Glossary

Electronics glossary

203 definitions · page 1 of 4.

A V Input Jacks: Audio/video input jacks allow you to connect external sources to your TV quickly and easily. These jacks connect your sources directly to audio and video circuits of the TV set, bypassing the tuner for optimum picture and sound reproduction. The video input…
Acoustic Suspension: A speaker system mounted in a sealed enclosure. The internal air loading adds damping and acoustical stiffness at low frequencies where the wavelength is larger than the enclosure.
Adjustable Surround Delay: Consists of receivers that incorporate surround sound modes that allow you to adjust a delay time between the front and rear speakers. This delay time resembles a short echo or reverberation in a hall or auditorium. Longer delay times will simulate larger…
Advanced 6-Channel Search: A programmable TV feature, it allows you to program the 6-channel display by searching through all available channels or through your favourite channel memory. You simply press the search button on the remote and the television displays still images of 6…
Artificial Intelligence (AI): The ability of a camcorder to make critical decisions in processing the video signal. It will make judgements based on light level to control the iris shutter speed, exposure control and white balance.
Artificial Intelligence Picture Control: Continuously monitors signal conditions to maintain a high degree of contrast in the picture. It looks at all areas of the picture at the same time. If a particular area is too light, AI Picture Control can darken that area without affecting the black level…
Aspect Adjustment Capability: A feature of various 'image' devices including camcorder, digital still and DVD. It lets you choose from display modes, depending on the format of the received signal and your viewing preference. The Zoom Mode allows you to enlarge the picture uniformly to…
Aspect Ratio: Refers to the shape of picture appearing on TV screen. The ratio compares the width of the picture to the height. Standard TV broadcasts and cablecasts use a 4:3 aspect ratio, while most movies are shot in an approximately 16:9 ratio.
ATRAC™ Compression (SONY): ATRAC technology compresses audio files by removing all of the sounds the human ear cannot hear, thereby maintaining audio quality and providing more music storage capability. At the highest compression level, a person could record up to 5 hours of music on…
Audio Outputs Variable: Variable Audio Outputs let you take advantage of the great sound an external stereo system can deliver. Just connect the audio output jacks of the TV to the AUX inputs of your stereo system and you're ready to enjoy outstanding stereo sound. Best of all, you…
Auto Exposure Control: Automatically senses the ambient light intensity and adjusts the aperture and shutter speed for optimum exposure or turns the flash on if required. To take a good picture, the camera must allow precisely the correct amount of light to hit the film. This…
Auto Focus: Selects the best focus positions depending on the subject distance. This system uses an infra-red transmitter and an infra-red receiver linked via an electronic logic circuit to a motor which moves the lens back and forth in minute steps. When the shutter…
Auto Programmable Scan: Allows you to check all available channels in your area (or on your cable system) and automatically tunes them into memory. You can then add or delete the channels of your choice.
Auto Reverse: This feature will automatically reverse the direction of the tape at the end of each side of the cassette for extended listening. Some decks have this feature in both record and play modes, others in play mode only.
Auto Search Tuning: Initiates the tuner's search until a radio station of sufficient strength has been found. Weak stations are skipped during automatic search.
Auto Volume Limiter System (AVLS): A feature on many personal stereos, it refers to circuitry that manages the audio signal to prevent distortion due to volume peaks.
Automatic Phosphor Aging Compensation (APAC™): APAC functions only when black bars are present, either during letterboxed material or when viewing a 4:3 image on a 16:9 television. When these bars are present, APAC imperceptibly moves the image up and down, or to the right and left, one pixel at a time…
Automatic Source Selection: This feature will automatically switch to a new source and pause the previous source. For example, if the CD is playing and the tuner button is selected, the CD will be paused and the system will switch to the tuner mode.
Bias (recording): A high frequency current applied to the record head along with the audio signal. It is necessary for reducing distortion and increasing sensitivity during recording.
Big Screen TV Set: Any set with a screen size of 27 inches or larger. Considered a requirement for a home theatre system.
Bitstream Digital to Analog Conversion: The most accurate method of digital to analog conversion. It converts information on a bit by bit basis.
Bluetooth® Wireless Technology: Revolutionizes the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wired connections - enabling links between mobile computers, mobile phones, portable hand-held devices, and connectivity to the internet.
Cable Compatible: A cable compatible VCR will let you tune in most unscrambled cable channels without the need for an external channel converter box, if cable service is available.
Call Display Caller ID: LCD display showing the incoming caller's name and phone number. The display shows the date, time and the caller's name and number. This feature requires a subscription to a service from your local phone company. An added dimension of caller ID is that it…
Camera Angles Selectable: Selectable camera angles are ideal for sporting events on DVD. This feature allows you to choose from different shots of the same scene recorded on the disc. MPEG decoder buffer memory helps maintain continuity with this feature.
CCD (Charge-Coupled Device): A computer chip covered with thousands or millions of light-measuring cells that convert light into electrical signals and allow you to capture an image.
CD Synchro Recording: Allows a cassette deck and a CD player to communicate. One button synchronizes the start of a recording on an analog or digital compact cassette deck with the start of a CD or a CD program.
Centre Channel: With centre channel, the front centre speaker in a Dolby® Pro-Logic® and Dolby® Digital surround system has four centre channel modes. Choose Normal when you have a small centre speaker; Phantom, for no centre speaker; Wide when you have a full-sized centre…
Centre Speaker: A key component of a Dolby® Pro-Logic® and Dolby® Digital equipped home theatre system. This speaker handles a vast majority of a program's dialogue, and typically sits on top of or directly below the TV cabinet.
Channel Balancing: A process that equalizes the level of each speaker in a home theatre system. This feature uses a test tone generated from the receiver and is controlled with keys on the component's remote control. Channel balancing must be performed from the primary seating…
