| A/V (AUDIO/VIDEO) |
| Home stereo devices or setups that combine audio and video components, including an A/V receiver, a stereo TV, a CD player, a hi-fi VCR and speakers. |
| A/V INPUT |
| Jack that connects to another component's output. Found on the back of receivers, preamps, TVs, VCRs and other products. |
| A/V INPUTS (COMPOSITE)- |
| These are the standard jacks used to hookup audio and video components to each other. Input jacks allow the signals to be received from other components; having many inputs is helpful for future system expansion needs. Audio signals using these jacks are transmitted faithfully but video signals mix color and black & white signals together. For video, composite jacks provide high picture sharpness but are not as good as S jacks or Component jacks. |
| A/V OUTPUT |
| Jack that connects to another component's input. Found on the back of source components, preamps and (less often) receivers. |
| A/V PREAMPLIFIER |
| Home theater component that performs surround decoding, audio/video switching, audio preamplification, volume control, and other functions. It's like an audio/video receiver but without the final stage of amplification.(See A/V receiver) |
| A/V RECEIVER |
| Home theater control center that performs surround decoding, audio/video switching, audio preamplification, audio amplification, volume control and other functions. It's also the device to which other audio and video components are connected. Sometimes called a surround receiver. |
| A/V RECEIVER |
| Home theater control center that performs surround decoding, audio/video switching, audio preamplification, audio amplification, volume control and other functions. It's also the device to which other audio and video components are connected. Sometimes called a surround receiver. |
| A/V SWITCHER |
| Input/output device capable of routing the audio/video signal sources (such as a DVD or a CD player) to other components (such as an amplifier or a surround processor). May be a separate device or a feature built into another component, such as a receiver or a preamp. |
| AC (ALTERNATING CURRENT) |
| Form in which electricity is delivered via direct wiring; an electrical current that regularly reverses direction. Invented by Nikola Tesla in 1884 and promoted by Westinghouse, in competition with Thomas Edison's DC current, which flows constantly in one direction. The rate of alternation of AC current is known as frequency, measured in hertz (cycles per second). House current is always AC; battery power is always DC. (See DC, hertz.) |
| AC-3 |
| Audio Coding 3(See Dolby Digital) |
| ACCESS POINT (AP) |
| A wireless hub or "base station" that transmits and receives Wi-Fi wireless data traffic in a typical range of 100 to 500 feet. An external antenna can extend that range. An access point is usually attached to a wired LAN which is connected through a router back to the Internet. Access points are easy to set up and range in price from under £100 to over £1,000. They are available from companies such as Linksys, Proxim, D-Link, Netgear, Cisco and many others. |
| ACQUIRE |
| The opening up and importing of files into a given software application. The term is applied differently with in different types of software. With imaging software it is most often done through a twain interface or plug-in mini-application. |
| ACTIVE |
| Type of loudspeaker with an internal amplifier, sometimes called powered. (See powered) The term is also used to describe a typical line-level crossover for speakers; usually an outboard device, as compared to the speaker-level passive crossovers built into most non-powered speaker enclosures. (See crossover.) |
| ACTIVE SUBWOOFER |
| Speaker that produces nothing but bass and which has a built-in amplifier. (See passive subwoofer) |
| ADC (ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER) |
| Circuit that converts analog audio or video signals to digital; found most commonly in digital audio recorder products, such as DAT, DCC and MD (a CD player has a digital-to-analog converter). Also found in all digital receivers and in any video device that uses digital signal processing. (See DAT, DCC, MD) |
| ADOBE |
| Adobe Acrobat reader (reads electronic documents), Adobe GoLive (designs Web pages), Adobe InDesign (used for desktop publishing) and Adobe Photoshop (creates and modifies images). |
