avglossary.com

.1: In surround-sound specifications, the .1 denotes a separate channel for the subwoofer, so a 5.1 system has 5 channels plus a subwoofer. The .1 channel is also called the LFE channel. See LFE.

18% Gray: Light meters measure based on a standard of 18% gray. See Gray Card.

20-20,000 Hz: Humans are able to hear audio frequencies between 20 Hz (low bass) and 20,000 Hz (very high treble). Hearing ability decreases with age. Men hear low frequencies better than women, and women hear high frequencies better than men. Sounds above 20,000 Hz cannot be perceived, but frequencies below 20 Hz can be felt, though not heard.

24 fps: 24 frames per second, the speed at which motion pictures are filmed. See also 1080p/24.

2:3 Pull-Down: Video processing to compensate between different frame rates used by film and video displays. Disc players or TVs with poor 2:3 pull-down performance will have artifacts in the image when playing film-based material. See Artifacts, Jaggies.

4:3: This is the aspect ratio used by conventional analog TVs. It is 4 units wide by 3 units high. See Aspect Ratio.

5.1: Surround sound with 5 channels: left front, center, right front, left surround, right surround, and an LFE channel. See LFE.

6.1: Surround sound with 6 channels: left front, center, right front, left surround, rear, right surround, and an LFE channel. See LFE.

7.1: Surround sound with 7 channels: left front, center, right front, left surround, right surround, left rear, right rear, and an LFE channel. See LFE.

8mm: See Video 8.

16×9: This is the aspect ratio used by most digital TVs and is the official aspect ratio of HDTV boroadcasts. It is 16 units wide by 9 units high. See Aspect Ratio.

35mm Equivalent: Refers to a digital camera’s equivalent 35mm focal length. Focal lengths of 20-24 mm= very wide angle, 25-28 mm= wide angle, 29-35 mm= moderate wide angle, 36-60 mm= normal, 70-135mm= telephoto, 150-200= strong telephoto, over 200mm= super telephoto. See Wide Angle, Telephoto.

60 Hz Hum: A humming sound in an audio system caused by poorly grounded components. It can often be solved with a three prong to two prong adapter.

120 Hz: A 120 Hz scanning rate is found in some LCD TVs and is meant to reduce or eliminate motion blur. The ability of it to do so depends on how well the feature is implemented and the quality of the TV, so having 120 Hz is not a sure-fire way to solve the problem. See Motion Blur, Scanning Rate.

480i: 480 interlaced lines of resolution. This is the maximum resolution for analog NTSC TVs. See Interlaced.

480p: 480 progressively-scanned lines of resolution. This is the highest resolution output of a progressive scan DVD player. See Progressive Scan.

576p: 576 progressively-scanned lines of resolution. This is the resolution of an EDTV. See EDTV, Progressive Scan.

720p: 720 progressively-scanned lines of resolution. This is the minimum resolution for a broadcast to be considered high definition. See Progressive Scan.

1080i: 1080 interlaced lines of resolution. This resolution is considered high definition. See Interlaced.

1080p: 1080 progressively-scanned lines of resolution. This is a high definition resolution, but is currently not available via broadcast. See Full HD, True HD, Progressive Scan.

1080p/24: 1080 progressively-scanned lines of resolution at 24 frames per second (fps.) Most Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs are recorded at 1080p/24fps, the theoretical best as it exactly duplicates the native rate of the filming. Playing back such material on a player that outputs 1080p/24 to a TV that supports 1080p/24 with a 1080p/24 input will theoretically yield the best possible picture quality and the most film-like reproduction of the material possible. See Native.