Panasonic DMR-E75V operating instructions Glossary

Helpful Hints DVD VHS

Glossary

Bitstream

This is the compressed form of digital signals. A decoder decodes these signals into 5.1 surround and multi-channel signals.

CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media)

CPRM is the copy right protection technology that is used to protect broadcasts that are allowed to be recorded only once (e.g. some CATV broadcasts).

Down-mixing

This is the process of remixing the multi-channel audio found on some discs into two channels for stereo output. It is useful when you want to listen to the 5.1-channel audio recorded on DVDs through your television’s speakers. Some discs prohibit down-mixing and this unit can then only output the front two channels.

Dynamic range

Dynamic range is the difference between the lowest level of sound that can be heard above the noise of the equipment and the highest level of sound before distortion occurs.

Dynamic range compression means reducing the gap between the loudest and softest sounds. This means you can listen at low volumes but still hear dialogue clearly.

Film and video

DVD-Videos are recorded using either film or video. Usually, film is recorded at 24 frames per second, the rate movies are filmed at, while video is recorded at 30 frames per second.

Finalize

This process allows DVD-R to be played on compatible equipment.

Formatting

Formatting is the process of making media such as DVD-RAM recordable on recording equipment.You can format DVD-RAM on this unit. Formatting irrevocably erases all recordings on the disc.

Frame and field

Frames are the still pictures that go together to make a moving picture. A frame consists of 2 fields.

Frame	Field	Field
=		+

≥A frame still consists of 2 alternating fields, so the picture may appear blurred, but overall quality is high.

≥A field still is not blurred, but it has only half the information of a frame still so picture quality is lower.

Interlace and progressive output

The PAL video signal standard has 625 (or 576) interlaced (i) scan lines, whereas progressive scanning, called 625p (or 576p), uses twice the number of scan lines. For the NTSC standard, these are called 525i (or 480i) and 525p (or 480p) respectively.

Using progressive output, you can enjoy the high-resolution video recorded on media such as DVD-Video.

Your television must be compatible to enjoy progressive video. Panasonic television with 625 (576)/50i · 50p, 525 (480)/60i · 60p input terminals are progressive compatible.

Linear PCM (LPCM)

These are uncompressed digital signals. CDs are recorded with 44.1 kHz/16 bit PCM, while DVDs use PCM between 48 kHz/16 bit and 96 kHz/24 bit, allowing playback with greater quality sound.

The linear PCM signals output from the DIGITAL AUDIO OUT, OPTICAL terminal are stereo (2 channels).

LPCM sound is available when recording in XP mode.

MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3)

An audio compression method that compresses audio to approximately one tenth of its size without any considerable loss of audio quality.

Pan & Scan/Letterbox

In general, DVD-Video are produced with the intention to be viewed on a widescreen TV with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

This means you can view most of material with the intended aspect ratio on a widescreen TV.

Material with this ratio will not fit onto a standard TV with an aspect ratio of 4:3. 2 styles of picture, “Pan & Scan” and “Letterbox”, deal with this problem.

Pan & Scan: The sides are cut off so the picture fills the screen.

Letterbox:	Black bands appear at the top and bottom of the
	screen so the picture appears in an aspect ratio of
	16:9.

Playback control (PBC)

This is a method of playing Video CDs. You can select parts to play by using menus recorded on the disc.

Protection

You can prevent accidental erasure by setting writing protection or erasure protection.

Sampling frequency

The sampling frequency is the number of times per second an analog signal is measured and converted to a digital signal. In general, the larger the number the greater accuracy of original sound reproduction.

VBR (Variable bitrate)

This is a method of video recording that adjusts the bit rate according to video signal.

63