| AE (AUDIO ERASE) |
| In a cassette deck or VCR, the related circuit or magnetic head that is placed beside (or in front of) the audio control head. Functions during dubbing to erase only the audio track in preparation for the new sound recording. |
| AFC (AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY CONTROL) |
| Circuit that locks a radio tuner or TV receiver onto a station frequency to prevent signal drift. |
| AFT (AUTOMATIC FINE-TUNING) |
| Circuit found in a TV or radio tuner that compensates for a change in frequency due to oscillator drift. |
| ALC (AUTOMATIC LEVEL CONTROL) |
| Circuit that varies audio gain to maintain a relatively constant output signal. |
| ALC (AUTOMATIC LEVEL CONTROL) |
| Circuit that varies audio gain to maintain a relatively constant output signal. |
| ALL-PASS FILTER |
| Commonly used in dipole surround speakers to keep woofers in phase below about 500 Hz; two woofers out of phase at low frequencies cancel each other out acoustically. |
| ALL-WEATHER |
| Portable device that can withstand extreme conditions, such as water, sand or bumping; often referred to as water-resistant rather than waterproof because most are not designed for total immersion. Many so-called "sport" devices are not all-weather. |
| ALPHANUMERIC |
| Character set or designation containing letters, numbers and other characters, such as punctuation marks |
| AM (AMPLITUDE MODULATION) |
| Transmission scheme best known for its use in the standard radio broadcast band (530 kHz to 1705 kHz). A process that modulates the amplitude of a carrier wave according to a variation of the input voltage (signal). |
| AMCS (AUTOMATIC MUSIC CONTROL SYSTEM) |
| Feature found in analog tape decks that automatically plays the first few seconds of each tape track when activated in "play" mode. Same as automatic music search (AMS). |
| AMORPHOUS |
| Type of metal alloy used in tape heads that possesses high-saturation flux density and permeability with low friction noise; offers extended-frequency response and a superior signal-to-noise ratio on a video or audio deck. |
| AMS (AUTOMATIC MUSIC SEARCH) |
| Feature that allows an analog tape deck to locate specific tracks by searching for blank spaces between them. Same as automatic music control system (AMCS). |
| ANALOG |
| Type of signal that represents sound or video as a continuously variable progression of levels, often portrayed as waves. As opposed to digital, which employs a sequence of 2 types of pulses at otherwise unvarying levels to represent binary values (combinations of the numerals 0 and 1) to encode the signal. (See digital.) |
| ANALOG RECORDING |
| System of recording in which music or video signals are converted into electrical impulses, patterns that represent the signal, as opposed to digital code |
| ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER |
| (See ADC) |
| ANAMORPHIC- |
| Anamorphic capability allows DVDs to be viewed on widescreen TVs in letterbox format without any image details being cut out. In the past, DVDs were designed to be shown on standard TVs, and the images were then blown up when they were shown on widescreen TVs, eliminating picture details. Anamorphic capability condenses images onto DVDs and then stretches them out when they're shown on widescreens, recreating the movie theater experience. This feature is also called 16:9 enhancement; widescreens' dimensions are referred to as 16:9 because they're almost twice as wide as they are long |
| ANTI-SHOCK MEMORY |
| Feature of personal audio players, such as CD or MD, that uses memory chips to store a few seconds of a signal, allowing the playback mechanism to recover from physical shock without interrupting playback. |
| APERTURE |
| An opening in the lens that controls the amount of light that reaches the image sensor (CCD). Apertures are calibrated in f/stops and may be adjusted on some cameras. |
| APERTURE PRIORITY (AP MODE) |
| Camera will compensate with appropriate shutter speed to give the best picture. |
| ARTIFACT(ING) |
| Misinterpreted information from a JPEG or compressed image. Color faults or line faults that visibly impact the image negatively. |
| ASCII |
