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ActiveX Controls: ActiveX Controls are small programs that are also a set of rules for how applications should share information, which can be automatically downloaded and executed by a Web browser. Programmers can develop ActiveX controls in a variety of languages. ActiveX controls have full access to the Windows operating system. This gives them much more power than other Web technologies. To control this, Microsoft developed a registration system so that browsers can identify and authenticate an ActiveX control before downloading it.
ANSI: American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Aspect Ratio: The ratio of width to height for an image or screen. The North American television broadcast standard is 4:3 (1.33:1). HDTV uses a wider 16:9 (1.78:1) ratio, which closely matches the most common movie theater screen aspect ratio.
Asynchronous: Transmission techniques not requiring a common clock for timing between two communicating devices. Asynchronous transmission receives the timing information from special bits or characters (such as start/stop bits or flag characters) in the data stream itself.
Bandwidth: A measure of the resolution and information-carrying capacity of a video system typically described as the range of frequencies in which video signal's amplitude will remain constant. In digital video systems, bandwidth is limited by filters to a maximum of one-half the sampling frequency to avoid artifacts caused by aliasing. It is also the maximum amount of data a signal can carry, as well as the frequency spectrum occupied by a signal. It is also the maximum amount of data a signal can carry, as well as the frequency spectrum occupied by a signal. In terms of signal frequency, the range between the lowest and the highest frequencies used to transmit a signal from one site to another. Bandwidth is a measure of an analog signal and is measured in cycles per second. Contemporary units are Hertz (one cycle equals one Hertz).
BFS: Broadcast File System (BFS)
Broadband: The high-speed transmission of voice, data and video signals over a single medium.
Chrominance: The color component of a video signal that includes information about hue and saturation.
Component Video: A video signal which has been split up into its component parts. Component video has increased bandwidth for color information resulting in clearer color reproduction and offers the best picture quality available.
Composite Video: A single video signal that contains luminance (brightness) and chrominance (color) information. A composite signal is better than an RF signal, but not as good as S-video or component. A composite video jack is usually a single RCA-type.
Coaxial digital jack
This type of jack is used for the digital audio inputs and/or outputs on A/V components such as receivers, CD players, DVD players, and more. Coaxial digital jacks are also sometimes found on higher-end PC soundcards for digital audio input and output.
Coaxial digital inputs and outputs use standard RCA-type jacks (so coaxial digital cables are terminated with standard RCA connectors). But the cable itself is specially designed to handle the much wider frequency bandwidth of digital signals.
Component video jack
This 3-cable connection allows the chrominance (color) and luminance (brightness) portions of a video signal to be processed separately. S-video works similarly, but component video improves color accuracy further by splitting the chrominance signal into two portions.
Component video connections are found on most DVD players and DTV tuners, and on a growing number of TVs and A/V receivers. However, this type of connection can vary in bandwidth from unit to unit. To pass progressive-scan DVD signals without noticeable softening of the picture, a component video connection should have bandwidth above 10 MHz; passing HDTV signals without noticeable softening requires bandwidth in the upper 20s or higher (with most TVs).
Composite video jack
A composite video input or output uses a single standard RCA-style jack to pass video signals. This type of connection combines chrominance and luminance information, sending it along a single cable. Though capable of delivering a high-quality picture, composite video is not as accurate as either S-video or component video , both of which provide separate paths for chrominance and luminance.
Commonly found on A/V components like DVD players, VCRs, TVs, DBS systems, etc., composite video jacks are often grouped with corresponding stereo audio jacks (the composite video jack is usually yellow). Though they use standard RCA-type connectors, composite video cables are specially designed to maximize video signal transfer.
DTV (Digital Television): The new American digital broadcast TV standard which began operation in late 1998. HDTV (High Definition Television) and SDTV (Standard Definition Television) are two types of DTV.
Electronic Program Guide: Provides an on-screen listing of all available programming for an extended time period (typically 36 hours or more). Guide Plus+ is a free program guide included on a growing number of new Televisions.
Firmware: (FW)- The Firmware is apart of the boot process of the cable systems addressability service. When a STB is plugged in & connected to an active cable line this begins the Boot Process. The Boot Process has the firmware embedded in it, and checks to see that the latest firmware is installed in the STB. If not it will AUTOMATICALLY download it.
HDTV (High Definition Television) : Often mistakenly used a a generic description of all digital television, HDTV specifically refers to the highest-resolution formats of the 18 total DTV formats. Although there still isn't 100% agreement among manufacturers, retailers, journalists, etc., true HDTV is generally considered to be 1,080-line interlaced, 720-line progressive, or 1,080-line progressive.
Horizontal resolution: The sharpness of a video display in the horizontal direction. Horizontal resolution is the number of vertical lines that can be resolved from one side of the screen to the other.
Interlaced (Interlaced Scanning): A type of video scanning where the odd- and even-numbered lines of a video picture, or frame, are transmitted consecutively as two separate interleaved fields. Analog NTSC video uses interlaced scanning, as do several digital television formats. Formats that include an "i" (1080i, 480i) use interlaced scanning.
ISDN
Abbreviation of Integrated Services Digital Network, an international communications standard for sending voice, video, and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires. ISDN can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits-per-second over regular phone lines. In practice, most people will be limited to transfer rates of 64 Kbps (64,000 bits per second).
