SHORT TECHNICAL GUIDE
AC 3
Output for Dolby Digital signal
AV programme pos.
Preferred programme slot on TV set for external connections such as Scart and HDMI
CAM – Conditional Access Module
Decryption decoder, which uses a smart card to decrypt the encrypted radio and TV signals.
CI - Common Interface
Internationally standardised interface for CA modules
Conditional Access (CA) system
Controls user access to services and programmes which are encrypted for reasons of copyright or for commercial reasons.
Data rate
Data bits transmitted per second. Is expressed in kbit/s or Mbit/s. The higher the data rate the better the quality of the transmitted signal.
Data reduction
Compression of video and audio signals. Redundant information is discarded.
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital is a sound transmission that allows digital surround sound to be output on a home cinema system.
DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting
Eb/No ratio
The Eb/No ratio is a measure of the signal to noise ratio of a digital signal. The value is not identical to the C/N value familiar from analogue reception technology. At Eb/No values below 5 dB no reception is normally possible.
FEC
FEC is the abbreviation for Forward Error Correction. A technique for reducing the error rate of data transmission. Additional bits are inserted into the data stream, so that
HDMI - High Definition Multimedia Interface Digital interface for digital video and audio data transmission (preferred for HDTV).
MPEG-2
MPEG is the abbreviation for Moving Picture Experts Group, a working group that formulates internationally applicable standards for the digital compression of video and audio.
MPEG-4
A further development of
OSD -
Displays by the receiver on the TV screen (e.g. main menu)
PAL
Analogue TV standard
Pay TV
Television channels available on subscription (e.g. Sky). Encrypted transmitters which can only be decrypted by using the appropriate smart card. As a rule these services are
PCMCIA
Standard for internal decoder interface for
PIN
Personal Identification Number. For this unit the PIN is a
QAM -
Receivers
Receiver
RGB
Video signal made up of three individual colour signals (red, green, blue)
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