Glossary of Digital Terms
This is a list of the most commonly used terms and acronyms you may come across when looking into digital televisions and the reception of digital to your home.
ADSL/DSL A telephone line which has been altered to take high speed digital signals for computers and TV. DSL means Digital Subscriber Line where the send rate is the same as the receive rate. ADSL means Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line where the send rate of the signal sent up the line can be slower than that received.
ANALOGUE The name for traditional broadcast signals whose pattern directly represent pictures or sound, as opposed to newer-style digital signals which code the pictures or sound into binary “computerised” data signals.
AUDIO DESCRIPTION A service for visually impaired viewers using a special additional commentary to describe what is happening visually in the programme.
BROADBAND A cable link with the capacity to carry very large numbers of television channels, features or high-speed internet access. Broadband usually requires special ADSL or other cable links.
DECODER A device which unscrambles digital signals and turns them back into the original sound and pictures eg a set-top box.
DIGITAL A system which turns sound and pictures into a computerised stream of binary data. These signals then have to be decoded back into sound and pictures.
DOG Digital On Screen Graphic.
DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting system - now more simply called Digital Radio.
DSat Digital Satellite Television.
DTT Digital Terrestrial Television.
DVB Digital Video Broadcast.
DVD Digital Versatile Disc but sometimes called Digital Video Disc.
EPG Electronic Programme Guide - used in DTV transmissions.
HD High Definition pictures.
IDTV Integrated Digital Television set.
INTERACTIVE TELEVISION TV programmes often have interactive enhancements which combine TV viewing with added features which are similar to the features of a personal computer.
LCD TV TV screen with Liquid Crystal Display.
MHEG Software for compression/coding interactive TV named after the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group.
MPEG Software for compression/coding interactive TV named after the Motion Picture Expert Group.
MP3 MPEG audio layer 3.
MUX/MULTIPLEX A term used for digital transmissions describing a digital signal which can contain a number of different channels or services transmitted in a single bundle on DAB or DTV.
NEW MEDIA New technologies such as video-on-demand, interactive television and the internet.
PLATFORM The delivery system for each digital TV or radio service. For example digital television can be delivered on terrestrial, cable or satellite platforms.
PLASMA TV A way of displaying a TV picture which is best suited to large screens. It uses different gases behind the glass instead of normal methods.
PPV (Pay-Per-View) A programme or series for which you must pay to receive (as opposed to a regular subscription to a channel).
PVR Personal Video Recorder – a hard disk which can record TV programmes digitally.
SCART The connecting plug system most commonly used with video recorders and set top boxes (named after the Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radio Recepteurs et Televisieurs).
SMART CARD A plastic card inserted into a set-top box which decodes encrypted digital signals.
WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) A technical standard which allows mobile phones, pagers and other handheld devices to download email and web pages.
WIDESCREEN Digital TV pictures are wider than standard 'square' pictures. To get the full benefit you may want a widescreen set. The ratio of width to height is 16:9 for widescreen pictures, compared with 4:3 for a standard screen size. Most set top boxes will allow you to adjust the pictures to fit the size of your set so look in the instruction manual for help
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