The ratio between the width and height of an image or screen. 4:3 is standard almost square, 16:9 is the widescreen setting.

A high capacity optical disk that can hold up to 4.5 hours of high definition video or 25GB of data on a single side. Announced in 2002 by Sony, Hitachi, Philips and other vendors, the Blu-ray technology uses a blue-violet laser that reads pits a third the size of a DVD on tracks that are packed much tighter together. Blu-ray supports the more advanced H.264 and VC-1 video encoding algorithms (codecs) as well as MPEG-2, which is used for DVD. Like CD, DVD and HD DVD media, there are read-only, write-once and rewritable options. Used for HD movies, BD-ROMs (Blu-ray Disc-ROMs) are pre-recorded discs that cannot be changed. BD-R (Blu-ray Disc-Recordable) media can be "burned" once by the user, and BD-RE (Blu-ray Disc-RErecordable) disks can be rewritten over and over.

BRAVIA is a Sony brand used to market its high-definition LCD televisions as well as front and rear projection TVs. The name is an acronym of "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture". All new Sony high-definition flat-panel LCD televisions now carry the BRAVIA logo. The name BRAVIA replaces the "LCD WEGA" brand name which Sony LCD TVs used up until Summer 2005 (early promotional photos exist of the first BRAVIA TVs still bearing the WEGA name).

A byte is roughly 1000 bits of information. In this context used to explain the storage capacity for a digital device. Approx 1000 bytes is a megabyte, 1000 megabytes is a gigabyte, and 1000 gigabytes is a terrabyte.

The Carl Zeiss company is a German manufacturer of optical systems, industrial measurements and medical devices originally founded in Jena in 1846 by Carl Zeiss, Ernst Abbe and Otto Schott.

Sony use the Carl Zeiss lens on many of their digital camera models.

Charged Coupled Device. A CCD converts light into electrical current.

CCDs containing grids of pixels are used in digital cameras, optical scanners and video cameras as light-sensing devices.

3CCD cameras have three separate charge-coupled devices (CCDs), each one taking a separate measurement of red, green, and blue light. Light coming into the lens is split by a trichroic prism assembly, which directs the appropriate wavelength ranges of light to their respective CCDs. 3CCD cameras are generally regarded to provide superior image quality to cameras with only one CCD. By taking a separate reading of red, green, and blue values for each pixel, 3CCD cameras achieve much better precision than single CCD cameras. Almost all single CCD cameras use a bayer filter, which allows them to detect only one-third of the color information for each pixel. The other two-thirds must be interpolated with a demosaicing algorithm to 'fill in the gaps'. 3CCD cameras are generally more expensive than single-CCD cameras because they require three times as many elements to form the image detector, and because they require a precision color-separation beam-splitter optical assembly.

Compact Disc. A digital storage medium using laser technology for reading the data stored on the disk. CD-R (recordable) is a blank compact disk format that allows data to be written once to it using a CD "Writer" device. CD-RW(re-writable) is similar to a CD-R but allows data to be erased and re-written numerous times (100 times only tends to be the recommended max.) 700MByte capacity or 80Min of audio is the standard.

The name given to the Intel processors normally found in notebook computers. Centrino processors can fluctuate the voltage supplied to reduce processor speeds when the unit is idle to conserve power, thus extending the battery life. Centrino processors are also optimised for wireless networking.

A Transmission line consisting of a central conductor (normally copper) with a cylindrical outer counductor seperated by insulation (normally plastic.) It is designed to have specific impendencies for TV and Radio frequencies. Common use with a RF connector for your TV arial. An Orange RCA connector has become the standard used for devices that have analogue coaxial surround audio output.

A video signal format that uses 3 seperate circuit paths; black and white (Y), red (R-Y), blue (B-Y), green is mathematically derived from the 2 colours and the (Y) signal.

A video signal format that uses 1 circuit path for colour and brightness. normally used in conjunction with an RCA connector (yellow is the video standard.)

The range of brightness level between the darkest and lightest parts of a picture. The contrast ratio is the limits between the black and white on an image. The higher the contrast ratio the richer the darker images and brighter the lighter images. Normally expressed 300:1, 5000:1, 10 000:1.

