CD / DVD GLOSSARY

This page contains a list of all the most common terms you will hear and read about when buying a DVD player.

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CD-R - Compact Disc - Recordable. A write-once compact disc format. Although the disc can be written in multiple sessions by appending more data, the data on each area of the disc can only be written one time. Because the data cannot be erased, the CD-R is useful for making permanent backups. See also CD-RW.

CD-ROM - Compact Disc - Read-Only Memory. The read-only compact disc format, used for prerecorded audio and data. See also CD-R.

CD-RW - Compact Disc - ReWritable. A re-recordable compact disc format. Contents of the disc can be recorded over, and the entire disc can be bulk erased and reused. See also CD-R.

Dolby Digital - Also called AC-3. Multichannel surround-sound audio encoding, used for cinemas and the home. Supports one to five full-range channels, plus a Low-Frequency Effects (LFE) channel for carrying low bass sounds. The five channels are Front Left, Front Center, Front Right, Left Surround, and Right Surround. Full surround-sound Dolby Digital is referred to as "5.1," for these five channels plus ".1" for the low-frequency channel. DVD-Video discs for NTSC are required to provide at least one Dolby Digital or PCM audio track. PAL/SECAM discs are required to provide at least one Dolby Digital, PCM, or MPEG-2 audio track. Discs may also have a separate stereo track, or DVD players can downmix a surround-sound signal to stereo. See also Dolby Headphone, Dolby Surround, DTS, SDDS, virtual surround sound.

Dolby Surround - A method of processing audio to achieve four-channel surround sound with conventional analog audio signals. The signal sounds like normal stereo, with left and right channels when played back through a conventional stereo system. When played through an audio system equipped with a Dolby Surround Pro Logic decoder, it extracts the two additional channels, center and surround. See also Dolby Digital, virtual surround sound.

DTS - Acronym for Digital Theater Systems. A surround-sound audio system used in many movie theaters. An optional format for DVD-Video that requires a separate decoder. See also Dolby Digital, PCM. dual-layer disc -- A DVD disc with two layers of data on a side, accessed by refocusing the laser beam through the top layer to read the second layer. Often used to distribute a commercial title that is too long for a single-sided DVD while avoiding the need to continue the movie on a second disc. With the second layer, the storage capacity almost doubles from 4.7 to 8.5GB (actually billion bytes). Also called DVD-9. See also double-sided disc.

DVD-R - DVD Recordable. The DVD Forum-defined write-once DVD format. Because the data cannot be erased, the DVD-R is useful for making permanent backups. Recordable discs are more compatible with set-top DVD players than rewritable discs. See also DVD-R for Authoring, DVD-R for General, DVD+R, DVD-RW.

DVD+R - Alternate DVD - Recordable write-once format developed by the DVD+RW Alliance. See also DVD-R, DVD+RW.

DVD-RAM - DVD Random-Access Memory. The DVD Forum-defined, random-access DVD data format. Designed for data storage applications, with the capability to be accessed like a hard disk by reading and writing randomly, and with built-in error correction and defect management. Whereas DVD-RW discs can be overwritten 1000 times, DVD-RAM is designed to be written more than 100,000 times. See also DVD-R, DVD-RW.

DVD recorder - A consumer electronics hardware product that acts like a digital VCR. Records television programming and/or input video (such as from a camcorder) to DVD disc. Some DVD Authoring computer software applications also can record directly from video input to a DVD drive. See also set-top DVD player.

DVD-ROM - DVD Read-Only Memory. The DVD Forum-defined, read-only DVD format. Used for prerecorded audio and data. Also the computer-readable content on a DVD-Video disc. See also DVD-R.

DVD-RW - DVD ReWritable. The DVD Forum-defined, re-recordable DVD format. Like CD-RW, rewritable discs can be reused, but are more expensive than recordable, and are less compatible with set-top players. See also DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM.

DVD+RW - Alternate DVD ReWritable format developed by the DVD+RW Alliance. Intended to replace the capabilities of DVD-RW and DVD-RAM and also provide higher compatibility with set-top players. See also DVD+R, DVD-RW.

MPEG audio - A multichannel, digital audio format created by Moving Picture Experts Group. One of the three required formats for PAL DVD-Video players. See also Dolby Digital, PCM.

Multi Region - This means that the DVD player can play DVDs that originate from other countries, the european dvd region number is 2.

SCART Socket -- This is a much improved connection between your TV and DVD player, most DVD players do not come with a SCART lead so make sure you put one on your shopping list when ordering a DVD player, check your TV has a SCART socket first.

SVCD - Acronym for Super Video CD. A higher-quality format for video on CD discs than Video CD. The SVCD format uses the same MPEG-2 video compression format as DVD, although at a lower resolution, in order to fit around 35 minutes of "near-DVD" quality material on a CD. Because many set-top DVD players do not support SVCD format, it is also not supported by some DVD authoring tools. See also Video CD (VCD).

Video CD (VCD) - A consumer format for storing video presentations on CD discs. VCD can fit 74 minutes of "VHS-quality" video on a CD, but at lower video resolution than DVD using the older MPEG-1 compression format. The VCD format is especially popular in Asia as format for distributing commercial movies and videos. Many DVD authoring tools provide the option to author to VCD format, and most DVD players can play the format. This provides an inexpensive option for sharing productions with most computers. Many set-top DVD players also can play VCDs. See also DAT, DVD on CD, SVCD.

 

To see the UK Top 10 bestselling DVD players, click here.