Glossary of DVD-Related Terms
CD-R & CD-RW
Recordable Optical Disc formats that can be used as VCD or MP3 discs with your DVD Player.
Coaxial Digital Audio Connector
A digital audio connection used to connect a DVD player to a receiver or pre-amplifier. Transfers a “RAW” digital
audio signal, minimizes signal degradation.
Component Video
Offers the best interface between a video signal source and a TV. Uses three RCA-type jacks to separate the
component signals making up a video signal. A component video signal is comprised of the luminance (Y) signal
and separate chrominance (PR and PB) signals.
Composite Video
The most common connection between a DVD Player and a video display, Composite Video uses a single RCA
cable.
Dolby Digital 5.1
A digital surround sound system, capable of transferring up to 5 sound channels plus a sub-bass woofer, developed
by Dolby Labs. Supported on most DVD discs.
DTS
Digital Theater System. Another digital surround sound system with 5.1 channels. DTS is supported on some newer
DVD discs.
Dual-Layer DVD
A DVD disc that has two layers on each side. A single-sided, dual-layered DVD can hold almost four hours of video
and audio, and is also known as a DVD-9.
DVD
Digital Video Disc. DVDs come in different formats, such as single-sided or double-sided. Each side can have a
single layer or two layers of data.
DVD-5
A DVD that is single-sided, single-layer, holding up to 4.7 GBytes of data.
DVD-9
A DVD that is single-sided, dual-layer, holding up to 8.5 GBytes of data.
DVD-10
A DVD that is double-sided and single-layered, which holds up to 9.4 GBytes of data. This disc must be manually
flipped to use both sides.
Home Theater
A system designed to re-create the movie theater experience in the home. A typical home theater system will have a
DVD Player, TV, Receiver and Speaker System with 4 speakers and a subwoofer for surround sound.
MacroVision
Analog Copy Protection which scrambles video signal when used with VHS recorders. Also has an effect on some
projectors and monitors.
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