Compiled by David Zeller
Latest update: February 2018
The use of abbreviations is ubiquitous in the audio/video/recording/broadcasting industry. From technologies and protocols, to facilities and workflows, to manufacturers and associations, the list has grown incredibly long! This web page is an ongoing collection of broadcast-related abbreviations, arranged alphabetically. Many definitions are missing or incomplete, as this list is still a work in progress. If you would like to submit a new entry, help refine one already on the list, or report a bug, please contact me. Regardless, I hope you find this website both interesting and useful.
First, some definitions:
| Term | Definition | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| initialism | a set of initials, with each letter pronounced separately |
AES (Audio Engineering Society) PoV (point of view) |
| acronym | a type of initialism, with the result pronounced like a single word |
SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers; pronounced "simp-tee") VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association; pronounced "vee-sah") |
|
backronym or bacronym |
colloquial term for an existing word out of which an acronym was created to match |
DASH (digital audio stationary head) IRENE (Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etc.) RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks) VALID (video/audio lineup identification) |
| abbreviation | a shortened form of a single word, often unpronounceable |
CTL (control) Hz (Hertz) |
|
blend or portmanteau |
a shortened form of a phrase, combined and pronounced as a single word |
lux (luminous flux) pixel (picture element) |
| hybrid | the combination of an initialism and an acronym |
GBIC (gigabit interface converter; pronounced "jee-bick") VITC (vertical interval time code; pronounced "vit-see") |
Technically, all of the above are different types of abbreviations and/or initialisms, but we often apply the term acronym universally. Sticklers would be correct to challenge, since most of the entries in the large list below are are not pronounced as single words.
Another note: The primary source for the large majority of information contained in this list is Wikipedia, a most valuable resource.
If you enjoy this web page and the list below, please spread the word, but also consider donating to Wikipedia. Thanks.
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1xRTT | 1 times radio transmission technology | the core CDMA2000 wireless air interface standard, using an RF bandwidth of a duplex pair of 1.25 MHz radio channels |
| 10Base-T | 10 megabits/second, baseband, twisted | Ethernet over twisted pair cable, 10 megabits/second transmission rate |
| 16K | sixteen thousand | video display resolution of 15360x8640 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), sixteen times the resolution of UHD; also known as QUHD (quad UHD) |
| 100Base-T | 100 megabits/second, baseband, twisted | "Fast" Ethernet over twisted pair cable, 100 megabits/second transmission rate |
| 1080i | 1080 (lines) interlaced | HDTV video format with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), interlaced scanning |
| 1080p | 1080 (lines) progressive | HDTV video format with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), progressive scanning |
| 1440p | 1440 (lines) progressive | quad HD (QHD) video format with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), interlaced scanning |
| 10101 | 10101 | sometimes used to indicate serial data transmission |
| 15734.25 | 15734.25 | the line frequency (horizontal scans per second) of a 525-line 29.97fps television system (NTSC) |
| 2SI | 2-sample interleave | a method of 4K video transmission in which 2 consecutive pixels are sent to one of four HDSDI quadrants at a time, then de-interleaved and re-assembled at the receiver or display |
| 2W | 2-wire | an analog communication path using a single pair of conductors, allowing simultaneous send and receive; usually refers to PL (party line) |
| 2160p | 2160 (lines) progressive | 4K UHDTV video format with a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), progressive scanning |
| 3D | three-dimensional | representation of geometric (spatial) data comprising three axes (X/Y/Z) |
| 3DTV | three-dimensional television | television that conveys depth perception via stereoscopic display (and other methods) |
| 3G | 3 gigabits per second | 2.970 Gbit/s SDI link, standardized in SMPTE 424M |
| 3M | Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing | US manufacturer of lots and lots of things, including electronics, adhesives, magnetic tape |
| 38K | 38000 Hz | refers to the 38kHz carrier frequency used by many infrared remote transmit/receive systems |
| 4K | four thousand (also 4K UHD) | video display resolution of 4096x2160 pixels (~17:9 aspect ratio), standard established by the Digital Cinema Initiatives consortium; also refers to resolutions of 3840x2160 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio, four times the resolution of HD), 4096x3072, and 4096x2048 |
| 4W | 4-wire | a communications circuit path using separate pairs for send and receive, as in a communications matrix system |
| 44.1k | 44100 | sampling rate of the compact disc format, derived from the capacity of and compatability with conventional analog video recording machines that were first used for CD masters (NTSC: 245 active lines/field × 60 fields/second × 3 samples/line = 44,100 samples/second; PAL: 294 active lines/field × 50 fields/second × 3 samples/line = 44,100 samples/second) |
| 480p | 480 (lines) progressive | EDTV progressive scan video format (16:9 aspect ratio) |
| 4320p | 4320 (lines) progressive | 8K UHDTV video format with a resolution of 7680x4320 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), progressive scanning |
| 576i | 576 (displayed lines) interlaced | SDTV video format (PAL or PAL/SECAM) utilizing 625 lines per frame (of which only 576 carry picture), interlaced scanning, 50 fields per second, 25 frames per second |
| 576p | 576 (displayed lines) interlaced | EDTV video format (PAL or PAL/SECAM) utilizing 625 lines per frame (of which only 576 carry picture), progressive scanning, 25 frames per second |
| 608 | 608 | see CEA-608 |
| 708 | 708 | see CEA-708 |
| 720p | 720 (lines) progressive | HDTV video format with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), progressive scanning |
| 8K | eight thousand (also 8K UHD) | video display resolution of 7680x4320 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), sixteen times the resolution of 1080p HDTV; also known as FUHD |
| 8P8C | eight position eight contact | term for the pin configuration of an RJ45 connector, for Ethernet or other serial communications |
| 8VSB | eight-level vestigial sideband modulation | the modulation method used for broadcast in the ATSC digital television standard, in which a binary stream is converted into an octal representation by amplitude modulating a sinusoidal carrier to one of eight levels |
| 802.11 | IEEE 802.11 | a set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) specifications for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication in the 900 MHz and 2.4, 3.6, 5, and 60 GHz frequency bands |
| © | copyright | legal right that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights to its use and distribution, usually for a limited time, with the intention of enabling the creator to receive compensation for their intellectual effort |
| ℗ | phonorecord | copyright symbol for sound recordings |
| λ (lambda) | wavelength | the spatial period of a wave; the distance over which the wave's shape repeats |
| μ (mu) | micro | one millionth, or 10-6 |
| permeability | Mu-metal is a nickel-iron alloy, composed of approximately 77% nickel, 16% iron, 5% copper and 2% chromium or molybdenum, that is notable for its high magnetic permeability | |
| π (pi) | pi | a mathematical constant, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.1415926535897932 |
