely robust. Memory stick:  Also known as Memory cards or sticks. This is the medium on which you can store data, uh! It's like a tape, you can record your music and pictures onto it, very small, extremely easy to lose, sorry portable, mainly used in cameras to allow you to take more snaps without docking in the mother ship to download or MP3 players. The alternative to flash is usually hard drive, flash is smaller(both in size and capacity), lighter, cheaper and extremely robust. Mini DV:  This is a format of Digital Camcorder cassette tapes. Modem:  This is a box which allows you to connect to the internet. MP3:  This is a format for audio/music. It compresses your music so you can get much more music on your player with an acceptable loss in quality. The actual loss in quality depends on the compression rate and this generally ranges from below 100 (not great) to lossless (spot on). Many people use a compression rate between 100 and 200. Mpeg:  This is a format for video. It compresses your video so you can get much more movie to your meg ie more on your player/disk with an acceptable loss in quality. The actual loss in quality depends on the compression rate used, there are 4 main versions Mpeg1-4 and you are generally best to go with the recomendation of the software/system you are using. Multi Region:  Similar to DVD+/-, this means your player can play DVDs in any format ie from other countries which may use a different format to the UK. Network Hub:  This is the box which you plug all your network cable into, in other words it's like a node or junction to allow all your boxes to join the network. Optical out:  This is the name for the socket/protocol for connecting boxes together such as your DVD and surround sound processor, you don't need to know how it works but you need the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. Optical zoom:  The amount of zooming you can do with the lens ie maintaining the quality of the picture. Phono:  This is the name for the socket/protocol for connecting boxes together such as your DVD and surround sound processor, you don't need to know how it works but you need the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. PIP:  Picture in picture, as it sounds means one picture inserted, usually in the corner of the main screen showing another picture, why? Well, for example, you have a video entry system, you can see who's at the door without missing your show, or, adverts come on, you can channel surf while waiting for the ads to finish, cool. Pixel:  The molecule of the picture world, this is the smallest unit in a screen, in other words, a tiny dot, 3 million or so make up the snap of your son's sand castle in Great Yarmouth. Plasma:  This type of screen is very thin and can be hung on a suitable wall, it works by using a special gas, called plasma which can be made to shine a certain colour, consequently the images it produces are beautifully bright and the screen sizes can go extremely without loss of picture quality. PVR:  Personal Video Recorder, aren't they all? I think this is saying personal as in your own virtual assistant, that's because you can tell a PVR to do all kinds of stuff you couldn't say to a standard video recorder. For example, you can ask it to record every episode of East Enders, automatically without asking, or even say, I don't know when the next Bond film is out, but when it comes out record it for me. This is cool stuff with a capital K. Radiation leakage:  Radiation is all around us and obviously there are no products on the market which have not passed stringent tests…... Plasma screens are well endowed in this department. Resolution:  Essentially this is picture quality, it's measured by the number of dots/pixels of a screen. Of course it's not the only measure of quality, it's no good having loads of dots if they are all white!!! RF:  Radio Frequency, similar to Infra Red, RF is sometime used to control your boxes, the great big plus here is that you don't have to be able to see your box, you can probably do it anywhere in your house, erm, you know what we mean. RGB:  This is a format for a Video or visual signal. If you need to get your video or TV from one box to another you will need a cable, the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. There are 4 main types of format/socket, componant, RGB, S Video, composite, there are listed in terms of quality, highest first. Router:  This is a modem and network hub in 1 box. RS232:  Like a scart, this is the name for a socket/protocol, it's often used in computers and home automation. S Video:  This is a format for a Video or visual signal. If you need to get your video or TV from one box to another you will need a cable, the socket at each end of the cable needs to match what you have on your two boxes. There are 4 main types of format/socket, componant, RGB, S Video, composite, there are listed in terms of quality, highest first. S-VGA:  This is a format mainly used for computer monitors Scart:  This is the name for the socket/protocol for connecting AV (Audio Visual) boxes together such as your video and TV, it's the really big one!!! It's got lots and lots of pins so can carry your video signal and your audio plus the extras. Screen resolution:  Essentially this is picture quality, it's measured by the number of dots/pixels of a screen. Of course it's not the only measure of quality, it's no good having loads of dots if they are all white!!! Serial Port:  Like a scart, this is the name for a socket/protocol, it's often used in computers and home automation. Server:  The server is probably your PC, if you have your files on it, and you use another box to access those files, it is serving those files to you, it's a server. For example, you have all your music and video on your PC and you use a nice little media adapter to play your music through your main Hi-Fi. Sub woofer:  This is the speaker you need if you like explosions and gun fire in your films, of course it's also essential if your speaker system uses those small satelite hard to see speakers which don't have bass of their own. Basically this is a box which sits on the floor giving you the low frequency sound ie bass. Throw Distance:  The distance a projector can send fantastic high energy beams of light for your entertainment before running out of ooomph. VGA:  This is a format mainly used for computer monitors Viewing angle:  This refers to the the viewing pleasure of people not directly in front of the screen, the better the viewing angle the more people you can invite around to watch a film, ie people pushed out to the edges will still see a sharp picture even though they are on the edge, still, better access to the beer eh! WAN:  Wide area network, if you want to know what this is your probably in the wrong place, it's a computer network for kit outside your house. WI-FI:  This is a wireless network, in other words you can connect your computer to other computerey type things such as music players and PDA's (mini portable computers) without cables, cool. The major downer is you need to make sure it's safe and secure and you need to be aware that in some places it won't work. For example the new building regs mean builders are using foil back wall filling to reduce heat loss, this is bad news for wireless networks. Wireless Network:  This is exactly the same as a LAN, in fact it is a LAN, but in everyday use, LAN really means a wired network. With Wireless Networks, speed is of the essence, the current standard is G, it's faster than B, we have no idea what happened to C,D,E and F. The key here is that G is fine for music but the jury is still out and whether or not it can cope with video too, we would give it the thumbs down I'm afraid but plenty say it's ok. WMA:  This is a format for audio/music. It compresses your music so you can get much more music on your player with an acceptable loss in quality. The actual loss in quality depends on the compression rate and this generally ranges from below 100 (not great) to lossless (spot on). Many people use a compression rate between 100 and 200. Woofer:  Your speaker is generally made up of 2 parts, the tweeter gives you the high frequency ie the detail and the woofer gives you the bass.