9
TERMINOLOGY
Since they share some of the charac-
teristics and technology of CD play-
ers, many of the terms and opera-
tional concepts used in a DVD player
are similar to what you may be famil-
iar with from CD players and chang-
ers, or older video disc formats such
as Laser Disc. However, if this is your
first DVD product, some of the terms
used to describe the features of a
DVD player may be unfamiliar. The
following explanations should solve
some of the mysteries of DVD, and
help you to enjoy all the power and
flexibility of the DVD format and
the DVD280.
Aspect Ratio: This is a description of
the width of a video image in relation
to its height. A conventional video
screen is four units wide for every
three units of height, making it almost
square. Newer wide-aspect-ratio
video displays are 16 units wide for
every nine units of height, making
them more like the screen in a movie
theater. The program material on a
DVD may be recorded in either format
and, in addition, you may configure
the DVD280 to play back in either for-
mat, depending on the features
recorded on a disc.
Chapter: DVD programs are divided
into chapters and titles. Chapters are
the subsections programmed into a
single title on a disc. Chapters may
be compared to the individual tracks
on an audio CD. Press the Menu
Button
to see a listing of the
chapters on a disc.
Component Video: This form of video
signal eliminates many of the arti-
facts of traditional composite video
signals by splitting the signal into a
separate luminance channel (the Y
signal channel) and two color-differ-
ence signals (the Pr and Pb signal
channels). With a component video
connection, you will see greater pic-
ture resolution and eliminate many
picture imperfections, such as the
moiré patterns often seen on check-
patterned cloth. However, in order
to benefit from component video,
you must have a video display with
Y/Pr/Pb component video inputs. Do
not connect the component video
outputs of the DVD280 to the standard
composite or S-video inputs of a TV
or recorder.
JPEG Files: JPEG stands for the Joint
Photographic Experts Group, which
developed a standard for compress-
ing still images, such as photographs.
JPEG files may be created on a per-
sonal computer by importing images
from a digital camera, or scanning
printed photographs. These files may
be burned onto a compact disc. The
DVD280 is among the few DVD play-
ers that are capable of recognizing
JPEG files and enabling you to view
them on your video screen. Moreover,
when WMA or MP3 audio files are
stored on the same disc as the JPEG
files, you may create a “slide show”
of images with music in the back-
ground. See page 34 for more infor-
mation.
MP3 Files: MP3 is an audio compres-
sion format that was developed by
the Motion Picture Experts Group as
an adjunct to the MPEG-1 video com-
pression format. A number of encod-
ing software programs are available
for transferring CDs and other audio
programs into the MP3 format. The
main benefit of MP3 is that it reduces
the size of audio files considerably,
depending on the amount of com-
pression selected during the encod-
ing process, enabling you to store
many more songs on one compact
disc than in the standard audio CD
format. The DVD280 is capable of
playing MP3 files and displaying
the file names, using its advanced
graphic interface. See page 40 for
more information on MP3 files.
Multiple Angle: DVDs have the capa-
bility to show up to four different
views of the same scene in a pro-
gram. When a disc is encoded with
multiple-angle information, pressing
the Angle Button
M
will enable you
to switch between these different
views. Note that, at present, few
discs take advantage of this capa-
bility and, when they do, the multiple-
angle technology may only be pres-
ent for short periods of time within
the disc. Producers will usually insert
some sort of icon or graphic in the
picture to alert you to the availability
of multiple-angle scenes.
Progressive Scan: The DVD280 offers
progressive scan video outputs for
use with compatible high-resolution
televisions and projectors. Before
DVD, no consumer medium could
store, transmit or display video with
full resolution. To conserve band-
width, analog compression (interlac-
ing) is employed: first, the odd-num-
bered lines of a frame are displayed,
followed by the even-numbered lines.
The result is that only half of the
video image is drawn at one time; the
viewer’s brain must reassemble the
complete image. This is acceptable,
if the monitor is not too large and if
there is not too much motion in the
image. Large displays and fast-mov-
ing images reveal the limitations of
this system. Thanks to DVD’s immense
data capacity, images are now stored
intact (progressively), so that all the
lines in each frame (odd and even)
are shown at the same time. But
because most TVs cannot handle a
progressive signal, all current DVD
players generate an interlaced out-
put for compatibility. The DVD280 is
among the select few DVD players
with true progressive scan video out-
put for use with compatible TVs and
CRT projectors and with all plasma,
LCD and DLP display devices, via the
component video output. The result
is 40% greater light output than a
conventional TV and a stunningly
detailed high-definition image, along
with an almost complete absence of
visible scanlines and motion artifacts.
The DVD280’s sophisticated pixel-by-
pixel processing is a major advance-
ment over the previous generation’s
line-by-line processing, bringing out
even greater detail in your favorite
video presentations. Of course,
traditional Y/Pr/Pb component video,
S-video and composite video outputs
are included for use with conventional
televisions and projectors.
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