Glossary - Pioneer DVD-V5000 Operating Instructions Manual

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Glossary

Analog audio
An electrical signal that directly represents
sound. Compare this to digital audio which can
be an electrical signal, but is an indirect
representation of sound. See also Digital audio.
Aspect ratio
The width of a TV screen relative to its height.
Conventional TVs are 4:3 (in other words, the
screen is almost square); widescreen models are
16:9 (the screen is almost twice as wide as it is
high).
Digital audio
An indirect representation of sound by numbers.
During recording, the sound is measured at
discrete intervals (44,100 times a second for CD
audio) by an analog-to-digital converter, generat-
ing a stream of numbers. On playback, a digital-
to-analog converter generates an analog signal
based on these numbers. See also Sampling
frequency and Analog audio.
Dolby Digital
Using a maximum of 5.1 channels of audio, this
high quality surround system is used in many of
the finer movie theaters around the world.
The on-screen display shows which channels are
active, for example showing 3/2.1. The 3 being
the two front channels and the center channel;
the 2 being the surround channels, and the .1
being the LFE channel.
DTS
DTS stands for Digital Theater Systems. DTS is a
surround system different from Dolby Digital that
has become a popular surround sound format
for movies.
Dynamic range
The difference between the quietest and loudest
sounds possible in an audio signal (without
distorting or getting lost in noise). Dolby Digital
and DTS soundtracks are capable of a very wide
range, delivering dramatic cinema-like effects.
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MPEG audio
An audio format used on Video CDs and some
DVD discs. This unit can convert MPEG audio to
PCM format for wider compatibility with digital
recorders and AV amplifiers. See also PCM
(Pulse Code Modulation).
MPEG video
The video format used for Video CDs and DVDs.
Video CD uses the older MPEG-1 standard, while
DVD uses the newer and much better quality
MPEG-2 standard.
PBC (PlayBack Control) (Video CD only)
A system of navigating a Video CD through on-
screen menus recorded onto the disc. Especially
good for discs that you would normally not watch
from beginning to end all at once—karaoke
discs, for example.
PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)
The most common system of encoding digital
audio, found on CDs and DAT. Excellent quality,
but requires a lot of data compared to formats
such as Dolby Digital and MPEG audio. For
compatibility with digital audio recorders (CD,
MD and DAT) and AV amplifiers with digital
inputs, this unit can convert Dolby Digital, DTS
and MPEG audio to PCM. See also Digital audio.
Regions (DVD-Video only)
These associate discs and players with particular
areas of the world. This unit will only play discs
that have compatible region codes. You can find
the region code of your unit by looking on the
rear panel. Some discs are compatible with more
than one region (or all regions).
Sampling frequency
The rate at which sound is measured to be
turned into digital audio data. The higher the
rate, the better the sound quality, but the more
digital information is generated. Standard CD
audio has a sampling frequency of 44.1kHz,
which means 44,100 samples (measurements)
per second. See also Digital audio.