A system for reducing the ammount of data stored by a digital system. The term "lossy" is used normally to explain this process. Basically excess "out of Range" data is discarded so that the Image, Audio File, or Video is reduced in size but the quality remains acceptable when used at certain levels. The best lossy compression formats for example are JPEG, MPEG4, DIVX, MP3, and WMA.

Basically denoting the way computers count in binary bits (either a 1 or a 0.) As a signal technology it is represinted by a flow of 1 or 0 data bits in a straight line. It is considered a cleaner more efficient method of signal transfer then analogue which is subject to crosstalk and interference when the wave signals cross or are too close to each other. CD Audio is classified as a digital audio stream.

The popular lossy video compression format, allowing very high DVD quality video at small sizes. A full high resolution movie at ony 700MB. Normally requires a DivX codec to play back on a computer or a you need a DivX capable device. Xvid is the rebel "free" version of DivX, in effect the same base codec just developed by an alternate team of programmers.

A discrete digital surrond sound format. Available in 2.1, 5.1, 7.1, 6.2. The first number denotes number of speakers (front, centre, rear, etc) the second number denotes number of subwoofers. (.1, .2.)

The logic steered version of Dolby Surround, Pro Logic processors include a centre channel output. Pro Logic II is an upgrade in which there is some seperation introduced to the two rear channels, and additional playback options for taking stero audio and playing it through all channels.

Generic term for all Dolby Digital surround decoding systems, which may or may not include Pro Logic/ Pro Logic II

Digital Theatre Sound. A discrete 6 channel digital audio system (5.1) DTS coding reduces the bitrate of the multichannel signal by 6, thus each channel uses only as many bits at a given moment as are required. New version has been introduced (6.1) which now also includes a centre rear surround channel.

Digital Versatile Disc. A CD sized laser optical disk with more than 7 times the storage capacity of a CD. Popular use is for high quality digital video with digital surround audio. DVD-R is the record once standard version (4.7GB) popular for Video applications. DVD+R is the record once standard version (4.7GB) popular for data storage. DVD+-R(DL) is the dual layer version which doubles the capacity by allowing a more compressed laser to write on both the main layer and then aslo through the main layer to a second metalic layer below it on the disk. The DVD+-RW is the re-writable version of the previous types.

Digital Visual Interface. Is a standard that defines the digital video connection between two interfaces which eliminates any analogue conversion. Computer Graphics cards now days come with a DVI output port for connecting to projectors or LCD screens to provide an unblemished digital image.

A system to reconstruct digital data that has been lost or destroyed by accessing redundant data embedded in the remaining digital information string.

Definition as related to electronics: A return of the small portion of the output signal into the input signal. To reduce distortion, reduce the gain, or alter the frequency response.

A device that changes the characteristics of a desired frequency or light source.

The distance between the optical centre of the lens and the plane of an image formed by it when focused on infinity. Telephoto lenses have a long focal length, wide angle lenses have a short one.

The ability to adjust a lens to produce a clearer, shaper image than the one that is currently being displayed

The rate of repetition of any periodic wave in cycles/per second (hertz.) The frequency response is a measurement of the frequency range that can be handled by a piece of electrical equipment. In audio terms for example the frequency response level may be +- 5dB.

The gain or amplification factor of an amplifier is the output signal divided by the input. Audio gain lifts the sound level, video gain increases a cameras low light sensitivity. However a side effect of Gain is that it will increase the graininess of a picture, or hiss of an audio source as well.

Graphical User Interface. Basic description for any control system that uses menus and icons to control a device.

The High-definition (HD) Audio standard is an audio signal running at 48kHz.
High-definition (HD) Video generally refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition (SD). High-definition signals require a high-definition television or computer monitor in order to be viewed. High-definition video has an aspect ratio of 16:9, where standard-definition has an aspect ratio of 4:3. High-definition television (HDTV) resolution is 1080 (1920 × 1080) or 720 (1280 × 720) lines, where Standard-definition has a maximum of 576 lines (PAL).