| φ (phi) | phase | the initial angle of a sinusoidal function at its origin (sometimes called phase offset or phase difference), or the fraction of the wave cycle which has elapsed relative to the origin |
| Ω (Omega) | ohm | the SI derived unit of electrical resistance, named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | audio first (primary) | primary audio mixer crewperson (also called lead audio engineer or first engineer) |
| A2 | audio second | assistant audio mixer/setup crewperson (also called second engineer or audio assistant) |
| A2DP | advanced audio distribution profile | defines how audio streams between Bluetooth devices |
| AA | audio assistant | same as A2 |
| AAC | advanced audio coding | lossy audio data compression format, successor to MP3 |
| AACR2 | Anglo-American cataloging rules, second edition | content metadata standard and national cataloging code, first published in 1967 (second edition: 1978), now replaced by RDA |
| AACS | advanced access content system | standard for content distribution and rights management used in Blu-Ray discs |
| AACS LA | AACS Licensing Administrator | consortium (Disney, Intel, MS, Panasonic, Warner, IBM, Toshiba, Sony) that develops and licenses AACS |
| AAD | analog analog digital | the SPARS code on a CD that indicates an analog tape recorder used during initial recording plus mixing/editing, with digital mastering |
| AAF | advanced authoring format | a professional file interchange format (wrapper) designed for the video post production and authoring environment, created by the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) |
| anti-aliasing filter | a filter used before a signal sampler to restrict the bandwidth of a signal to satisfy the sampling theorem (half the sample rate) | |
| AAX | Avid audio extension | plug-in format for ProTools |
| ABC | American Broadcasting Company | |
| Australian Broadcasting Corporation | ||
| ABR | adaptive bitrate | a technique used for streaming multimedia over computer networks by detecting a user's bandwidth and CPU capacity in real time and adjusting the quality of the video stream accordingly |
| average bitrate | the average amount of data transferred per unit of time, usually measured per second, commonly for digital music or video | |
| ABS | adaptive bitrate streaming | |
| Academy of Broadcasting Science | standards/research organization for radio/film/television in China | |
| AC | alternating current | (also ac) flow of electric charge periodically reverses direction |
| AC-3 | audio compression 3 | (also AC3) Dolby Digital multichannel audio data compression format (also audio codec 3, advanced codec 3, acoustic coder 3) |
| AC-4 | audio compression 4 | (also AC4) new Dolby Digital audio data compression format (object-oriented) |
| AC97 | audio codec 97 | (also AC'97) audio codec developed by Intel for motherboards and sound cards |
| ACB | actual customer behavior | new Dolby Digital audio data compression format (object-oriented) |
| ACES | Academy Color Encoding System | a color image encoding system proposed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that will allow for a fully encompassing color accurate workflow, developed in 2004 |
| ACK | acknowledgement | a data networking signal passed between communicating processes or computers to signify acknowledgement, or receipt of response, as part of a communications protocol; used in the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) |
| ACR | audio control room | |
| AD | assistant (or associate) director | |
| audio director | same as A1 | |
| A/D | analog to digital converter | converts analog voltage to a digital number representing amplitude |
| ADA | audio distribution amplifier | actively splits one audio signal equally to multiple outputs |
| ADAM | Advanced Dynamic Audio Monitors | professional audio and speaker manufacturer in Berlin; also their range of speakers |
| ADAT | Alesis digital audio tape | 8-channel modular digital multitrack tape format (made by Alesis) that uses S-VHS tapes |
| ADC | analog to digital converter | converts analog voltage to a digital number representing amplitude |
| ADD | analog digital digital | the SPARS code on a CD that indicates an analog tape recorder used during initial recording, a digital tape recorder used during mixing/editing and for mastering |
| ad hoc | <latin: "for this"> | for a specific purpose or case or situation; improvised or non-standard; a temporary work-around |
| ADPCM | adaptive differential pulse code modulation | variant of DPCM that varies the size of the quantization step |
| ADR | automated (or additional) dialog replacement | re-recording dialog after the fact, for film/TV; also called "looping" |
| ADSL | asymmetric digital subscriber line | a type of DSL service in which download data rates are much greater than upload data rates |
| ADSR | attack, deckay, sustain, release | amplitude envelope parameters used in synthesizers |
| AE | automatic exposure | a feature on many digital cameras that will automatically determine the correct exposure for pictures without any user input |
| AEB | automatic exposure bracketing | a feature where a digital camera is set to capture the same image several times with different exposure settings, both over-exposed and under-exposed (lighter and darker) compared to the current setting on the camera |
| AEC/BF | acoustic echo cancellation / beamforming | method of utilizing multiple microphones in a space to reduce echo and/or focus listening area |
| AEG | Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft | (translation: "General electricity company") German electronics manufacturer, later merged with Telefunken to create AEG-Telefunken |
| AES | Audio Engineering Society | world-wide professional audio society and standards publisher |
| advanced encryption standard | ||
| AES3 | Audio Engineering Society 3 | 2-channel PCM audio trasmission standard over balanced, unbalanced or fiber |
| AES67 | Audio Engineering Society 67 | a standard published in 2013 by the AES for audio over IP interoperability; a layer 3 protocol suite based on existing standards, designed to allow interoperability between various IP-based audio networking systems; it also identifies commonalities with Audio Video Bridging (AVB) and documents AVB interoperability scenarios |
| AES/EBU | Audio Eng. Society / European Broadcasting Union | digital audio exchange standard jointly developed by AES and EBU |
| AF | audio frequency | |
| AFL | after-fader listen | audio console feature to solo audio channels post-fader |
| AFTRA | American Federation of Television and Radio Artists | performers' union (founded in 1937) that represented radio and television actors, announcers, newspersons, singers and recording artists (both royalty artists and background singers), promo and voice-over announcers and other performers in commercials, stunt persons and specialty acts; merged with SAG in 2012 to create SAG-AFTRA |
| AFV | audio-follow-video | an operational mode in which audio and video routers and/or switchers are tied together so that when the operator selects the video source, the audio simultaneously and automatically switches to the same source |
| AGC | automatic gain control | audio gain is automatically adjusted to suitable level, based on average or peak level |
| AGFA | Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation | (translation: Shares Society for Aniline Fabrication) Agfa-Gevaert N.V.: Belgian magnetic tape manufacturer |
| AHG | ad hoc group | standards committee (temporary or makeshift) |
| AIFF | audio interchange file format | digital audio file format developed by Apple |
| AIM | Adder Infinity Manager | controller software for large Adder KVM networks |
| AOL instant messenger | an instant messaging and remote presence proram created by America Online which allowed users to communicate in real time | |
