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Component Video

Typically used on DVD players and HDTV systems, component video is a standard Red/Green/Blue (RGB) color signal for televisions. The signal is split and compressed into separate luminance and color values—luminance (“Y”), red minus luminance (R-Y), and blue minus luminance (B-Y). The value for green is not transmitted. The display device automatically “fills in” the color values that are not red or blue. DVDs are encoded using component video, so display devices will provide enhanced playback when this type of connection is used. A common variant of this format used in North America is YPbPr.

Composite Video

Composite video is a type of analog video signal that combines both brightness and color information into a single signal. It typically uses a single RCA connection for the video channel, and separate RCA connections for the left and right audio channels. The quality of the video signal is reduced by the process of mixing the brightness and multiple color channels together into a single channel. For this reason it is inferior in signal quality than either S-Video or component video. Composite video is the broadcast format for analog television signals worldwide, and connections are typically available on VCRs, DVD players and video games.

Compositing Engine

A chip that is available only on CrossFire™ Edition graphics cards. This chip takes the signals from the GPUs on both the Master graphics card and the Slave graphics card and combines the results according to the selected operating mode. It then sends the final frames out to the display device. It is capable of advanced blending operations without burdening either of the GPUs.

Control Point

A control point is a user-created point on the color curve. Users can change the color of the screen by moving the control points with a mouse.

CRT

Acronym for “cathode ray tube”, which is the main component of computer monitors and TVs. Color CRTs use three separate electron beams fired through a shadow mask and onto the back of the glass screen. The electron