DivX :
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Often referred to as the
MP3 of video, DivX is a breakthrough in digital video technology that
compresses video and film files so they can be easily transferred over
broadband connections.
DivX technology is revolutionary because it lets
anyone with a cable or DSL connection do something previously
impossible: download and view a full-length DVD-quality movie in the
time it takes to have a pizza delivered.
DivX is so advanced that it can
reduce an MPEG-2 video (the same format used for DVD and pay per view)
to 10 percent of its original size.
Video on regular VHS tapes can be reduced to about 1 percent of its original size. MPEG-4-based compressed
digital video format is used for Internet distribution of movies
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HD Ready :
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Used to describe any TV that can display high-definition formats when connected to a separate HDTV
tuner or source.
These TVs generally have built-in tuners for receiving regular PAL (UK) broadcasts
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MPEG-4 :
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Advanced compression scheme finalized October 1998, designed to enable transmission and reception of
high-quality audio and video over the Internet and next-generation mobile telephones.
Potentially enables mobile video phones, video e-mail, and cordless video cameras.
There are two major versions are MPEG-4 Simple Profile for low-resolution digital video content, usually for
distribution over the Internet, and MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding), which offers faster and higher-quality compression than MPEG-2 for HDTV
content. |
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NTSC :
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(Zone 1) National Television Standards Committee
The FCC engineering group formed in 1940 to develop technical standards for black-and-white television (NTSC broadcasting began July 1, 1941) and colour television (1953).
NTSC is also the video-transmission standard used in the western hemisphere, Japan, and other Asian countries as well as the USA.
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| PAL :
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(Zone 2) Phase Alternating Line.
This video-transmission standard was introduced in the early 1960s and is used in most European countries except France and the former Soviet
Union. PAL standards specify 625 lines of resolution at 50fps.
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Pixel :
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Dots of colour, sometimes composed of separate red, green, and blue subpixels, that combine to create an image; from the words picture element.
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MP3 :
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Undoubtedly the biggest format revolution of the last
few years has been MP3, now present in every corner of online and digital life.
One of the most frequently searched terms on the internet search engines.
MP3 stands for MPEG layer 3 audio, MPEG being a form of
compression used in both video and audio.
So why compress, why not just capture digitally? Well its all down to size, in this case size of
captured music files (a WAV file the standard for music CD) produces massive files which even with the event of
broadband connections are just too big.
MP3 is a form of compression and is to music, what JPEG is to photographic images,
a space saver, allowing more room for more music. |
| USB :
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USB, or Universal Serial Bus, is a hardware bus standard that
allows users to plug a peripheral device into a USB port
and have it automatically configured and ready to use.
It is one of the success stories of the personal computer. It not only works well, but
also makes the life of the average computer user easier.
Most computers that were manufactured after 1995 have USB ports.
Windows 95 had only erratic support for USB, but all newer Windows operating
systems have support for USB.
iMacs and other Apple computers also support USB.
USB has a lot going for it. It has three great features:
speed, power, and ease of use.
A port is an interface for attaching external devices to a computer and just recently, a small number of other electrical
devices such as car radios, dvd players and hifi systems.
The USB 1 port transfers data at up to 12 mbps depending on the type of device that is connected.
However, with a maximum transfer rate of 480 mbps, or 60 mb per second, USB 2.0 is approximately forty times faster
than USB 1. Better yet, it is backwardly compatible with USB 1.
This means that if your new device comes with USB 2.0, you can
still use your old USB devices. Of course, they will perform at
USB 1 speeds, but they will still work properly.
To take full advantage of the speed of
USB 2.0, the devices that you purchase must be USB 2.0
enabled and must be run from a USB 2.0 port. These speedy devices
have already made their appearance and are sure to be plentiful in the
future. |
| JPEG :
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Because digital images take up a great deal of space, an organization called the Joint Photographers Group created a format called JPEG.
This format reduces the size of the image greatly due to compression. It uses
several tricks to accomplish this.
A digital image stores information about every single dot in the image. If a photo has 20 red dots, it will
store this information 20 times. A jpeg image might only store one dot
and then a notation to repeat this information 20 times.
However, jpeg images are referred to as "lossy" images because there is some loss of
quality with this format.
A jpeg is a photographic picture
that has been compressed to save disc space. The compression size of a
jpeg is dependent on its quality.The lower the quality of the image the
smaller the file size. A high quality image has the largest file size. |
| Gb (Gigabyte) Hard Drive
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Some DVD and MP3 Players with HDD (Hard Disk Drive), offer unparalleled flexibility and functionality. Not only can you store huge
amounts of content on the HDD, you can then transfer it to DVD for permanent archiving.
An HDD also offers the ability to create play-lists, time-slip and partially erase programs, for example,
deleting advert breaks from recorded commercial TV.
Depending on the size of the hard disk (Normally 80Gb and over), you can record over 100
hours of media on the hard disk alone.
The hard drive found in a HDD dvd player is similar to that found in a computer and can, in some cases
store photographs and music as well as films. |
| VCD/SVCD :
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VCD stands for VideoCompact Disc.
VideoCD is a standard developed in early 1990's that allows regular CD to
contain 74 minutes of video and audio.
VideoCDs can be played in most of the stand-alone DVD players, in all stand-alone VCD
players and in all computers that have CD-ROM drive.
VCD is a very popular method for movie distribution in China, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Malaysia, etc..
SVCD stands for Super VideoCompact Disc.
Unlike VCD, SVCD can contain multiple audio streams (just like a DVD-Video can), subtitles, still images,
multi-level hierarchical menus, chapters (for indexing), hyperlinks and playlists. SVCD's resolution is 2x higher
than VCD's, so picture quality is sharper although not as sharp as on DVD. |
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