| AIMS | Alliance for IP Media Solutions | a non-profit trade alliance that promotes the open standards that broadcast and media companies use to move from legacy SDI systems to a virtualized, IP-based infrastructure |
| AIO | all-in-one | desktop computers for which the computer case and system components are integrated into the monitor so that the entire PC is contained all in one unit; debuted with the Apple Macintosh 128K in 1984, current versions are typically flat-screens (Apple iMac, plus Windows PCs from various manufacturers) |
| audio input/output | ||
| AJA | Abraham John Abt | video systems company, named for its founder |
| A-JOC | advanced joint object coding | see JOC |
| AKA | AKA design - studio and technical furniture company located in London | |
| aka | also known as | (also a.k.a.) |
| AKG | Akustische und Kino-Geräte | (translation: acoustic and cinema equipment) Austrian manufacturer of microphones and headphones, founded in 1947 |
| ALAC | Apple lossless audio codec | digital audio data compression format that uses linear prediction |
| A-LAN | audio local area network (also ALAN) | audio of IP audio networking |
| ALD | assisted listening device | a small handheld or pocket-sized electronic device in assisted listening systems (ALS, below) to help distinguish speech or other audio content in a presentation |
| ALS | assisted listening sytem | a system that provides amplified audio content to audience members who are hard of hearing, typically consisting of a central transmission system and individual receiving devices (ALD, above) |
| ALT | alternate | |
| AM | amplitude modulation | electronic modulation/communication technique, typically for radio broadcast |
| AMD | American Micro Devices | American semiconductor and computer processor manufacturer based in California |
| AMI | alternate mark inversion | a T1 line coding method, the older of the two commonly available |
| AMPEX | Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence | tape machine manufacturer (US) founded in 1944, named for its founder |
| AMSL | (height) above median sea level | the elevation (on the ground) or altitude (in the air) of an object, relative to the average sea level datum; AMSL height is used extensively in radio (both in broadcasting and other telecommunications uses) to determine the coverage area a station will be able to reach |
| AMWA | Advanced Media Workflow Association | The AMWA develops specifications and technologies to facilitate the deployment and operation of efficient media workflows, and works closely with standards bodies like the SMPTE |
| AMV | All Mobile Video | video production truck company |
| AVI motion JPEG video | a proprietary video file format produced for MTV (mobile television) players (MP4 players, as well as S1 MP3 players); also the associated file extension (.amv) | |
| AMX | a US manufacturer of commercial and residential switching and control devices: hardware and software for the distribution and control of audio and video within meeting spaces, as well as across wide areas using IP | |
| ANC | ancillary (data) | a means which by non-video information (such as audio, other forms of essence, and metadata) may be embedded within the serial digital interface; standardized by SMPTE as SMPTE 291M |
| AND | and | binary logic gate that accomplishes conjunction (true only if all operands are true); A·B |
| ANI | automatic number identification | a verification service from MCI (800-437-7950) that identifies the number from which a telephone call is made (more precisely, the "billed party number" which isn't necessarily the same) |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute | oversees the development of volutary consensus standards |
| ANT | an open access multicast wireless sensor network technology designed and marketed by ANT Wireless,a division of Dynastream Innovations Inc. (wearable - personal area network, PAN) | |
| ANT+ | ANT plus | an interoperability function that can be added to the base ANT protocol, designed and marketed by the ANT+ Alliance |
| ANT-FS | ANT file system | technical specification allowing file transfers to be performed in an interoperable fashion at up to 60 kbit/s over the ANT protocol |
| AoIP | audio over IP | streaming technology that provides high-quality audio feeds over distance across an IP network |
| AOC | analog over category | analog control voltages or signals delivered via the twisted pairs of CAT network cable |
| AOV | angle of view | the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera, and can be measured horizontally, vertically, or diagonally; the term is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view (FOV) |
| APC | angled physical contact | quality grade of fiber connector (use a green strain relief boot) |
| API | application programming interface | software module that specifies how other software components should interact with each other and the OS |
| Automated Processes, Inc. | pro audio equipment manufacturer | |
| APM | American Public Media | the second largest producer and distributor of public radio programs in the United States after NPR |
| APS-C | Advanced Photo System type-C (classic) | a DSLR image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System "classic" negatives of 25.1 x 16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 |
| APVe | audio photo video express | computer graphics-oriented video card by Matrox |
| A/R | aspect ratio (also AR) | the ratio of width to height of a video/film image, often 16:9 or 4:3 |
| ARQ | automatic repeat request (or query) | an error-control method for data transmission that uses acknowledgements and timeouts to achieve reliable data transmission over an unreliable service |
| ARRI | Arnold & Richter | a German manufacturer of professional motion picture equipment, movie cameras and cinematic lighting equipment, originally (1917) named Arnold & Richter Cine Technik, after founders August Arnold and Robert Richter |
| ART | accelerating ribbon technology | ribbon tweeter developed by Klaus Heinz of ADAM Pro Audio |
| ASF | advanced systems format | video compression algorithm, and the file extension (.asf) for files containing video compressed with that algorithm |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange | 7-bit character-encoding scheme for English alphabet (128-characters) |
| ASI | asynchronous serial interface | final product of video compression, streaming via MPEG-2 or -4 to transmitter |
| ASIO | audio stream input/output | driver |
| ASK | amplitude-shift key(ing) | |
| AT | audio tape | often used as a short-hand for ATPB (see below) |
| audio technician | same as A2 (see above) | |
| ATA | advanced technology attachment | an interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in computers; see also PATA |
| ATC | American Television and Communications | subsidiary of Time Warner Cable, spun off as Bright House Networks |
| ancillary time code | SMPTE time code embedded in ancillary data portion of SDI video | |
| Atmos | atmosphere (atmospheric) | see Dolby Atmos |
| ATPB | audio tape playback | pre-recorded music, voice-over, and/or sound effects played back during television production |
| ATR | audio tape recorder | |
| ATRAC | adaptive transform acoustic coding | Sony audio data compression algorithm |
| ATSC | Advanced Television Systems Committee | international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television (an ATSC receiver allows reception of digital television that uses the ATSC standard) |
| ATSC 3.0 | Advanced Television Systems Committee version 3.0 | a major version of the ATSC standards for television broadcasting; enhanced over-the-air (OTA) broadcasting with additional broadband back channel over IP for VOD |
| AT&T | American Telephone and Telegraph (Company) | |
| aux | auxilliary | |
| AV | audio-visual | works with both sound and visual components, or equipment used therein |
| A/V | audio/video | same as AV, above |
| AVB | audio video bridging | IEEE technical standard for low latency time-synchronized streaming |
