3D Now!
3DNow! is an advanced instruction set developed by AMD. It is composed of
instructions which support SIMD floating point, DSP, and integer operations.
4 or 6 Speaker
An audio selection, this is 4 or 6 downmixed stereo channels (as opposed to true
surround sound).
A3D
Developed by Aureal Inc., it enables 3D audio for use on your PC.
AC-3
Dolby Digital AC-3 is a flexible audio data compression technology capable of
encoding a range of audio channel formats into a low rate bitstream. Eight
channel configurations are supported, ranging from conventional mono or stereo
to a surround format with six discrete channels (left, center, right, left
surround, right surround and subwoofer). The AC-3 bitstream specification
permits sample rates of either 48 kHz, 44.1 kHz, or 32 kHz, and supports data
rates ranging from 32 kbps (kilobits-per-second) to 640 kbps.
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices. It is the world's second largest microprocessor company.
aspect ratio
When watching DVD, screen ratios are usually 16:9 (widescreen) or 4:3 (TV). The
Keep Aspect Ratio option will keep the original aspect ratio of your video
content and window despite modifications.
bob
When watching DVD, video content encoded from an interlaced signal would use the
bob mode, a deinterlacing technique as opposed to weave. Bob plays video content
at twice it's frame rate while each frame is displayed in only one of the
fields. This makes the image appear to bob up and down a bit, especially when
text is displayed, but doing so eliminates horizontal streaking. The bob mode is
only useful for NTSC/PAL content such as movie trailers.
chapter
For DVDs, chapters make up one title. There are roughly 20+ chapters for the
entire length of one DVD movie.
CSS
Content Scrambling System. A system designed by the motion picture industry, the
consumer electronics industry, and finally the computer industry, to prevent the
illegal copying of content stored on DVD discs.
deinterlace
Deinterlaces interlaced video content, especially from TV signals or before
capturing video content (see interlace for more details).
DirectSound
This application programming interface (API) is the wave-audio component of the
DirectX® API. DirectSound provides low-latency mixing, hardware acceleration,
and direct access to the sound device all the while maintaining compatibility
with existing device drivers. It also enables wave sound capture and playback,
supports property sets that enable application developers to take advantage of
extended services offered by sound cards and their associated drivers.
DirectX
Microsoft DirectX ® is a set of low-level application programming interfaces
(APIs) for creating high-performance multimedia applications with its overriding
design goal being speed. It includes DirectDraw, Direct3D, DirectSound,
DirectMusic, DirectInput, etc..
Dolby Digital AC-3
Refer to AC-3.
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
True surround sound with 5 discrete audio channels with the .1 representing the
subwoofer (digital format).
Dolby Surround
Downmixed stereo audio channels as opposed to true surround sound.
downmix
The process of combining 5 or more discrete digital audio signals into 2
channels.
DVD
Digital Versatile Disc. DVD is a high capacity CD-size disc for video,
multimedia, games and audio applications.
DVD-ROM
A read-only format, it is similar to the CD-ROM format for compact discs but
holds up to 4.7 GB (current generation).
DVD-Video
This term is usually reserved for DVDs that serve entertainment purposes, like
DVD movie titles. It will replace VHS tapes entirely this decade.
encoding
To change or translate into code. For software, encoding is used for video and
audio references like encoding analogue format into digital.
FourCC
Four CC is a Windows' designation for the digital video format standard.
frame rate
For video content, the frame rate measures how many still frames per second. The
higher the better when capturing video content with motion.
GOP
Group of Pictures. A MPEG compression technology, the GOP concept reduces the
temporal redundancy across frames (from frame to frame) for video content and
consists of I, B, P frames.
GUI or UI
Graphical user interface. The appearance or outlook of a given software
application. Sometimes is referred to as user interface (UI) for short.
Hardware
Abstraction Layer
HAL allows developers to access hardware devices without explicit knowledge of
the brand's model or its details and works in conjunction with DirectDraw.
hardware
accelerator
It eases CPU loading by selecting the hardware to handle the bulk of a given
task. Some features may not be available when selected.
Hardware
Emulation Layer
HEL is where DirectX features can be emulated if the device itself does not
support those features.
IA
Intel Architecture. It is the abbreviation given to technology developed by
Intel Corp.
IA
Streaming SIMD Extensions
It defines a new Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture for
floating-point operations.
I-frame
A.k.a. intra pictures, I-frame is typically the first frame of each GOP (apart
of video compression technology used by MPEG), is moderately compressed, and
serves as the reference points for random access and can be likened to images.
instruction
sets
The operating instructions that tell a chip how to perform software functions
and direct operations within the microprocessor.
