Televisions (TV) Glossary
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| 480p | |
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Near high definition progressive scan 852x480 resolution signal used by progressive-scan DVD players and EDTV. | |
| Coaxial Cable | |
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Type of cable used in home cable television. It has an insulated copper wire surrounded by a grounding wire and plastic coating. | |
| Contrast | |
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Difference between black and light in a picture. | |
| CRT | |
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Cathode Ray Tube: Vacuum tube that creates pictures by scanning an electron beam back and forth across a phosphor-coated screen. Direct-view TVs use one tube while rear-projection CRTs have three separate tubes for red, blue, and green. | |
| Direct-View | |
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Type of CRT television that has one picture tube and comes in screen sizes up to 36". | |
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| DLP | |
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Digital Light Processing: Type of projection TV technology based on DMD. DLP TVs can use a single chip that works with a color wheel to create a picture or use a three-chip setup to create the red, green, and blue components of an image. | |
| DMD | |
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Digital Micromirror Device: Type of microchip developed by Texas Instruments that uses thousands of swiveling mirrors to create a picture. | |
| DTV | |
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Digital Television: Digital broadcast television standard for HDTV and SDTV. | |
| DVI | |
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Digital Visual Interface: Connection used to carry encrypted high-resolution video signals from a HDTV-capable satellite or cable set-top box to an HDTV monitor with a DVI connector. It can also be used with some DVD players. | |
| HD-Ready | |
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Televisions that need a separate receiver/decoder to display high-definition television signals. | |
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| HDMI | |
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High-Definition Multimedia Interface: Connection that transfers encrypted uncompressed digital video and multichannel audio. | |
| HDTV | |
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High Definition Television: Highest-resolution digital television programs, usually 720p or 1080i. Televisions marketed as "HDTV" have a built-in HDTV decoder or are HDTV ready. | |
| HDTV-Ready | |
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Televisions that need a separate tuner to display high-definition television signals. Also called an HDTV monitor. | |
| High-Definition | |
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Highest-resolution digital television programs, usually 720p or 1080i. | |
| Home Theater | |
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Home entertainment setup that includes a television, audio amplifier, DVD player, and surround sound stereo speakers. | |
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| HTiB | |
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Home Theater in a Box: Set of home theater surround sound speakers and a decoder/amplifier. It can come with or without a DVD player. | |
| Interlaced Scan | |
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Process of creating a television picture by sequentially drawing odd and even lines on a screen. The process is used by NTSC and several digital television signals. | |
| LCD | |
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Liquid Crystal Display: Type of technology used by some flat-panel and rear-projection televisions that works by shining light through pixel cells. Each cell contains a red, green, and blue component. An LCD TV cannot turn off specific pixels. | |
| LCoS | |
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Liquid Crystal on Silicon: Projection display technology that combines aspects of LCD and DLP technology. As light shines through liquid crystals, it is reflected or blocked by a mirror. LCoS rear-projectors usually use three separate LCoS chips for red, green, and blue. | |
| Luminance | |
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Picture brightness. | |
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| Monster Cable | |
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Manufacturer of audio and video cables. Also refers to cables from the company. | |
| NTSC | |
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National Television System Committee: Organization that established the 525-line interlaced scan analog television standard in North America. We are only able to see 480 lines (480i). | |
| PiP | |
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Picture-in-Picture: Television feature that allows a viewer to watch overlaid or split-screen video from two different sources. | |
| Pixel | |
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Picture Element: A single point in an image. You see a complete image when multiple pixels are put together. | |
| S-Video | |
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Four-pin connector that transmits the luminance and chrominance portions of a video signal separately. | |
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| SDTV | |
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Standard Definition Television: Digital television system that supports 480i and 480p signals. | |
| Tuner | |
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Device that converts broadcast signals into audio and video signals your television can use. | |
| 1080i | |
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HDTV 1920x1080 resolution interlaced scan signal. HDTV television programs are usually 720p or 1080i. | |
| 16:9 Aspect Ratio | |
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Screen width to height ratio for widescreen CRT, LCD, plasma, and rear-projection televisions. | |
| 4:3 Aspect Ratio | |
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Screen width to height ratio for some CRT televisions. | |
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| 720i | |
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HDTV 1280x720 resolution interlaced scan signal. | |
| 720p | |
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HDTV 1280x720 resolution progressive scan signal. HDTV television programs are usually 720p or 1080i. | |
| Antenna | |
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Rod or wire used to receive television signals broadcast over the air. | |
| Artifact | |
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Defects in a television picture such as seemingly misplaced dots or blocks that resemble a pixilated digital image. | |
| Burn-In | |
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Television screen damage that occurs when a static image remains in one place too long, leaving an impression. Plasma and rear-projection CRTs are most vulnerable. | |
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| Chrominance | |
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Color aspects of a picture. | |
| Component Video | |
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Cable splitting video into three signals: one brightness and two color. It offers better quality than composite video and S-video. Wide bandwidth component video cables carry high-definition video signals. | |
| Composite Video | |
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Single video signal containing brightness (luminance) and color (chrominance) information. | |
| EDTV | |
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Enhanced Definition Television: TVs offering near high definition progressive scan 852x480 (480p) resolution. | |
| Fiber Optic | |
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Cable made up of glass filament that transmits data using light. | |
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| Flat-Panel | |
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Thin television that uses LCD or plasma technology. | |
| HDCP | |
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Type of encryption used with DVI and HDMI connections to prevent the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted materials. | |
| HDTV Monitor | |
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Televisions that need a separate tuner to display high-definition television signals. Also called HDTV-ready. | |
| HDTV Tuner | |
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Device used to receive and decode an HDTV television signal. HDTV tuners are built-in to special cable and satellite television receivers. | |
| Plasma | |
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Television technology that creates an image by applying an electric charge to gas-filled cells which react with a burst of ultraviolet light. Plasma televisions can be HDTV, HDTV-ready, or EDTV. | |
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| Progressive Scan | |
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Process of creating a 720p or 480p image on an HDTV monitor by displaying horizontal and vertical picture information on a screen simultaneously. | |
| Rainbow Effect | |
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Artifact created on some single-chip DLP televisions where people can see a flash of color separate from the overall television picture. | |
| Rear-Projection TV | |
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Type of television that creates a picture by using a series of lenses and mirrors to magnify an image and project it onto the back of a translucent screen. | |
| Resolution | |
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Screen image quality and clarity measured in pixels. Higher resolution offers a clearer picture. | |
| Widescreen | |
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Television screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. | |
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