The HD resolutions of 1080 or 720 lines are then further split into either interlaced (i) or progressive (p).

To understand which is better and which standard you should seek out all depends on what your source input will be, the size of the screen, and how far away you are from viewing the screen. Basic rule is that the bigger the screen the higher the resolution you want. For a lot of very fast moving images you want full blown progressive (p) and not the scaled down interlaced (i)

A device that is deemed HD ready means it can support at least one, or both of the entry level HD video resolution standards mentioned above (720i or 720p.)

High Definition Multimedia Interface. A digital Audio/Video connection that provides an uncompressed high speed connection between your audio/video sources and outputs.

A description of the quality of a colour. For example this lens filter provides a red hue. Tint.

Invisible light that is just below red in the colour spectrum. In small quantities it is used as a signaling system for remote controls.

A printer that uses liquid ink cartridges and a fine nozzle to spray the ink onto the paper as it passes through the print mechanism. Colour variations are produced by mixing the main colours in the colour cartridge(s) and the black cartridge.

Interlace shows the video images as two fields which we call odd and even. For each frame either only the odd fields or only the even fields are displayed. This works because the human eye has a thing called latency, in which the image it sees remains in the retina and fades as a new image is seen, and thus interlace tricks the human eye into seeing full motion.

An image file compression standard that is capable of high quality at very small sizes. It is a "lossy" method so some distortion can appear if the image dimensions are increased afterwards.

A printer that uses powdered toner and a heated fuser unit to melt the powdered toner onto the paper as it passes through the print mechanism. Colour lasers mix the main colours (CMY) in the colour cartridge(s) and the black cartridge(K)

Liquid Crystal Display. A crystaline element that changes its light reflective properties when a charge is applied to it. Uses low amounts of power to operate.

Light Emiting Diode. A diode that immits light when a current is passed through it. Common use is for external signboards where many LED's are mounted on a panel and the displayed images change as differnet LED's are charged at one time.

Leica is the name of a German company considered by many as the best lens manufacturer in the world. They make their own range of Microsocopes, Cameras, etc.

Leica branded lenses are used on many Panasonic video recorders as well as the Lumix line of Panasonic digital cameras under production licence from Leica.

Lumix is Panasonic's range of digital cameras, from pocket point and shoot models to digital SLRs. Many Lumix models are fitted with Leica lenses, and some are effectively Leica cameras without the brand name and with different exterior styling. Panasonic produces all of Leica's digital cameras in Japan, with the exception of the Leica M8 digital rangefinder and the Digital Modul R, a digital camera back for the Leica R9 SLR.

An integrated circuit containing thousands of storage elements that can each record a digit (0 or 1.) Various types; ROM - Read Only Memory, RAM - Random Access Memory, Flash memory - Read and Write.

Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) is an informal name for multimedia formats where each video frame or interlaced field of a digital video sequence is separately compressed as a JPEG image. It is often used in mobile appliances such as digital cameras that also offer this format as an included basic video facility.

A video display device with one or more input connectors, but without a built in tuner.

MPEG-1 Layer 3, a variation of the MPEG data compression technology. Used as a "lossy" form of compression to get high quality audio files in a very small data size. You need to have MP3 Codec support to playback these files on a device or computer.

Motion Picture Experts Exchange. A standard for video compression. An example of real world use is that DVD videos are classified as MPEG-2 quality files meaning they conform to a (720x480) MPEG-2 resolution.

A video compression standard that allows the high compression of audio and video into a single file. MPEG-4 standard is the base for codecs like DivX and Quicktime.

A group of computers that are linked either by a wired or wireless enviroment to share resources. The biggest network in the world is the internet.

National Television System Commitee. The federal agency that establised the technical standards for colour television broadcasting in the United States.

A cable consisting of many glass fibres, treated to transmit light frequencies at a very low rate of loss. An optical link is used in the audio enviroment to interconnect digital equipment.

Phase Alternate Line. The TV broadcasting standards system used by countries like South Africa and the United Kingdom.

A circuit with no actively powered elements. Normally a subwoofer without its own power source that merely outputs the signal without any amplification.

