6
Glossary of Disc-related Terms
DVD -R / DVD ±RW
DVD -R are two different standards for
recordable DVD drives and discs. This format
allows information to be recorded onto the DVD
disc only once. DVD +RW and DVD -RW are
two standards for re-writable media, meaning the
DVD content can be erased and re-recorded.
Single-sided discs can hold 4.38 Gigabytes and
double-sided discs hold twice as much. There
are no dual-layer, single-sided recordable discs.
MPEG
MPEG is an international standard for video and
audio compression. Provides for multichannel
surround sound coding such as PCM, Dolby
Digital, DTS and MPEG audio.
MP3
MP3 is a popular compression format used for
digital audio files that yields very high near-CD
quality.
WMA
Windows media audio file. A type of coding /
decoding developed by Microsoft Corp.
JPEG (Files)
Joint Pictures Expert Group. JPEG is a
compressed file format that allows you to save
images with no limit on the number of colors.
Title (DVDs only)
A title is generally a distinct section of a DVD
disc. For example the main feature could be title
1, a documentary describing how the film was
made could be title 2, and cast interviews could
be title 3. Each title is assigned a reference
number enabling you to locate it easily.
Chapter (DVDs only)
A chapter is a segment of a title such as a scene
in a film or one interview in a series. Each
chapter is assigned a chapter number, enabling
you to locate the chapter you want. Depending
on the disc, chapters may not be recorded.
Track
A distinct element of audiovisual information,
such as sound track for a specific language
(DVD), or a musical piece on an audio CD. Each
track is assigned a track number, enabling you
to locate the track you want. DVD discs allow
one track of video (some with multiple angles)
and perhaps several tracks of audio.