Channel Labelling: A feature that assigns an ID of one to four characters on a maximum of 30 channels. This feature comes in handy when cable systems reassign different channel numbers to familiar network stations.
Channel Search: Scans available channels in the picture-in-picture inset. On selected models you can choose to search a favourite channel memory or all available channels.
Chapter Preview: Allows you to refresh your memory when you have only watched part of a movie and are viewing it again at a later time. This feature automatically shows you the first three seconds of each previously viewed chapter and then proceeds with normal play once it…
Character Generator: Allows titling of videos direct from camcorder or with add-on accessory. Can be programmed with often-used titles or with an alpha numeric keypad for custom titles.
Clipping Distortion: With the clipping distortion feature, the peaks of the output wave are "clipped" off, avoiding distortion that results from driving an amplifier beyond its limit.
Closed Caption Decoder (CC on Mute): Allows you to read on-screen subtitles and other information that accompanies selected television programming. Closed captioning allows the hearing impaired to more fully enjoy television viewing and can also be helpful in improving English language skills…
Colour Matrix Adjustment: With the colour matrix adjustment, your television automatically adjusts the colour parameters for 1,080I, 720p and 480p transmissions. When viewing a non-standard digital TV format, you can change the colour parameters manually for the best picture quality
Colour Picture-in-Picture (PIP): Capability Superimposes a small inset shot from an alternate video source (VCR, DVD player, alternate TV channel or surveillance camera) into the full screen image on televisions. The smaller picture can be located in any corner of the screen, interchanged…
Comb Filter 2-line Digital: The 2-line digital comb filter employs digital circuitry to electronically separate the colour from the black and white in a composite video television signal. The filter compares adjacent scan lines to determine which pair of lines is the most similar (or…
Comb Filter 3-line Digital: The 3-line digital comb filter provides a very accurate means of separating the colour from the black and white in the television signal. The filter works with three lines of picture information and is effective in removing dot crawl and hanging dots, both…
Comb Filter 3D Y C: The 3D Y/C digital comb filter performs field-by-field comparisons of the television image to accurately separate the colour from the black and white information. The filter removes dot crawl and hanging dots, both horizontally and vertically.
Comb Filter, 2-line Digital: The 2-line digital comb filter employs digital circuitry to electronically separate the colour from the black and white in a composite video television signal. The filter compares adjacent scan lines to determine which pair of lines is the most similar (or…
Compander Noise Reduction™: Developed by Sanyo, Compander circuitry is the state of the art in cordless telephone noise reduction. Unwanted noise is compressed and the voice signal is expanded. As a result, cordless telephone conversations can be almost entirely free of noise and static.
Component Video Inputs: Component video inputs (Y/Pb/Pr) consist of the luminance signal (Y) and two separate chrominance signals (Pb and Pr). These inputs provide outstanding resolution and colour accuracy for video images. Televisions with component video inputs can accept either…
Component Video Signals: Assure more precise colour reproduction than a composite or S-video signal. Component video output terminals allow for the transmission of digital video to compatible video equipment with component video inputs.
Component Video Switching: Component inputs on a receiver let you switch between multiple component video sources and is compatible with Progressive Scan Video.
Composite Video Inputs: A video signal in which brightness (luminance) and colour (chrominance) are combined into one signal. Composite video inputs and outputs use RCA jacks.
Compression: Allows the storage of a two-hour movie on one DVD disc. Compression technology works by analyzing the video data and minimizing the need to store repetitive data. Over 95 percent of video data is redundant, so it can be compressed without any noticeable…
Computer VGA Input Jacks: Front and back computer jacks. The front input provides a convenient point of hookup for a laptop computer, while the desktop computer occupies the rear input. Switching from front to rear is easily accomplished through the on-screen menu system.
Continuous Play: With the continuous play feature, when the cassette ends in one deck, playback of the other cassette begins. Dual cassette decks will play two tapes in a series.
Decibel (dB) loudness: A numeric expression of the relative loudness of a sound. The minimum change in sound intensity that a human ear can distinguish is approximately 3 dB.
Delay: Part of a Dolby® Pro-Logic® (DPL) or Dolby® Digital scheme. The signal heading for the surround speakers is delayed to help them simulate ambience. Most DPL processors have adjustable delay. Twenty milliseconds is the DPL standard. The greater the delay…
Digital Answering System: In a fully digital answering system, both incoming and outgoing messages are recorded on integrated circuitry (a memory chip). This feature allows certain messages to be erased while preserving others, regardless of their recorded time.
Digital Comb Filter: Converts chroma (colour) and luminance (detail, black and white) information into digital code and eliminates video noise. The end result is improved picture quality and colour purity without dot crawl. Dot crawl occurs when edges of the picture move and…
Digital Convergence: Refers to the alignment of red, blue and green at a common point on a projection TV screen to produce white. In projection TV models with this feature, the red, blue and green images converge at more than 165 independent points on the projection screen. This…
Digital Signal Processing (DSP): A single computer chip that allows artificially intelligent systems to set optimum exposure and maintain colour fidelity automatically.
Digital Sound Control (DSC): Allows the user to select from different sound settings that are optimized for certain types of music, such as jazz, rock and classical.
Digital Spread Spectrum: Transmits or spreads the telephone signal over many frequencies per second, bringing unprecedented range and security to your cordless conversations.
Digital Surround Sound: Gives you six channels of discrete digital audio. Dialogue, background music and other effects are distinctly reproduced for extraordinary realism.
Digital Video Noise Reduction: Compares the picture signals for individual pixels of two consecutive fields, then removes the noise components that exist in both the luminance and chrominance portions or the signals.