A digital effect in which a small picture is superimposed over the main picture. Is common in Plasma and LCD TV's where you can display from one input with another input as the PIP.

The basic component of an image. Each pixel is made up of seperate Red, Green, and Blue subpixels that combine to produce a pin point shade of colour.

A pixel burnout is when a pixel will be either permanently off or continually on. The chances are that you will not notice any difference. Occasionally one pixel may burnout during the life of the TV. Different manufacturers have different policies and warranties regarding pixel burnout. If you are concerned, please check the TV's warranty before you buy.

A pixel burn-in occurs when a static image is left on the screen for a long period of time which causes the pixels to wear unevenly in certain areas of the screen. This will leave an impression of that static image on the display. Screen-savers and new technology have made pixel burn-in much less of a problem than with earlier Plasmas.

How do I prevent a "pixel burn-in"?
Don't leave static images on the screen for more than 3-4 hours. Alternate 4:3 programming with 16:9 programming to prevent burn-in of the black bars on the sides of the screen. Change the channel periodically if the channel displays a static image such as a high-contrast network logo. Take advantage of screen saver options offered. Turn off the Plasma when not in use. Turn down the contrast. This is important since most displays are excessively bright when right out-of-the-box.

A device that uses electrically charged neon/xenon gas between two thin plates of glass to produce an image. Preffered choice for quality on large flat screen TV's and Panels.

A type of display in which all the horizontal lines, both odd and even, are displayed at one time in a single frame. It is the opposite of interlaced.

The most common kind of connector for electronic devices. A small single plug with a central pin and coaxial sheild connector. Common colours; Yellow (Video), White (Right Audio), Red (Left Audio), Orange (Coaxial Audio Out.)

Radio Data System. A system for transmitting text information along with a radio broadcast, for display on the screen of a RDS capable device. Common use is for the name of the radio station, or traffic update information.

DVD recorders and DVD players have a region code lock and cannot play a disc unless it has the same region code as the recorder itself (this is mainly with respect to commercial discs). Discs that you create with the DVD Recorder however, are not region encoded and can be played back on any player as long as the format is supported. A DVD Recorder or Player can be "Multizoned" to play back commercial discs from other zones. This is dependant on the regional distributor.

In digital video displays, it is the number of pixels along the width and height of a picture. Eg a HD 1080p TV has a resolution of 1920 pixels across x 1080 pixels down.

When used in relation to LCD screens, this is a measure of how quickly all the pixels can change colours in milliseconds. A lower response time is preffered to reduce the effect of motion blur or "ghosting" in fast moving images.

The process of encoding or converting music data from its original source a compact disk into a MP3 or WMA file format.

The maximum output power an amplifier is capable of under continuos signal conditions.

Seperate Video. A video format in which the luminance and the colour information are carried in seperate signal paths.

A digital meda storage card that delivers a higher transfer rate than existing storage cards.

shutter speed is the time for which the shutter is held open during the taking of a photograph to allow light to reach the film or image sensor (in a digital camera). In combination with variation of the lens aperture, the shutter speed regulates how much light the camera will record. For a given exposure, a fast shutter speed demands a larger aperture or more light to avoid under-exposure, just as a slow shutter speed is offset by a very small aperture to avoid over-exposure. Long shutter speeds are often used in low light conditions, such as at night. Shutter speed is measured in seconds. A typical shutter speed for photographs taken in sunlight is 1/125th of a second. In addition to its effect on exposure, shutter speed changes the way movement appears in the picture. Very short shutter speeds are used to freeze fast-moving subjects, for example at sporting events. Very long shutter speeds are used to intentionally blur a moving subject for artistic effect.

Optical image stabilization comes in two forms. One is lens shift and the other CCD shift. Basically the camera has a sensor to detect movement and adjusts the lens or the CCD to compensate for that movement.

Electronic image stabilization also comes in two forms. The first of which boosts the cameras ISO sensitivity in order to increase the shutter speed so that blurring is reduced. The second form is that of post-processing that attempts to remove whatever blur the image has.