| AVC | advanced video coding | video compression format (H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10) |
| AVI | audio video interleave | Microsoft multimedia container/wrapper format, and associatedfile extension (.avi) |
| AV/IT | audio-visual and information technology | (also AVIT) refers to sytems that incorporate both A/V and IT elements |
| audiovisual instructional technology | incorporating A/V technology in educational applications, including distance learning | |
| AVoD | audio and video on demand | system which allow users to select and watch/listen to video and audio content when they choose to, rather than having to watch at a specific broadcast time, often deployed via IPTV (see also VoD) |
| AVPS | AudioVisual Preservation Solutions, Inc. | a media and information management consulting firm located in New York city that specializes in the management and preservation of media assets and metadata |
| AVR | audio/video receiver | a consumer electronics component used in a home theater that receives audio and video signals from a number of sources, processing them to drive loudspeakers and a display |
| AWAC | audio waveform amplifier and converter | |
| AWACS | advanced warning and control system | a Calrec feature that provides an SNMP agent to forward error and warning messages to a central SNMP server, allowing equipment faults to be monitored and managed from a central location |
| AWG | American wire gage | standardized system which defines diameters of conducting wire |
| AXF | archive exchange format | an open format IT-centric file container that supports interoperability among disparate content storage systems and ensures the content's long-term availability; SMPTE standard ST2034 |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| B4 | industry standard 2/3-inch camera lens mount (BTA S-1005A) | |
| B8ZS | bipolar 8 (with) zero substitution | a T1 line coding method, the more modern method of the two commonly available |
| BARCO | Belgian American Radio Corporation | display hardware manufacturer (video walls, et al) |
| BASF | Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik | (translation: Baden Aniline and Soda Factory) German magnetic tape manufacturer |
| BB | blackburst | video reference signal |
| BBC | British Broadcasting Corporation | UK-based international public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London; the world's oldest national broadcasting organization |
| BBC2 | British Broadcasting Corporation two | the second television channel operated by the BBC in the United Kingdom |
| BCE | Bing Crosby Enterprises | Bing Crosby's production company (and R&D division) gave the world's first demonstration of magnetic videotape recording in November 1951 |
| B Channel | bearer channel | one of multiple user channels on an ISDN circuit, carries the user's data (such as coded audio data) |
| Bd | baud | symbols (tones) per second |
| BD | Blu-ray disc | a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format, capable of storing high-definition video resolution (1080p) on a 120mm diameter plastic disc; single-, dual-, triple- and quadruple-layer BDs can store 25GB, 50GB, 100GB and 128GB of data, respectively |
| Bellcore | Bell communications research | a research and development organization owned by regional Bell operating companies that developed standards for telco equipment; now called Telcordia |
| BER | bit error rate | number of transmitted bit errors, divided by total number during a studied time period |
| burst error rate | rate of multiple consecutive bit errors | |
| beyond economical repair | when damage to equipment is too costly to repair; replacement recommended | |
| BERT | bit error rate test | a test for digital ilnes which involves looping a data path and sending a test pattern, checking the returning data for errors |
| bit error rate tester | the test equipment used to perform a bit error rate test | |
| B&H | Blimie & Herman | B&H Photo Video, founded in 1973 in Manhattan, New York City, is the largest non-chain photo and video equipment store in the United States, named after its founders Blimie & Herman Schreiber |
| BiDi | bidirectional | |
| BIOS | basic input/output system | low-level system soft/firmware that interfaces computer hardware |
| bit | binary digit | a single basic element of binary data (1 or 0) |
| BJT | biploar junction transistor | transistor in which two types of semiconductors combine/contact |
| B&K | Brüel & Kjær | sound and measurement devices manufacturer based in Denmark |
| BLEC | building local exchange carrier | a local exchange carrier who covers the occupants of a single building or small campus |
| Blu-ray | blue ray | a digital optical disc data storage format, named for the blue laser (360 to 480 nanometers) used to read the disc, which allows higher density data storage compared to infrared laser DVDs (650 nm) and CDs (780 nm) |
| BMD | Blackmagic Design | an Australian manufacturer of electronic equipment for broadcast and video production |
| BMI | Broadcast Music, Inc. | one of three United States performing rights organizations (along with ASCAP and SESAC), it collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed |
| BNC | Bayonet Neill Concelman | a type of bayonet mount RF connector used for coaxial cable termination, typically 50 or 75 ohms (also known as baby N connector) |
| BOC | broadcast operations center | central hub of broadcast network monitoring, control, and management |
| Bell operating company | one of the regional telphone companies that were owned by AT&T before divestiture in 1984 | |
| BOF | beginning of file | |
| BOP | break-out panel | |
| BORSCHT | Battery supply to subscriber line, Overvoltage protection, Ringing current supply, Supervision of subscriber terminal, Coder and decoder, Hybrid 2-wire to 4-wire conversion, Testing | electronic functions used in plain old telephone service (POTS) telephony signaling, line supervision and telephone terminal operation |
| BPF | band-pass filter | an electronic filter that passes frequencies within a certain range and rejects (attenuates) frequencies outside that range |
| BPM | beats per minute | musical tempo |
| business process management | a field in operations management that focuses on improving corporate performance by managing and optimizing a company's business processes | |
| bps | bits per second | |
| BRI | basic rate interface | the common form of ISDN with 2 bearer channels and one D channel, all on a single copper pair, encoded with type 2B1Q coding |
| BRIC | broadcast reliable internet codec | a range of high-performance point-to-point IP audio codecs manufactured by Comrex Corporation |
| BRITE | basic rate interface transmission extension | a technology where T1 trunks (or other digital carriers) are used to extend ISDN BRI service |
| B-Roll | supplemental or alternative footage intercut with the main shot, as opposed to primary content (A-Roll, but this term has fallen out of usage) | |
| B&S | belt and suspenders | backing up the primary method with secondary and teriary plans |
| BSB | British Satellite Broadcasting | television company prividing direct broadcast satellite TV to UK |
| BSC | binary structure container | a file container having an XML payload that carries the Object Header information; allows high-speed identification of AXF structural elements |
| BSCX | British Satellite Broadcasting | television company prividing direct broadcast satellite TV to UK |
| BSI | backside illumination | a type of digital image sensor that uses a novel arrangement of CMOS imaging elements to increase the amount of light captured and thereby improve low-light performance |
| Broadcast Services, Inc. | an antenna site management company that provides rooftops and equipment areas to telecommunication users and maximizes rooftop revenue to building owners; founded in 1969 | |
| Broadcast Software International | a US manufacturer of radio automation software, founded in 1989 | |
