HD Jargon Buster

Whatever you may be - a hardcore gamer, sports fanatic, cinema student, or anything in between - chances are you will be dealing with High definition video. This is the latest addition to Tech2s jargon buster, incorporating newer terms coined in the last year, and of course the regular fundamental terms of HD video.

24p

A term reinvented for Blu-ray and HDTVs, which simply means the TV supports framerate of 24 frames per second as films are originally shot in this frame rate (see framerate). ‘p’ stands for progressive (see progressive video)

1080p/720p

These are names of video resolutions available in HD. 1080p means the highest resolution available today to consumers. It is made up of video consisting 1080 lines to make up each frame. This is a high level of detail. 720p is a lower level of HD, though still has 720 lines that make up a single video frame. Here too ‘p’ stands for progressive.

Aspect Ratio

This is simply the ratio of a picture's width to its height. There are 2 main aspect ratios namely 4:3 (Letter-box), and 16:9 (Widescreen). HD video is always in 16:9 or more intense ratios like 2.35 :1 for movies. You can set this on your TV, the option is on every remote.

Brightness

Brightness indicates how much light is given out by the screen. It is measured in cd/m2, candela per square meter. A higher value means more light, thus a brighter pic.

Component Video

Three connectors (usually red, green and blue RCA jacks) that transmit and receive component video signals. The combination of these signals conveys all the picture information.

Contrast Ratio

Contrast ratio is a measure of a screen’s blackest black and whitest white, then they are compared and stated as a ratio. Higher contrast is always good, as the pics look vibrant and lifelike with good colors.

Frame rate

The number of video frames displayed per second. Video is made up of fast moving still images called frames, and the more frames per sec, the smoother the video.

Blu-ray and films use 24 frames a second.

Full HD

This is more of a marketing term, and only means that the number of pixels that make up the screen or video material is 1920 x 1080. This is the highest res available to consumers today, and TVs supporting it are the larger more expensive ones.