| American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) is an ANSI binary-coding scheme consisting of 128 seven-bit patterns for printable characters and control of equipment functions. ASCII is the basis for information exchange between many computer systems. |
| ATRAC (ADAPTIVE TRANSFORM ACOUSTIC CODING) |
| Music compression technology developed by Sony for use in MiniDisc equipment and media; also being considered by music content providers as a candidate for online distribution. |
| ATRC (ADVANCED TELEVISION RESEARCH CONSORTIUM) |
| Organization of several large consumer electronics companies, research facilities and broadcast entities that developed U.S. high-definition television (HDTV) standards. |
| ATSC (ADVANCED TELEVISION SYSTEMS COMMITTEE) |
| Government-sanctioned, industry-led standard-setting body that adopted the official DTV standard for the U.S. The acronym also refers to the standard itself. |
| ATTENUATE |
| To reduce the level of a signal. |
| ATVEF (ADVANCED TELEVISION ENHANCEMENT FORUM) |
| Coalition of broadcasters, hardware and software manufacturers attempting to create a standard for interactive data broadcasting, most of which would be part of HD transmissions. |
| AUDIO INPUT |
| Jack(s) on the back of a component, such as a receiver, an amp, a preamp or a recorder, that connects via cables to the audio output of a source device (CD player, VCR, tape deck, etc). |
| AUDIO OUTPUT |
| Jack(s) on the back of a source device, CD player, VCR, tape deck, etc) that connects via cables to the audio input of another device (such as a receiver, an amp, a preamp or a recorder). |
| AUDIO SPECTRUM |
| Full range of audio frequencies, covering lowest to highest, for a given application or device; also known as frequency spectrum. |
| AUDIO/VIDEO (A/V) PORTS |
| Used by some cameras to connect to TVs and VCRs. |
| AUTHORIZED DEALER |
| Retailer approved by a manufacturer to sell specific brands of products. |
| AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER |
| Service and repair center staffed with manufacturer-trained (or approved) technicians. |
| AUTO FLASH WITH FLASH CONTROL SENSOR |
| Detects light level and activates the flash accordingly. |
| AUTO REVERSE |
| Cassette tape deck feature that automatically plays the other side of tape after the first is completed. |
| AUTO SCENE POSITION |
| Lets photographers specify the type of pictures they are taking (portrait, landscape, etc.) for beautiful, customized results without having to worry about manual exposure adjustments |
| AUTO SURROUND DETECTION |
| Ability of an audio/video receiver or preamp to determine the type of incoming surround sound signal (Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, dts, etc.) from a DVD, laserdisc or other source and then to properly decode it. |
| AUTO SURROUND DETECTION |
| Ability of an audio/video receiver or preamp to determine the type of incoming surround sound signal (Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, dts, etc.) from a DVD, laserdisc or other source and then to properly decode it. |
| AUTO-FOCUS (AF) |
| Automatically adjusts focus. Available in most digital cameras. |
| AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE (AE MODE) |
| Will detect light levels and set exposure accordingly. |
| AUTOMATIC FLASH |
| Lights every picture as needed, unless turned off |
| AUTOMATIC MODE |
| Controls camera exposure for optimal picture quality |
| AUTOMATIC MUSIC SEARCH |
| (See AMS) |
| AUXILIARY |
| TV and VCR setting through which a source is played when connected by composite or S-video cables, rather than by an RF cable; used to switch from the device's internal tuner (channel selector) to that of an external source. Often abbreviated aux, and also called "line" mode. Extra receiver or preamp inputs may also be given this name. |
| AUXILIARY INPUT JACKS |
| Enable you to plug in additional miscellaneous components, such as a second CD player, into a receiver or preamp. |
| AVI (AUDIO VIDEO INTERLEAVED) |
| A sound and motion picture file format that synchronizes audio and video. |
| AWG (AMERICAN WIRE GAUGE) |
| Scale for conducting wire, such as phone cord and speaker wire. The lower the number, the thicker the wire. Standard thickness for audio installations is 16-gauge, though 12-18 is not uncommon. Lower gauge numbers are more appropriate for longer cable runs, such as those to rear-surround speakers. (See premium cable) |
