Chapter 8 : Other Information

Chapter 8 Chapter 7 Chapter 6 Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Chapter 2 Chapter 1

Audio language (DVD): Some DVDs contain the recording of multiple audio languages. This player allows the user to select desired one of the recorded audio languages during playback of such a DVD.

Aspect ratio : The ratio between the horizontal and vertical sizes of picture displayed on a TV screen. The aspect ratio of ordinary TV is 4:3, and that of widescreen TV is 16:9.

Pan & scan (DVD) : Method of displaying a horizontally-long picture recorded in 16:9 aspect ratio on a 4:3 TV screen by trimming part of picture. In general, the trimming positions for pan & scan are determined uniformly by the reproducing device. However, the pan

&scan of DVD allows the software producer to specify the trimming positions to be used in playback.

Letterbox (DVD) : Method of displaying a horizontally- long picture recorded in 16:9 aspect ratio on a 4:3 TV screen by attaching bands at the top and bottom of the screen and displaying the horizontally-long picture at the center of screen.

Frame (DVD, VCD) : Each frame of a moving picture, that is displayed 30 times a second with NTSC and 25 times a second with PAL. These TV formats reproduce moving pictures by displaying still pictures sequentially.

Field (DVD, VCD) : Part of a frame obtained by dividing the video data of each frame by two. Each frame of ordinary TV is constitute by displaying the fields alternately.

Frame still/Field still (DVD, VCD) : Types of still pictures obtained by temporarily stopping a moving picture. The frame still picture may produce blur in the picture because it displays two specific fields alternately, but the picture quality is higher. The field still picture has lower picture quality because it uses half the picture information of frame still, but is not accompanies with picture blur.

IPB display (DVD) : With the MPEG2 which is one of the video display methods of DVD, each picture is divided into the following three picture types before being coded in digital signal.

I-picture (Intra coded) : This is the standard video and can constitute a picture by itself. As the highest picture quality can be obtained, the still image of I- picture is most suitable for use when adjusting the picture quality.

P-picture (Predictive coded) : Picture calculated based on past pictures (I-picture or B-picture).

B-picture (Bidirectionally predictive coded) : Picture calculated by comparing the previous and next pictures (I-pictures or P-pictures). This picture type contains least amount of video information.

P.B.C. (PlayBack Control) (VCD) : VIDEO CDs carrying messages such as "Playback Control Capable" can be played interactively by selecting the desired play position or information in hierarchical structures while watching the menus displayed on the TV screen.

OSD (On-Screen Display) : OSD is a method of interactive operations using the menus and icons displayed on the TV screen.

On-Screen Message : Message displayed on the TV screen when an operation is performed.

Downconversion : Conversion of PCM signal with high sampling rate such as 96 kHz and 192 kHz into a signal with a sampling rate of 48 kHz or 44.1 kHz.

Dynamic range : Difference between the minimum reproducible audio signal and maximum reproducible audio signal.

Progressive scanning : This is a TV screen scanning method, which scans a screen in order of scanning lines from the first scanning line.

It can reduce image flickering in still images containing characters, graphics and horizontal lines.

Interlace scanning : This is a TV screen scanning method, which scans a screen by dividing it into two fields. It begins scanning with the odd number scanning lines then proceed to the scanning of even number scanning lines to display a single image by making use of the persistence of residual image.

This method is applied in the previous TV formats.

Multi Session : With CD recording, a session refers to an area composed of three recording areas including the lead-in area (which indicates the location of data), data area and lead-out (which indicates the end of session). A CD containing more than one session in a disc is referred to as a multi-session disc.

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