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Glossary
Interlace output
NTSC, the video signal standard, has 480 interlaced
(I) scan lines, The Interlaced scanning system
places lines of the second half of the picture
in-between lines of the first half of the picture.
JPEG
A popular file format for still image compression
and storage. JPEG stands for ‘Joint Photographic
Experts Group’ There are two sub-types of the
JPEG format as follows.
Baseline JPEG: used for digital cameras, the web,
etc.
Lossless JPEG: an old type, rarely used now.
Linear PCM audio
PCM stands for ‘Pulse Code Modulation’. Linear
PCM is the usual method for digitally encoding
audio without compression, and is used for the
audio tracks on DVD VIDEO discs, Audio CDs,
etc.
MP3
MP3 (MPEG1 audio layer 3) is a compressed
audio file format. Files are recognized by their file
extension .mp3 or .MP3.
MPEG
MPEG stands for ‘Motion Picture Experts Group’.
This is an international standard for compression of
moving images. On some DVDs, digital audio has
been compressed and recorded in this format.
NTSC
(National Television System Committee)
The initials stand for National Television Standards
Committee. This is the committee that established
the standards for television systems in the United
States. The NTSC standard broadcasts 525 or 480
lines of resolution per second, and 30 frames per
second of refresh rate, 60 Hz field frequency. NTSC
TV system is widely used in USA, Canada, Latin
America and Taiwan etc.
PAL (Phase Alternation by Line)
PAL (Phase Alteration Line) is the color television
broadcast standard throughout the Western Europe
(except in France, where SECAM is the standard),
Australia, China, Singapore and Malaysia etc.
It has 625 lines of vertical resolution per second
and 25 frames per second refresh rate, 50 Hz field
frequency.
PBC
Playback Control. A special feature on a Video CD
or Super VCD that enables interactive use.
S-Video
A video signal which improves picture quality over
standard composite connections. Used on Super
VHS, DVD, high end TV monitors, etc.
Track
SVCD, VCD, Audio CD discs use tracks to divide
up the content of a disc.
WMA
WMA stands for ‘Windows Media Audio’, an audio
codec standard proposed by Microsoft. Music/au-
dio files which are compressed using this standard
come with the file extention, .wma or .WMA.
