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Backlighting: Lighting situation where strong light behind the subject fools the camera’s exposure meter, causing the subject to be too dark. Backlighting can be compensated for in several ways so the subject is properly exposed. See AEL, Exposure Compensation and Light Meter.
Balanced Connections: Audio connection with three conductors, originally from pro audio but now found in high-end audio components. Balanced connections are usually used to connect preamplifiers to amplifiers. Their special design is especially effective at preventing hum or interference from finding its way into the signal. Also known as XLR connections.
Banana Plugs: Connectors used with binding posts on speakers and receivers/amplifiers. Exposed wire is attached to the banana plug, usually with friction or a screw, and the banana plug is inserted into the center of the binding post. Banana plugs make connecting speaker wire easy and greatly reduces the possibility of a short from a frayed wire touching a terminal. See Binding Posts.
Barrel Distortion: Optical distortion where vertical lines bow outwards, like a barrel. Barrel distortion happens mostly with wide-angle lenses and zoom lenses at the widest settings.
Bass: Low frequency sounds, under 80 Hz.
Bass Management: Distribution of bass frequencies throughout a speaker system. Bass management is usually handled by the audio/video receiver or preamplifier.
Bass Reflex Speaker: See Ported Speaker.
Belt Drive: Method of driving a turntable platter, using a belt driven by a motor. Belt-driven turntables are usually preferred by audiophiles because the belt minimizes the transmission of unwanted vibrations from the motor to the platter. The motor is often supsended or isolated to further isolate vibration. See Direct Drive.
Betamax: Sony-developed videocassette format. Image quality was wisuperior to its competitor, VHS, but VHS became the industry standard because of lower cost and longer recording times. Elements of Beta technology live on in professional Betacam and Digital Betacam products. See VHS.
BD: Abbreviation for Blu-ray Disc.
BD+: Digital rights management system employed by Blu-ray to prevent piracy. Adopted due to requests by 20th Century Fox, it is not employed on all Blu-ray discs. Has been responsible for lockups on certain makes and models of BD players, which much be fixed with a firmware upgrade.
BD-Java: Version of the Java programming language used for interactive functions on Blu-ray discs. Developed by Sun Microsystems.
BD-Live: See Blu-ray Profile 2.0
BD-R: Recordable Blu-ray disc. See Blu-ray Disc.
BDA: Blu-ray Disc Association, entity responsible for standards, development and marketing of the Blu-ray Disc format. Membership is comprised of movie studios and equipment manufacturers that support the Blu-ray Disc format. See Blu-ray Disc.
Binding Posts: Amplifier output terminals found on receivers/amplifiers and speakers. Binding posts have a screw connector to accept bare wire and accept banana plugs through the center of the post. Binding posts are considered to be superior to press connectors. See Press Connectors.
Bipolar Speaker: Speaker that radiates the same soundwaves from two (usually direct opposite) directions. Found in many surround-sound speakers as radiating in multiple directions can improve surround effects. See Dipole Speaker.
Bipole: See Bipolar speaker
Bitrate: Rate of digital data transfer, usually given in Kb/s or MB/s. For example, an audio track with a rate of 128 KB/s uses 128,000 bits per second, a video track of 20 Mb/s uses 20,000,000 bits per second. Higher bitrates mean better quality as more information is used to create the signal, but doubling the bitrate does not necessarily double the quality as you hit diminishing returns at a certain point, depending on the quality of the material and the quality of the compression format. Higher bitrates use more space- doubling the bitrate will also double the file size, so a compromise between size and quality is usually made when compressing digital files.
Bitstream: Sending digital information in its original form, such as from a Blu-ray/HD DVD player to a receiver. For example, if you have a receiver that can decode dts-MA surround sound and a Blu-ray player than can bitstream DTS-MA, you can set the Blu-ray player to bitstream mode and it will transfer the original DTS-MA information to the receiver, which will decode it and send it to the speakers.
