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70
720p
Anamorphic
video
Aspect ratio
ATSC
Barn Doors
Codec
Decoder
Deinterlacing
Downconvert
DTV (Digital
Television)
Frame rate
HDTV (High-
Definition
Television)
Refers to a picture that is 1,280 vertical pixels by 720 horizontal pixels. The "p" stands for
progressive scanning. Progressive scanning offers a smoother picture as 720 horizontal lines are
scanned progressively or in succession in a vertical frame repeated 30 times a second.
Refers to video images that are "squeezed" or "stretched" (depending on whether the video is
being upconverted or downconverted) to fit a video frame. When 16:9 anamorphic video is
displayed on a 4:3 screen size (downconvert), the images will appear unnaturally tall and narrow.
A ratio of screen width to height. It may be traditional 4:3 or 16:9 widescreen.
An acronym for Advanced Television Systems Committee, which is responsible for developing and
establishing Digital-HDTV Standards. It is also the name of the DTV system used by broadcasters in
the U.S.
When a 4:3 image is viewed on a 16:9 screen, the viewer sees black bars on the sides of the screen,
sometimes referred to as "barn doors. "
A short term used for both "Compressor-decompressor" and "Coder-decoder. " In terms of most
editing and graphics applications, codec generally means "Compressor-decompressor", which,
whether hardware or software, converts video and audio signals to and from a compressed digital
format. ("Coder-decoder" is generally a device that converts analog video and audio signals into a
digital format for transmission, and also converts digital signals back into an analog format;
depending on the application, it can also have alternate meanings.)
See "codec. " A device or program that translates encoded data into its original format (i.e., it
decodes the data.).
The process of converting an interlaced-scan video signal (where each frame is split into two
sequential fields) to a progressive-scan signal (where each frame remains whole). Advanced de-
interlacers include a feature called 3-2 pulldown processing. Sometimes de-interlacing is referred
to as "line-doubling."
Refers to format conversion from a higher resolution input standard to a lower one. For example,
converting a 1080 input to a 525 display (HD to SD).
DTV stands for Digital Television. It refers to all digital television formats and standards established
by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). Two basic DTV standards are HDTV (high-
definition television) and SDTV (standard-definition television)
The rate at which frames are displayed per second. Frame rates are used in synchronizing audio
and pictures for video and film. In motion pictures and television, the frame rates are standardized
by SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Editors). SMPTE frame rates of 24, 25 and 30
frames per second are very common, with a great number of others also used. Frame rates have
different applications and uses in different workflows. For motion pictures 24 frames per second is
common, while in standard definition television 30 frames per second is common in the US
(NTSC). Higher frame rates produce smoother motion but also create larger file storage
requirements.
High Definition Television refers to the highest-resolution formats of the DTV formats. Offering
twice the vertical and horizontal picture resolution of standard definition, an HD picture is much
sharper. HDTV has a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9. HD formats 1080i and 720p both offer
reduced motion artifacts like ghosting and dot crawl.
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