The problem with electronic image stabilization is that it adds noise to the image. So your best choice would be to stick with optical forms of image stabilization when choosing a digital camera device.

An Audio output format that is made up of a left and a right channel.

A limited bandwidth, low frequency loudspeaker. Is an add-on to existing speaker kits to augment the often limited response they have to the lower frequencies. Can be Active or passive.

Super Video Graphics Array. Picture resolution standard being 800X600 pixels.

Super Extended Graphics Array. Picture resolution standard being 1280X1024 pixels.

Proprietry term for a set of technical performance standards that define the minimum acceptable movie presentation quality level in a theatre enviroment. (Lucasfilm, Ltd.)

Decoding system for Dolby Digital Surround and DTS Software.

Feature that allows scenes to be shot in bursts of a few frames at various time intervals to give faster action on playback.

Touchpad is the name given to the built in mouse that normally exists on a Notebook. It is controlled by dragging your finger over a section of touch sensitive material. Some touch screens are similar in design, but the transparent touch sensitive material sits over the display. Other touch screens are LED controlled and determine your fingers location on the screen, its X and Y position, by the breaks in the LED signals that run along the borders of the display.

The higher audio frequencies, usually from 2kHz upwards. Adjustable on an equaliser.

The popular name for the high frequency speaker in a multi speaker system. It normally handles frequencies of 5kHz and up.

Universal Serial Bus. Type of connector for attaching peripheral devices to a computer. Offers faster data transfer rates (specifically the revision 2.0 - which is up to 480mbits/s) and easy "Plug and Play" connectivity. USB1.0 and USB1.1 is not recommended for digital video and large data transfers, USB2.0 is recommended for this.

Half inch tape video format. S-VHS (Super VHS) is the high band version.

VIERA is a Panasonic brand used to market its high-definition Plasma and LCD televisions.

A screen or display panel with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Wi-Fi was originally a brand licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the embedded technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. The common use of the term Wi-Fi has broadened to describe the generic wireless interface of mobile computing devices, such as laptops in LANs.

The term Wi-Fi was chosen as a play on the term "Hi-Fi", and is often thought to be an abbreviation for wireless fidelity. Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo are registered trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance, the trade organization that tests and certifies equipment compliance with the 802.11x standards. Common uses for Wi-Fi include Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and network connectivity for consumer electronics such as televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras.

Windows Media Audio (WMA) is brand name for several technically distinct proprietary compressed audio file formats developed by Microsoft. The original WMA, also known as WMA Standard, was initially intended to be a competitor to the popular MP3 format, and thanks to Microsoft's aggressive marketing efforts and the PlaysForSure certification program, has become the second most widely supported format for compressed audio. The newer and more advanced WMA Pro has positioned itself as a competitor to the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format, but hardware support is still not as popular as what is available for MP3.

Extended Graphics Array. Resolution standard of 1024X786 Pixels.

A zoom lens is a mechanical assembly of lens elements with the ability to vary its focal length (and thus angle of view), as opposed to a prime lens which has a fixed focal length. A zoom lens is referred to as an optical zoom in digital photography.

Digital zoom is a method of decreasing (narrowing) the apparent angle of view of a digital photographic or video image. Digital zoom is accomplished by cropping an image down to a centered area with the same aspect ratio as the original, and usually also interpolating the result back up to the pixel dimensions of the original. It is accomplished electronically, without any adjustment of the camera's optics, and no optical resolution is gained in the process.

Because interpolation disturbs the original pixel layout of the image, as captured by the camera's image sensor, it is usually considered detrimental to image quality. The results of digital zoom are, however, sometimes superior to the results of manual cropping and resizing (interpolation) in post-production. This is because the camera may apply its interpolation before performing lossy image compression, thereby preserving small details that would otherwise be lost. For cameras that save images in a raw format, however, resizing in post-production will yield results equal or superior to digital zoom.

Some digital cameras rely entirely on digital zoom, lacking a real optical zoom lens, as on most camera phones. Other cameras do have a real optical zoom lens, but apply digital zoom automatically once its longest focal length has been reached. Professional cameras generally do not feature digital zoom.