| BSoD | blue screen of death | an error screen displayed on a Windows computer system after a fatal system error (system crash), displayed as white text on a blue background |
| BSP | broadcast studio panel (?) | breakout studio panel? |
| BSW | Broadcast Supply Worldwide | audio and broadcast equipment distributor founded in 1973 in Tacoma, Washington |
| B&T | block and tape | |
| BTS | Broadcast Technology Society | a technical society formed in 1912, affiliated with the IEEE |
| Broadcast Television Services | ||
| broadcast television systems | encoding or formatting standards for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals; the three main analog television systems in use are/were NTSC, PAL, and SECAM; now in digital television (DTV), the four main systems in use are ATSC, DVB, ISDB and DTMB | |
| behind the scenes | ||
| BTSC | Broadcast Television Systems Committee | |
| BTW | by the way | rundown note |
| BTX | manufacturer of conventional SMPTE timecode machine synchronizers such as the SofTouch and Shadow | |
| BUD | big ugly dish | colloquial name for television receive-only (TVRO) satellite dish |
| BW | bandwidth | (also written as b/w) |
| B&W | black and white | early film and television technology, before the introduction of color |
| BWF | broadcast wave format | |
| BYOD | bring your own device | the policy of permitting employees to bring personally owned mobile devices to their workplace, and to use those devices to access privileged company information and applications; also refers to a "second screen" for sports/event viewing in person |
| BYOP | bring your own phone | (see BYOD, above) |
| BYOPC | bring your own personal computer | (see BYOD, above) |
| BYOT | bring your own technology | (see BYOD, above) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| C2K | CDMA2000 | see CDMA2000, below |
| C4D | Cinema 4D | |
| CA | carrier (or channel) aggregation | a method to increase overall mobile data transmission bandwidth by splitting the data over several simultaneous carrier paths (typically 4G LTE) |
| CAD | computer-aided design | |
| CALM | Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation | FCC ruling 47 CFR parts 73 & 76, H.R. 1084 / S. 2847 requires the FCC to bar the audio of TV commercials from being broadcast louder than the TV program material they accompany; the final bill was passed in 2010, known as the CALM Act |
| Calrec | Calder recording | a UK manufacturer of broadcast audio consoles, named after its 1970s founder |
| CapEx | capital expenditure | the cost to purchase equipment or infrastructure |
| CAT | conditional access table | a segment of PSI metadata within an MPEG transport stream |
| CAT3 | category 3 | 10 Mhz bandwidth UTP cable suitable for 10Base-T (Ethernet) and voice-grade telephony |
| CAT5 | category 5 | 100 Mhz bandwidth UTP cable suitable for 10Base-T (Ethernet), 100Base-T (Fast Ethernet), and 1000Base-T (Gigabit Ethernet) |
| CAT5e | category 5, enhanced | 100 Mhz bandwidth UTP cable, with lower crosstalk than CAT5 |
| CAT6 | category 6 | 250 Mhz bandwidth twisted pair cable suitable for Gigabit Ethernet |
| CAT6a | category 6, augmented | 500 Mhz bandwidth twisted pair cable |
| CAT6e | category 6, enhanced | standard not recognized by the TIA, but often manufactured (it is really CAT6a) |
| CATV | community antenna television | |
| community access television | ||
| cable television | ||
| CBS | Columbia Broadcasting System | |
| CC | change control | |
| continuous controller | MIDI message (0-127) commonly used to control volume, pan, modulation, and other variable parameters (also known as control change) | |
| closed captioning | the processes of displaying text on a television, video screen, or other visual display to provide a transcription of the audio (dialog) portion of a program as it occurs | |
| carbon copy | ||
| Creative Cloud | a set of applications and services from Adobe Systems that gives subscribers access to a collection of software used for graphic design, video editing, web development, photography, and some optional cloud services | |
| Clear-Com | manufacturer of professional voice communications systems, founded in 1968; analog & digital PL, digital matrix, wireless and intercom-over-IP systems | |
| C&C | communications and control | |
| control and configuration | ||
| CC0 | Creative Commons zero license | a legal tool developed by Creative Commons for waiving as many rights as legally possible, worldwide (to release material into the public domain) |
| CC708 | closed captioning 708 | see CEA-708 |
| CCCA | Communications Cable & Connectivity Association | a non-profit corporation founded in 2007 to explore ways to address communication network performance issues caused by inferior structured cabling components |
| CCD | charge coupled device | |
| CCFL | cold-cathode fluorescent lamp | lamps that utilize a discharge in mercury vapor to develop ultraviolet light, which in turn causes a fluorescent coating on the inside of the lamp to emit visible light |
| CCIR | Consultative Committee on International Radio | |
| CcMmYK | cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, yellow, key (black) | a six color subtractive printing process used in some inkjet printers optimized for photo printing |
| CCT | correlated color temperature | perceived color temperature of devices such as flourescent or high-intensity discharge lamps |
| CCTV | closed circuit television | |
| CCU | camera control unit | |
| central control unit | ||
| CCW | counterclockwise | rotation motion that proceeds in the opposite direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the left, then down and then to the right, and back up to the top; in most instances, corresponds to a loosening of screws, a lowering of volume, a reduction in quantity, or scrolling toward the beginning of a list |
| CD | compact disc | |
| CD-DA | compact disc digital audio | |
| CDDB | compact disc database | database of album information |
| CD-i | compact disc interactive | |
| CDMA2000 | code-division multiple access 2000 | (also C2K) a family of 3G mobile technology standards for sending voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites |
| CDMT | cassette duplication master tape | |
| CDN | content distribution (or delivery) network | large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers across the Internet ("cloud") used for content migration |
| CD-R | compact disc recordable | |
| CD-ROM | compact disc read-only memory | |
| CD-RW | compact disc rewritable | |
| CDS | cinema digital sound | a multi-channel surround sound format used for theatrical films in the early 1990s, developed by Eastman Kodak and Optical Radiation Corporation, quickly superseded by Digital Theatre System (DTS) and Dolby Digital formats |
| CD-V | compact disc video | |
| CEA | Consumer Electronics Association | a standards and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry in the United States, now known as CTA |
| CEA-608 | Consumer Electronics Association 608 | the closed captioning standard for NTSC analog television streams in the United States in which captioning data is coded into line 21 of the vertical blanking interval (VBI) |
| CEA-708 | Consumer Electronics Association 708 | the closed captioning standard for ATSC digital television streams in the United States and Canada in which captioning data is contained in the VANC area of HD-SDI; developed by the Electronic Industries Alliance |
| CEC | consumer electronics control | a feature of HDMI designed to allow users to command and control devices connected through HDMI by using only one remote control |
| CEDIA | Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association | a global association in the home technology industry with 3500 member companies, and host of the annual trade show CEDIA Expo |
| CEN | Cresnet and Ethernet | a range or products manufactured by Crestron that incorporate either Cresnet and/or Ethernet technologies |