Data transfer rates are measured in kilobits per second, abbreviated as Kbps. A kilobyte in this instance equals 1,000 bits.
LAN
Local Area Network. A computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. However, one LAN can be connected to other LANs over any distance via telephone lines, cable lines and radio waves. A system of LANs connected in this way is called a wide-area network (WAN).
Most LANs connect workstations and personal computer, but it is also able to access data and devices anywhere on the LAN. This means that many users can share expensive devices, such as laser printers, as well as data. Users can also use the LAN to communicate with each other, by sending e-mail or engaging in chat sessions. There are many different types of LANs Ethernets being the most common for PCs. Most Apple Macintosh networks are based on Apple's AppleTalk network system, which is built into Macintosh computers.
Letterboxed video: A method for displaying the entire picture as seen in a movie theater. The resulting image width is much greater than its height. On a TV screen with standard aspect ratio (4:3), letterboxed videos appear with horizontal black bars above and below the image.
Luminance: The brightness or black-and-white component of a color video signal. Determines the level of picture detail.
MPEG-2: The video compression standard used for digital television, DVD, and small-dish satellite TV.
MTS stereo TV reception: Most Televisions have built-in MTS stereo decoders.
The program that allows you to access the basic functions of your computer. It is the minimum software required to run a program.
PAGE
A "screen" of information. Information available on the Internet through the World Wide Web (WWW) is organized into pages. You can navigate from page to page by clicking on hyperlinks on a page.
Processor or CPU
A CPU is the brain of the computer. A faster CPU allows the computer to do more tasks and to do those tasks faster. The minimum CPU speed for cable modem use is 133 MHz (Pentium class CPU).
Pan-and-scan: The process of transferring a movie or other source material to videocassette or broadcast so that it fits the 4:3 aspect ratio of the NTSC system, as well as nearly all current Televisions. This results in a significant amount of lost picture information, particularly in the width of the image.
Picture-in-picture (PIP): There are two basic types :1-tuner picture-in-picture models require that you connect a VCR or other video component to provide the source for your second picture. 2-tuner picture-in-picture models have two built-in TV tuners, so you can watch two shows at once using only the TV.
Picture Quality: Television picture performance is generally measured in lines of horizontal resolution. Source horizontal resolution varies:
- Standard VHS: 240 lines
- Broadcast TV: 330 lines
- DirecTV: 330 lines
- Hi8mm: Over 400 lines
- LaserDisc: 425 lines
- DVD: 480 lines
- Digital TV: Over 480 lines
Progressive (Progressive scanning): A type of video scanning where all the lines that make up a video picture, or frame, are transmitted simultaneously. Ther are several progressive digital television formats. Those that include a "p" (1080p, 720p, 480p) use progressive scanning.
Set-top box (STB): Also called converter boxes, these receivers convert broadcasts (either analog cable, digital cable, or DTV) for display on a television. HDTV-ready or DTV-ready Televisions (those without a built-in DTV tuner) must be connected to a corresponding set-top box in order to receive digital television programs.
Stereo RCA jacks
RCA connections are the standard means of passing analog line-level (or "preamp-level") audio signals between components. RCA jacks are commonly found on most types of A/V gear: receivers, CD players, turntables, MiniDisc recorders, cassette decks, VCRs, DVD players, and more.
The audio inputs and A/V inputs found on receivers are RCA connections (though some A/V inputs may also include a different type of jack - such as S-video or component video - for the "video" portion of the signal).
Usually, RCA jacks, connectors and cables are grouped in stereo pairs, with one connection for the left audio channel and one for the right. However, some components (such as many powered subwoofers) use a single mono RCA jack for audio input and/or output.
(Note that a turntable's RCA jacks output a signal that's significantly different from standard line-level signals; hookup requires a specially designed phono input or an in-line phono preamp.)
S-video input: This 4 pin connector usually provides a sharper, higher resolution picture by transmitting the chrominance and luminance portions of a video signal separately. The signals can then be processed separately, reducing interference.
Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of rules that govern the way information is communicated between two or more systems.
Uniform Resource Locator. A string of characters that represents the location of a resource on the Internet and how that resource should be accessed. World Wide Web (WWW) pages are assigned a unique URL. Each hyperlink on a Web page contains the URL of the page to be linked to. www.cox.com is a URL.
UPLOAD
Transferring a file from your computer to another computer on the Internet. You can use the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to upload files from your computer to other computers on the Internet.
USENET
A network of newsgroups. There are thousands of newsgroups available through Usenet. Each newsgroup covers a specific topic or subject area. These newsgroups are available through the Internet. These newsgroups are also referred to as discussion groups.
The string of characters that identifies you. When connecting to a computer, you typically need to provide your user name and password. This information is used to verify that you are authorized to use the system. It is the part of your email address that appears before the "@" symbol.
Web pages and related content you can access using a Web browser. A Web site typically includes a home page, other related Web pages, and related information.
WebTV
This is a specialized service that allows you to access the Internet even if you don’t have a personal computer. It makes use of a set-top box that you must purchase at an electronics retailer. This set-top box is then connected to the Internet using a telephone line (the telephone modem is built-in to the box). The box uses your TV as if it were a monitor on a PC.