Blu-ray Disc: High definition disc format created primarily by Sony, Philips and Panasonic, Blu-ray gets its name from the short wavelength blue laser used to read the discs, as opposed to red lasers used by CDs and DVDs. The short wavelength laser can read smaller pits on the disc, allowing more to be placed on the disc, which creates more capacity. Capacity is 25GB for a single-layer Blu-ray disc and 50GB for a double-layer Blu-ray disc. Because the data layer is fragile and very close to the surface of the disc , Blu-ray discs have a hard protective coating to prevent scratching and fingerprints. Recordable Blu-ray discs and burners are also available for computer data storage and are used in Japan to record video. The major supporting Blu-ray disc studios are 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, MGM, Sony Pictures, and Warner Bros. Paramount Pictures and Universal Studios announced support in February 2008.
Blu-ray Profile 1.0: Blu-ray profile referred to as “Grace Period Profile.” Blu-ray Profile 1.0 players can only play Blu-ray movies and do not support picture-in-picture or web interactive features. With the exception of the Sony Playstation 3, Profile 1.0 players cannot be upgraded to Profile 1.1 or Profile 2.0 as they lack necessary hardware (secondary audio/video decoder and an internet connection.)
Blu-ray Profile 1.1: Blu-ray Profile 1.1 players and discs support “Bonus View” picture-in-picture capabilities for viewing content such as storyboards, director and actor commentary, and looks behind the scenes showing how the movie was made. Local storage capacity of 256 MB is also required. All Blu-ray players introduced after November 1, 2007 must conform to Profile 1.1 at a minumum. Profile 1.1 is also called “Final Standard Profile.” With the exception of the Sony Playstation 3, Profile 1.1 players cannot be upgraded to Profile 2.0 as they lack necessary hardware (an internet connection.)
Blu-ray Profile 2.0: Blu-ray Profile 2.0 is referred to as “BD-Live” and supports web-enabled interactive content. Blu-ray Profile 2.0 players must support Profile 1.1 features and adds an internet connection and increase local storage capacity requirements from 256 MB to 1 GB. As of date of publication players supporting this profile has not been introduced to the marketplace. Check back for updates.
Bonus View: See Blu-ray Profile 1.1
Bookshelf Speaker: Small loudspeaker that can fit on a bookshelf, thought they are best used on stands for the best possible sound quality. Bookshelf speakers typically have a woofer of at least 4″ in diameter. See Tower Speaker.
Break-in, Broken-in (loudspeakers): Loudspeakers are mechanical devices and many audiophiles and manufactuers believe they do not sound their best until they have been “broken in” after 20 to 100 hours of use. This theory has more credence than the burn-in theory (electronics) because loudspeakers are mechanical, not electrical devices. See Burn-in.
Bright Sound: Term used to describe sound perceived as having too much treble in proprotion to the rest of the sound spectrum.
Buffer: Temporary memory in a digital camera. When a picture is taken, the information first goes to the buffer, then is transferred from the buffer to the memory card. After the picture is transferred to the memory card the buffer is cleared to make room for more pictures. The size of the buffer and the speed of the camera’s electronics determine how many pictures can be taken before the buffer is filled. When the buffer is full, the user must wait until it space is cleared before taking another picture.
Burn-in (electronic components): Burn-in is a name given to the concept that audio and video components perform and sound better after an initial period of use, called “burn-in.” The concept is an electronics variation of the the break-in period of a car. Many believe this “improved performance” is actually the user getting used to the look and sound of a component, rather than an actual improvement. See Break-in.
Burn-in (television screens): Burn-in is a ghost image becomes “burned in” to the screen of a CRT or plasma TV. Burn-in occurs when a static image is displayed repeatedly or for a very long period of time, causing the phosphors in the tube or plasma panel to burn out. Incorrect picture settings (brightness or contrast set too high) can increase the incidence of burn in, or make it occur faster. See Phosphors.
Burr-Brown: Burr-Brown is a manufacturer of digital-to-analog converters (DACs.) Burr-Brown DACs are known for superior sound quality, so manufacturers using them in their components will often state “Burr-Brown DACs” as a selling point, assuring the customer of superior audio quality. Burr-Brown is a Texas Instruments company. See DAC.