| CENELEC | Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique | (translation: European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) European standardization of electrical engineering |
| Centrex | central exchange service | enhanced business telephone service that offers many features of a PBX (4-digit "inside" dialing, hold, transfer, attendant) but where the lines are all from the local exchange from a public switch |
| CEPT | Conference on European Posts & Telecommunications | the European standards body that formerly set the standards for telephone interfaces for 26 countries |
| CES | Consumer Electronics Show | |
| CF | compact flash | a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices, developed by SanDisk in 1994 |
| CF+ | compact flash plus | newer revisions of the compact flash format, allowing greatly increased data capacity |
| CFL | coordinated frequencies list | |
| CG | character generator | |
| computer graphics | ||
| color gamut | a complete subset of colors in computer graphics and photographic color reproduction | |
| CGA | color graphics adapter | IBM's first graphics card and first color display card for the IBM PC, which also became that computer's first color computer display standard |
| CGI | computer-generated image (or imagery) | term describing computer effects and animation |
| common gateway interface | a standard protocol for web servers to execute programs that execute like console applications (command-line interface programs) running on a server that generates web pages dynamically | |
| Ch | channel | |
| CIE | Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage | (translation: International Commission on Illumination) the international authority on light, illumination, color, and color spaces, established in 1913 and today based in Vienna, Austria |
| CIE UVW | Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage chromaticity-U chromaticity-V lightness-W | a color space (invented by Wyszecki) in order to be able to calculate color differences without having to hold the luminance constant |
| CIE XYZ | Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage mix luminance blue | a color space which encompasses all color sensations that an average person can experience; a standard reference against which many other color spaces are defined (X=mix, Y=luminance, Z=blue stimulation) |
| Cisco | Computer Information System Company | |
| CLASS | custom local area signaling services | enhanced features on analog telephone lines that transmit information about the calling party and enable caller ID, automatic callback, call trace, and selective call screening |
| CLI | command-line interface | a means of interacting with a computer program where the user (client) issues commands to the program in the form of successive lines of text (command lines) |
| CLID | calling line identification | a burst of FSK data (modem tones) on an analog telephone line (following the first ring) that provides caller ID service |
| CLN | clean version | |
| CMC | Comcast Media Center | Denver, CO facility |
| CMMB | China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting | a mobile television and multimedia standard developed and specified in China in 2006 |
| CMOS | complementary metal oxide semiconductor | |
| CMP | communications plenum cable | fire rating for (CAT) cable |
| CMR | communications riser cable | fire rating for (CAT) cable |
| CMS | call management system | a system that implements rules and parameters governing the routing of inbound telephone calls through a network |
| client music synthesis | a technology conceived to transfer very large music files via internet, allowing an extremely compressed format (far more compact than, for example, MP3) | |
| content management system | a computer application that allows publishing, editing and modifying content, organizing, deleting as well as maintenance from a central interface, providing procedures to manage workflow in a collaborative environment | |
| CMTS | cable modem termination system | a piece of equipment, typically located in a cable company's headend or hubsite, which is used to provide high speed data services, such as cable Internet or VoIP, to cable subscribers |
| CMX | communications cable (limited use) | fire rating for (CAT) cable |
| CMYB | cyan magenta yellow black | same as CMYK, below |
| CMYK | cyan magenta yellow key (black) | a subtractive color model used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself; also known as four-color printing |
| C/N | carrier to noise | see CNR |
| CND | could not duplicate | used to describe the results of troubleshooting a piece of equipment whose fault did not appear during testing |
| CNN | Cable News Network | |
| CNR | carrier to noise ratio | the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a modulated signal (such as FM radio), expressed in decibels |
| CO | central office | the telco facility to which a local telephone circuit leads, also containing switches and trunks |
| CODEC | coder-decoder | a device which codes digital data in order to reduce the transmission bit rate and can also decode this data upon reception |
| CoE | center of excellence | a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, evangelization, best practices, research, support and/or training for a focus area |
| COFDM | coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing | |
| .COM | dot-com | |
| Comcast | communication broadcast | mass media and communications company (cable TV, ISP, telephone) |
| COMMs | communications | |
| cos | cosine | trigonometric function of an angle (in a right triangle: cos=adjacent/hypotenuse); plotted, the function forms a sine wave offset by -90 degrees |
| CoS | class of service | a parameter used in data and voice protocols to differentiate the types of payloads contained in the packet being transmitted, assigning priorities to the data payload or access levels to the telephone call |
| cpd | cycles per degree | ophthalmologists's assessment of the eye's sensitivity to contrast |
| CPE | customer-premises equipment | terminal or equipment (telephone, router, gateways, STB) located at a subscriber's location |
| cps | cycles per second | |
| CPU | central processing unit | |
| CPW | customer-premises wiring | in telecommunication, customer-owned communications transmission lines: metallic (copper) or optical fiber, and may be installed within or between buildings (also called inside wiring or on-premises wiring) |
| CR | control room | |
| CRAC | computer room air conditioning | a device that monitors and maintains the temperature, air distribution and humidity in a network room or data center |
| CRC | cyclic redundancy check | an error-detecting code commonly used in digital networks and storage devices to detect accidental changes to raw data |
| CRC-32 | cyclic redundancy check 32 | an error-detecting code which uses a 33-bit generator polynomial (n+1) |
| Cresnet | Crestron network | the communications backbone for many Crestron keypads, lighting controllers, shade motors, sensors, and other devices; a 4-wire network that provides bidirectional communication and 24VDC power for Cresnet devices |
| CRI | color rendering (rendition) index | a quantitative measure of the ability of a light source to reveal the colors of various objects faithfully in comparison with an ideal or natural light source |
| CRT | cathode ray tube | |
| CS | craft service | in film, television or video production, the department which provides food service and beverages to the other departments (crafts) |
| Creative Suite | a software suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications developed by Adobe Systems (Photoshop, Acrobat, Premiere Pro or After Effects, InDesign, and Illustrator) | |
| CSCP | Calrec serial control protocol | allows for remote control over mixing console operational functions by third party systems such as video switchers and production automation systems |