IDCT
Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform. Is a decoding and spatial compression
technique for DVD playback that uses an arithmetic operation.
interlaced video
content
Describes video content within a given frame where there are 2 imagery data
fields, even and odd, that are scanned separately (e.g. NTSC & PAL
television signals). This usually poses a problem when interlaced content meets
non-interlaced mediums like computer monitors, which only displays
non-interlaced content.
letterbox
A format for viewing DVDs, letterboxed DVDs are shrunk from original widescreen
aspect ratios to 4:3 (e.g. movies are all filmed in widescreen ratios of 16:9 or
larger) where black stripes become evident on the top and bottom of a 4:3 screen
but preserves the original aspect ratio (no cropping).
LPCM
Linear Pulse Code Modulation. It is used for audio CD players for converting
digital signals into analogue.
MMX Technology
Developed by Intel, MMX technology is for instruction sets and boasts 3 primary
architectural design enhancements as compared to the previous Pentium processor.
motion
compensation
A decoding technique and advanced video acceleration function found on some
display chips that speed up DVD playback by transferring the decoding process
onto the card itself.
MPEG
Moving Picture Experts Group. A family of international standards used for
coding audio/video information into digital format. Currently, in the year 2000,
MPEG-2 is the standard for digital video formats and MP3 for strictly digital
audio formats.
NTSC
National Television Systems Committee. Is a standard format adopted by the FCC
for television broadcasts in the United States, Japan, Canada, and Mexico.
Specs: 525 lines of resolution per frame at 30 fps.; 60 Hz field frequency;
requires a 6 MHz analog channel for transmission.
non-interlaced
video content
Describes video content within a given frame that do not consist of distinct
imagery data fields. (e.g. computer monitors)
PAL
Phase Alteration Line. Is the standard format for television broadcasts in West
Germany, Great Britain and most of the Western European nations.
pan&scan
A software feature available for certain DVDs where the original widescreen
aspect ratios (1:66 and above) can be altered to a 4:3 letterbox ratio. The user
will be allowed to pan&scan during playback while the black bars will
disappear.
quantization
The process of converting a sampled sound into a digital value.
QXpander
QXpander is a 3D soundfield enhancer, i.e. it takes the inherent stereo sound
information (differential stereo content) and applies 3D processing
proportionately. The result is two-channel stereo output providing a dramatic
widening of the perceived sound field.
region code
protection system
Used for DVDs worldwide, it is a six-region copy protection and locking system
to control the timing of theatrical releases worldwide.
resolution
A synonym for sharpness in regards to imagery detail, it is measured in lines or
megahertz.
sampling rate
Sampling rate determines the sound frequency range (corresponding to pitch)
which can be represented in digital waveform. The range of frequencies
represented in a waveform is often called its bandwidth.
SPDIF Sony/Philips
Digital InterFace.
The SPDIF is an advanced technological Digital Interface, as opposed to
transferring signals via conventional analog interfaces, designed by the Sony
and Philips corporations.
stereo
Two independent audio channels but bitrate remains constant while the channels'
split may vary.
stream
Streams are in the form of video or audio which are transferred usually on the
Internet in real-time or encoded on DVD discs.
subtitles
A translation of words spoken in a motion picture printed at the bottom of the
frames.
surface type
Conveys information as to the current overlay mode.
subpicture
information
In the DVD data stream, subpicture information usually comes in the form of subtitling,
but can also be decoded as graphics that overlay the video. The additional
graphical information may be used to further illustrate or notate the contents
of the video at that particular moment. This additional feature of DVD playback
is completely dependent on the DVD author and varies from title to title.
system tray
Systray.exe is a tool for system taskbar notifications. The taskbar provides a
location for programs and hardware devices to display icons.
title
DVDs consist of less than 10 titles for every DVD movie. Titles consist of
chapters.
VCD
Video Compact Disc. Generally for video applications employing MPEG-1
technology, video quality is not as detailed as DVD and has similar technology
to that of audio CDs.
video
overlay mode
Video Overlay is the ability to superimpose computer graphics over a live or
recorded video signal and store the resulting video image on hard disk.
Waveout
Is an API developed by Microsoft but unlike DirectSound, it offers no hardware
assistance, precedes DirectSound in the realm of audio technology, and is the
most basic audio output method employed by all CPUs running Windows OS.
weave
For deinterlacing content, weave mode the default for DVD titles to ensure
quality. It switches to bob mode if interlaced content is detected because you
may see horizontal streaking when interlaced content is played (for non-movie
data with NTSC/PAL content like movie trailers).
widescreen
Points to devices with aspect ratios of 16:9 (width:height) or greater which is
better suited and in line with human vision.
Windows Media Format
This format is optimized for streaming and playing back audio, video, and script
data and is primarily used in streaming presentations over the Internet. The
main format used is .WMV in combination with Microsoft's Windows Media Player.
WMA
Windows Media Audio. A Windows Media proprietary streaming audio format
typically used to download and play files or to stream content.
WMV
Windows Media Video. A Windows Media proprietary streaming audio/video format
typically used to download and play files or to stream content and is the main
streaming format used for Microsoft's Windows Media Player.
