Glossary

1080p

Often referred to as “Full HD”, this is the ability of a blu ray player to output a movie in full high definition of 1080×1920 pixels. Some TV’s will SUPPORT 1080p even if they cannot display the full 1080×1920 resolution.

The “p” refers to the picture being “progressive” rather than “interlaced”. Progressive means that the entire picture is displayed in one “sweep” of the screen. Interlaced draws the screen in two “sweeps” – first the odd lines are drawn and then the even lines.

1080i

As per 1080p except the output is “interlaced”.

24p

When a movie is made, it is shot in “24fps” – 24 frames per second (or 23.97fps to be more precise). This is the number of frames (or individual pictures) that are displayed every second. However, TV sets and DVD players normally differ in the number of frames that are displayed per second. PAL televisions (as used in the UK and Europe) display images at 25fps and NTSC (as used in the USA and Japan) display images at 29fps. The result is that the movie plays slightly faster or additional frames need to be inserted to avoid noticable flicker.

24p playback allows the movie to be played at the same speed that it was shot.

Blu Ray

The name Blu-ray comes from the colour of the laser used to read the disc. It has a shorter wavelength (405 nm) than the red laser (650 nm) used in standard DVD players,  allowing more data to be stored. A dual layer Blu-ray Disc can store up to 50 GB, which is almost six times the capacity of a dual layer DVD.

A blu ray disc CANNOT be used in a standard DVD player.

Component Connection

A method of connecting devices to your TV. Component is a high quality connection method, with 3 video cables carrying individual parts of the signal (Red, Green and Blue) allowing for a very high quality picture. Usually component connections also carry standard stereo audio via two additional cables.

Composite Connection

A very low quality method of connecting your devices to your TV. Composite combines the three video signals (Red, Green and Blue) and carries them to the TV via one cable.

DivX

A function that allows movies that have been downloaded from the internet, or “ripped” from a DVD, to be played back without the requirement to convert into DVD format . Typically, a DivX movie will be around 700mb in size, allowing 5 or more movies to be stored on a typical writable 4.7gb DVD-R.

Dolby Digital Plus

An audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories. Supports up to 13.1 audio (13 directional channels and one non-directional) at 48 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bit depth resolution.

Dolby Digital Plus is a LOSSY audio format – i.e. the audio stream is compressed.

DTS HD

An audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories. Supports 7.1 audio (7 directional channels and one non-directional) at 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bit depth resolution.

DTS HD is a LOSSY audio format – i.e. the audio stream is compressed.

DTS HD MA

Otherwise known as DTS-HD Master Audio. As per DTS HD except DTS-HD MA is LOSSLESS – i.e. NO compression is used.

Dolby TrueHD

An audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories. Supports 7.1 audio (7 directional channels and one non-directional) at 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24 bit depth resolution.

Dolby TrueHD is a LOSSLESS audio format – i.e. NO compression is used.

DRM

Digital Rights Management. Allows content providers to restrict access to content where required. For example, a movie may be restricted to allow playback only on the PC where it was downloaded, or playback only allowed for 24 hours after first playback.

Ethernet Connection

Allows the device (blu ray player or other hardware) to be connected to a home network in order to utilise the internet connection for the purpose of firmware updates or interactive web content (if available).

Firmware

The operating software for your blu ray player. Hardware manufacturers periodically update firmware to fix known bugs, or to add additional functionality. You would normally update your firmware via an Ethernet Connection (if available) or via a CD or DVD download.

HDMI

The preferred method of connection for high definition devices – HDMI is a uncompressed digital connection method, carrying high quality video and up to 8 channels of audio. It supports DRM (Digital Rights Management) so that content providers can restrict access where required.

Interlaced

This is where a TV picture is output in two steps – the first step will draw the even lines and the second step will draw the odd lines. “Progressive Scan” is preferable, as teh entire screen is drawn in a single step.

Optical Audio

In order to experience 5.1 or 7.1 audio, you need to connect your blu ray player to a home cinema system or external amplifier. You do this via the “optical audio” digital outputs.

Some devices may use “co-ax” digital outputs/inputs – these require a different connection method and are not compatible with Optical Audio outputs.

Profile 1.0

The very first blu ray “firmware” – profile 1.0 provides support for movie playback and static extras, much like a standard DVD player. However, profile 1.0 does NOT support interactive or web enabled features.

A profile 1.0 player CANNOT usually be updated to a profile 1.1 or above – the only known exception to this is the Sony PS3.

Profile 1.1

An updated blu ray firmware – profile 1.1 provides support for interactive content in addition to the features of profile 1.0. However, web enabled features are not supported.

A profile 1.1 player CANNOT usually be updated to a profile 2.0 or above – the only known exception to this is the Sony PS3.

Profile 2.0

Profile 2.0 finally adds support for web enabled features, in addition to the features provided by profile 1.1.

Progressive Scan

Refers to the ability of a DVD player to output an entire movie frame frame in one step, as opposed to “interlaced” which outputs the picture in two steps. This ensures that the picture has no flicker.

S-Video Connection

A very low quality method of connecting your devices to your TV. S-Video combines the three video signals (Red, Green and Blue) and carries them to the TV via one cable.

Upscaling

The ability of an HDMI enabled blu ray player to improve the picture quality of a standard definition DVD to almost HD quality.