| CSD | circuit switched data | a dial-up data communications channel which, once established, looks like a transparent data pipe; central to ISDN service |
| CSN | Comcast SportsNet | collection of regional sports networks owned by Comcast, operated by NBC Sports Group |
| CSS | content scramble system | a digital rights management (DRM) and encryption system employed on almost all commercially produced DVD-Video discs, utilizing a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm |
| CSV | comma- (or character-) separated values | |
| circuit switched voice | a dial-up voice grade communications circuit | |
| CTA | Consumer Technology Association | a standards and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry in the United States (formerly CEA) |
| central technical area | Hydra network legacy term (now called Core) | |
| CTL | control | |
| CTS | certified technology specialist | certification program administered by InfoComm International (general) |
| CTS-D | certified technology specialist (design) | certification program administered by InfoComm International (AV system design specialization) |
| CTS-I | certified technology specialist (installation) | certification program administered by InfoComm International (AV system installation specialization) |
| CVBS | composite video baseband signal | |
| composite video blanking sync | ||
| composite video, burst, sync | ||
| color, vision, blanking, synchronization | the essences of a composite video signal | |
| CVS | composite video signal | |
| CVT | central video tape | |
| CW | Columbia-Warner | |
| clockwise | rotation motion that proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top; in most instances, corresponds to a tightening of screws, a raising of volume, an increase in quantity, or scrolling toward the end of a list | |
| CWA | Communications Workers of America | the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, representing members in both the private and public sectors |
| CYA | cover your ass |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| D-1 | digital first-generation | SMPTE digital video recording standard (also known as 4:2:2 Component Digital), the very first real-time digital broadcast-quality tape format which used 3/4-inch videocassette tape; adopted by Sony and others |
| D-2 | digital second-generation | a professional digital videocassette format (3/4-inch cassettes) created by Ampex in 1988 as a composite video alternative to the component video D-1 format |
| DA | distribution amplifier | |
| director's assistant | same as AD (assistant director) | |
| D/A | digital to analog converter | |
| DA-38 | digital audio 8-track | newer low-cost version of DA-88 |
| DA-78HR | digital audio 8-track (high resolution) | newer 24-bit version of DA-88 |
| DA-88 | digital audio 8-track | original MDM recorder introduced by TASCAM in 1993 that used Hi-8mm tapes |
| DA-98 | digital audio 8-track | newer 24-bit professional version of DA-98 |
| DAA | Dolby audio for applications | |
| DAAP | digital audio access protocol | |
| DAB | digital audio broadcasting | |
| DAC | digital to analog converter | |
| DACS | Describing Archives: A Content Standard | a descriptive content metadata standard for describing archives, personal papers, and manuscript collections, which can be utilized for all types of archival material |
| DAD | digital analog digital | the SPARS code on a CD that indicates a digital tape recorder used during initial recording, analog tape recorder used during mixing/editing, and digital mastering |
| DAE | digital audio extraction | |
| DAI | digital audio interface | |
| DAM | digital asset management | management tasks and decisions surrounding the ingestion, annotation, cataloguing, storage, retrieval and distribution of digital assets |
| DAP | Digital Archive Project | an online collaboration that provides advice and support for individuals interested publishing television programs that are not produced or distributed through mainstream content distribution |
| digital audio player | an electronic device that can play digital audio files, such as an MP3 player or iPod | |
| Dolby audio processing | ||
| DARS | digital audio radio service | any type of digital radio system; see also SDARS (satellite digital audio radio service) |
| DASH | digital audio stationary head | a reel-to-reel, digital audio tape format introduced by Sony in early 1982 for high-quality multitrack studio recording and mastering, as an alternative to analog recording methods |
| dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP | an adaptive bitrate streaming technique that enables high quality streaming of media content over the Internet delivered from conventional HTTP web servers | |
| DAT | digital audio tape | |
| DAV | digital audio video | |
| DAVIC | Digital Audio Video Interoperability Council | |
| DAVID | digital audio video interactive decoder | |
| DAW | digital audio workstation | |
| dB | decibel | a logarithmic unit used to express the ratio between two values of a physical quantity (one is often a reference value); often quantifies power or intensity |
| DBA | dynamic bandwidth allocation | a technique by which traffic bandwidth in a shared telecommunications medium can be allocated on demand and fairly between different users of that bandwidth; a form of bandwidth management, and is essentially the same thing as statistical multiplexing |
| dB FS | decibels full scale | (also dBfs) relative to full scale (clipping, overload) |
| dB HL | decibels hearing level | used in audiograms as a measure of hearing loss |
| dBm | decibels milliwatt | power relative to 1 milliwatt (audio and telephony, across 600 ohms) |
| dBmV | decibels millivolt | relative to 1 millivolt across 75 ohms |
| dBrn | decibels reference noise | noise in decibels, relative to a fixed reference |
| dBrnC | decibels reference noise, C-weighted | noise in decibels, relative to a fixed reference, C-weighted |
| DBS | direct broadcast satellite | type of fixed satellite service broadcast (Primstar is an example) |
| dB SIL | decibels of sound intensity level | relative to 10-12W/m2 |
| dB SPL | decibels of sound pressure level | relative to 20 micropascals |
| dB SWL | decibels of sound power level | relavite to 10-12 W |
| dBu | decibels unloaded (volts) | RMS voltage relative to 0.775V (also dBv); +4 dBu = 0 VU |
| dBuV | decibels microvolt (μV) | relative to 1 microvolt (widely used in TV/aerial amplifier specs) |
| dbx | David Blackmer | dbx, Inc. is an American manufacturer of professional audio recording equipment founded by David E. Blackmer in 1971 |
| DC | direct current (also dc) | flow of electric charge maintains one direction |
| data count | ||
| director's cut | ||
| digital cinema | ||
| delay compensation | ||
| DCA | digital-controlled amplifier | |
| DCCP | datagram congestion control protocol | a message-oriented transport layer protocol that provides a way to gain access to congestion control mechanisms without having to implement them at the application layer |
| DCE | data communication equipment | a device that sends/receives serial communications to/from the telco line (a modem) |
| D Channel | data (or delta) channel | the ISDN channel which handles network-related data between the user's equipment and the telco switch |
| DCP | digital content producer | creater of multimedia content for website and other online properties (sometimes called online producer) |
| digital cinema package | collection of digital files used to store and convey digital cinema audio, image, and data streams | |
| digital crosspoint | foundational technology in digital video routers, or the processor board(s) within a router that controls these elements | |
| DCTC | Discovery Creative Technology Center | Discovery Communications facility in Silver Spring, MD |
| DCU | digital control unit | |
| display control unit | ||
| DD | Dolby Digital | audio compression (AC-3, 5.1) technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories, originally named Dolby Stereo Digital until 1994; for film use, a pattern of dots are printed on 35mm film in the areas between the sprocket holes |
