P

PAL: Phase Alternating Line, the analog television broadcast standard used throughout Europe (save France, which uses SECAM.)

Pan and Scan: Process used to convert widescreen images to 4:3 aspect ration used by analog televisions by selectively cropping the image.Panaflex: Motion picture camera made by Panavision. See Panavision.

Panavision: Leading manufacturer of motion picture cameras, lenses and associated equipment, headquartered in California. Panavision motion picture equipment is available only on a rental basis through Panavision and their agents worldwide. Operating solely on a rental basis allows Panavision to offer the most advanced equipment available while providing the highest level of reliability, as they are able to continuously monitor and maintain the equipment themselves. The rental model also saves the studios money they only have to pay for the cameras when they are using them, and different numbers of cameras are needed depending on the project. By renting the studio can allocate resources exactly as they are needed.  As a condition of the rental agreement motion pictures and television shows recorded with Panavision equipment must say so in the credits, such as “Filmed in Panavision.”

Panavision Genesis: Digital High-Definition Motion Picture produced by Panavision. The Panavision Genesis is a Panavision-enhanced version of a Sony high-definition camera. Mel Gibson’s Apocolypto was recorded with Panavision Genesis equipment.

Patch Cord: Term occasionally used for connection cables. The term is rarely used now, largely replaced with interconnect. See Interconnect.

PCM: Pulse code modulation, a form of digital audio recording. PCM is uncompressed audio and found on many Blu-ray Disc movies. It is frequently used because it not only provides the best possible sound quality, it does not require royalty payments to be made for its use. Soundtracks recorded with Dolby and dts surround require royalty payments, an extra expense to the studio. The drawback is PCM requires much more disc space than compressed formats such as Dolby TrueHD, which uses lossless compression to achieve similar quality while using less space. See Lossless Compression, Lossy Compression.

PDF: Portable Document Format, used for documents and supported by Adobe Acrobat Reader and other programs.

Phase

Phase Coherence

Phono Cartridge: Audio component mounted on a turntable’s tonearm, which generates an electrical signal from a phonograph record. See Cantilever, Moving Coil, Moving Magnet, Phono Preamp, RIAA Equalization, Stylus.

Phono Input: Input on a preamp, integrated amplifier or receiver that is specially configured to be used with a turntable. The phono input is designed to be used with the very low output of a phono cartridge and applies RIAA equalization to the signal before sending it to be amplified. See RIAA Equalization.

Phono Plugs: See RCA Jacks.

Phono Preamp: Electrical circuit found in receivers and integrated amplifiers with a phono input, and also in standalone phono preamps. A phono preamp applies the RIAA equalization curve and increase the very low millivolt signal of the phono cartridge into a volt or more for use with other components. Many home theater receivers do not have a phono input so a phono preamp is necessary if a turntable is to be used. See RIAA Equalization.

Pincusion Distortion: Optical distortion found primarily in telephoto lenses when lines bow in towards the subject.

Piracy: Theft of media via unathorized copying and/or resale.

Planar-Magnetic: Flat-panel loudspeaker using a diaphragm driven by a magnetic field. The driver element is magnetic, rather than electrostatically charged as in an electrostatic speaker. Planar-Magnetic speakers are known for outstanding transparency, detail, and stereo imaging. See Maggies, Magnepan.

Plasma Television: Flat-panel television that uses electrically-stimulated gas sealed in glass panels. The electrically-stimulated gas turns into plasma, which excites phosphors in the front panel to create the image. Because CRT televisions also use phosphors, plasma sets often mimic their color and contrast. This makes plasma TVs especially appealing to those who like the image characteristics of a classic tube TV. Contrary to the urban legend, plasma televisions do not need to have their gas recharged due to leakage over time.

Plasma Tweeter: Tweeter that uses ionized plasma created from helium gas to create sound. Plasma tweeters were capable of some of the finest sound quality ever produced, but the high cost, requirement of a helium tank, and the hazardous ozone created by the ionization process kept them from ever becoming popular.

Platter: Rotating part of a turntable that holds the record.

Ported Speaker: Speaker incorporating a strategically placed, tuned opening (port) in the cabinet. Ported speakers harness acoustical energy generated by the back of the speaker drivers and the speaker cabinet and use it to enhance bass response and improve speaker sensitivity. See Acoustic Suspension, Sensitivity.

Power at Clipping: Measurement of the maximum power produced by an amplifier before clipping occurs. This is often different from the rated power of an amplifier (for better or worse.) The measurement and is found in test of audio amplifiers published online and in magazines.

Power Envelope: NAD’s name for its amplifiers and receivers with high dynamic power capabilities. See Dynamic Power.

Power Line Conditioner: Component that protects from power surges, stabilizes voltage and “cleans” AC power before sending it to components. The value and necessity of these components is held in doubt by many, who believe AC current from the wall is adequate and all that is needed is a good surge protector. (The author holds this belief, as well.) See Voltage Stabilizer.

Preamplifier: Component that switches between components, changes volume and balance, then sends the signal to the amplifier. Most preamplifiers incorporate tone controls and a tape loop. See Tape Loop, Tone Controls.

Preamplifer (A/V): A preamplifier that incorporates surround sound processing and video switching. See Preamplifier.

Press Connectors: Speaker wire connectors on an amplifier or receiver. Press connectors are spring loaded and usually can only accept wire of 16 gauge or smaller. See Binding Posts.

Prime Lens: A lens with a fixed focal length. See Fixed Focal Length.

Primestar: Defunct satellite television service, started by cable companies in 1991 and operating on a cable lease/subscription model. Primestar allowed cable companies to offer service to rural areas where they did not have cable lines. It was sold to DirecTV in 1999 and service discontinued. When it was in use, Primestar had very high satisfaction ratings from its customers.

Program Mode: Fully-automatic exposure mode, with the camera selecting both shutter speed an aperture. It gets its name “Program” from the programmed values in the camera’s circuitry, corresponding to a set exposure setting for each exposure value. Program Mode first appeared in the Canon AE-1 Program 35mm camera of 1981. of See Exposure Value.

Program Shift: A feature of cameras with Program Mode, Program Shift allows the photographer to change the exposure settings without changing the exposure, such as from 1/125th and f-8 to 1/250th and f-5.6.

Progressive Scan: Video signal drawn in one pass from top to bottom, unlike an interlaced signal which is drawn in two half-frame passes. Progressive scan is considered superior to interlaced scan. See Interlaced Scan.

PSD: Photo Shop Document, the default, proprietary, lossless image format of Adobe’s Photoshop image-editing program.

Purple Fringing: Purple ghosts or halos seen in the outline of subjects in digital camera images. Purple fringing is common in many inexpensive cameras and budget-priced digital SLR lenses. Purple fringing is caused by challenging lighting conditions as well as less-than-perfect optics, image sensors, and image processors. See Chromatic Aberration, Image Processor.