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Native: The inherent, specified resolution of a display or source device. For example, a 720p display is native 720p and a 1080i signal fed to it must be converted to the native resolution for display. It is advantageous to send signals to a display in its native resolution when possible, so if you have a 1080i TV, your HDTV cable box or disc player should be set to 1080i as well.
Nikkor: Name brand used by Nikon on their SLR lenses and highest quality optics.
Nipper: Dog that serves as RCA’s mascot, often shown looking into a gramophone. Nipper was a stray dog found and adopted by Mark Barraud in 1884. Nipper was later adopted by Francis Barraud, a painter, upon Mark’s death. Francis often found Nipper looking into a gramophone, curious as to where the sound was coming from. In 1899 Francis painted the image of the dog and gramophone, which eventually found its way to The Victor Talking Machine Company as its logo. Victor was later acquired by RCA, who adopted Nipper as their mascot. Nipper the mascot was joined in 1991 by Chipper, a similar-looking puppy.
Noise (audio): Any audible sounds that are not part of the original signal, such as hiss. Noise originates in a component such as a disc player or amplifier, not in the source material itself.
Noise (digital photography and video): Defects in an image caused by shortcomings in an image sensor or processor, typically manifesting in a grainy look that obscures detail. Image noise occurs primarily in low-light photography, shadow areas, and in cameras with small sensors and very high megapixel counts.
NTSC: The analog television system used in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. NTSC stands for National Television System Committee, the group that defined the standards. The NTSC group was founded in 1940 and the color standard was approved in 1953. The color NTSC standard is 525 interlaced lines of resolution scanned at 30 frames per second. (The highest output achieved with NTSC at a consumer level was 480 lines, from a DVD player.) NTSC broadcasts in the United States will be discontinued in February 2009 and replaced by the ATSC system. See ATSC.