| DD+ | Dolby Digital Plus | (also DDPLus) a successor to Dolby Digital, with support for a wider range of data rates (32 Kbit/s to 6144 Kbit/s), increased channel count (15) and multi-program support (via substreams), and additional tools (algorithms) for representing compressed data and counteracting artifacts; also known as Enhanced AC-3 |
| DD EX | Dolby Digital extra (channel) | audio compression technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, which matrix encodes a 6th channel (center back surround, 6.1) for improved localization of effects, and is backwards compatible with 5.1 (DD) |
| DDA | digital (audio) distribution amplifier | |
| DDC | display data channel | VESA protocol that enables a computer display to communicate supported display modes and enables the computer host to adjust monitor parameters such as brightness and contrast |
| DDC2 | display data channel 2 | newer version of DDC which allows the graphics adapter to read the monitor's EDID |
| DDD | digital digital digital | the SPARS code on a CD that indicates recording, mixing and mastering in the digital domain |
| DDL | digital delay line | |
| Dolby Digital Live | a real-time encoding technology for interactive media such as video games which converts any audio signals on a PC or game console into a 5.1-channel 16-bit/48kHz Dolby Digital format at 640 kbit/s and transports it via a single S/PDIF cable | |
| DDP | disc description protocol | format for specifying the content of CDs, DVDs, etc. |
| DDPlus | Dolby Digital Plus | see DD+, above |
| DDR | digital disk recorder | (formerly direct-to-disk recorder) a device with which digital audio and digital video are digitally recorded to optical disc recording technologies (DVDs, CDs) and magnetic storage hard drives (HDD) |
| DDS | digital data storage | system which stores computer data on a DAT |
| dedicated digital service | a "hardwired" or "nailed up" digital circuit permanently connected between 2 points, similar to a permanent ISDN connection | |
| digital data system | same as dedicated digital service, above | |
| DDWG | Digital Display Working Group | cooperative effort of Intel, Silicon Image, Compaq, Fujistu, HP, IBM, NEC (inactive as of 2001) |
| DE | dialog enhancement | a feature of Dolby AC-4 decoding that allows the user to make dialog more intelligible by adjusting the ratio of dialog and sound effects levels |
| DEC | Digital Equipment Corporation | former computer systems vendor, famous for the VAX minicomputer |
| DEMUX | demultiplex | |
| DET | data event table | part of the MPEG program and specific information protocol (PSIP) |
| director of event technology | ||
| DF | drop-frame (timecode) | |
| DFP | digital flat panel | digital display standard (competitor to DVI) |
| DFT | discrete Fourier transform | transforms one function (time domain) into another (frequency domain), requiring an input function that is discrete and whose non-zero values have a finite duration (like audio samples) |
| DGA | Directors Guild of America | an entertainment guild which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad; founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, then merged with the Radio and Television Directors Guild in 1960 to become the modern Directors Guild of America |
| DHCP | dynamic host configuration protocol | a standardized networking protocol used on IP networks for dynamically distributing network configuration parameters, such as IP addresses |
| DIA | direct Internet access | |
| dialnorm | dialog normalization | the Dolby metadata parameter that controls playback gain within the AC-3 audio compression system; dialnorm uses an integer value with range 1 to 31 corresponding to a playback gain of -30 to 0 dB (unity) respectively |
| DID | data identifier | part of ancillary SDI data packet |
| direct inward dial | is a feature offered by telephone companies for use with their customers' private branch exchange (PBX) systems, allowing an individual extension in the PBX to be reached directly via its own unique outside number | |
| DIF | data interchange format | |
| DiffServ | differentiated services | a computer networking architecture that specifies a simple, scalable and coarse-grained mechanism for classifying and managing network traffic and providing quality of service (QoS) on modern IP networks |
| Digi | digital | an abbreviation/prefix used to indicate digital technology; examples include DigiCart and DigiBeta |
| DIL | dual in-line | |
| DIN | Deutsches Institut für Normung | |
| DIP | dual in-line package | electronic device layout with a rectangular housing and two parallel rows of connecting pins |
| distro | distribution | |
| dit | decimal digit | similar in concept to a bit (binary digit) but based on base-10 instead of base-2 |
| DIT | director of information technology | the chief information engineer |
| DIVE | direct interface video extension | |
| DivX | digital video express | several video codecs with to ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality (MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HEVC Ultra HD are all DivX codecs); also the file extension for compressed video files (.divx) |
| DIVX | digital video express | an unsuccessful attempt by Circuit City and the entertainment law firm Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca and Fischer to create an alternative to video rental in the United States; also refers to the rental format DIVX disc (similar to a DVD) which was watchable for up to 48 hours from its initial viewing |
| DJ | disc jockey | |
| DLC | digital loop carrier | |
| downloadable content | ||
| DLP | digital light processing | a display device based on optical micro-electro-mechanical technology that uses a digital micromirror device, developed for projection technology in 1987 by Texas Instruments |
| DLT | digital linear tape | magnetic tape data storage technology developed by DEC, previously called CompacTape |
| DLX | deluxe (edition) | |
| DM | digital media | any media that are encoded in a machine-readable format, and can be created, viewed, distributed, modified and preserved on computers |
| DMA | direct memory access | a feature of computerized systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU) |
| DMARC | demarcation | (also demarc) the point of demarcation (often called the DMARC panel) where outside telecommunication services are patched to internal network equipment, synonomous to MPOE (master point of entry) |
| DMB | digital multimedia broadcasting | a digital radio transmission technology (developed in South Korea) as part of the national IT project for sending multimedia such as TV, radio and datacasting to mobile devices such as mobile phones, laptops and GPS navigation systems |
| DMCA | Digital Millenium Copyright Act | 1998 act passed in the US to penalize those who circumvent content protection technologies |
| DMD | digital micromirro device | optical semiconductor on which DLP technology is based |
| DMF | DivX media format | media container format that typically packages video compressed with a DivX codec (uses the .divx extension) |
| .dmg | disk image | |
| DML | distributed mode loudspeaker | |
| DMS-59 | dual monitor solution, 59 pins | computer video card connector which provides two DVI or VGA outputs on the same connector |
| DMT | digital master tape | |
| discrete multi-tone | OFDM-based data communication system that adapts the transmission to the channel conditions individually for each sub-carrier, by means of so-called bit-loading. Examples are ADSL and VDSL. | |
| DMZ | de-militarized zone | Network area where files/drives get scrubbed before being put into use |
| DNIS | dialed number identification service | a service sold by telecommunications companies to corporate clients that lets them determine which telephone number was dialed by a customer |
| DNL | dynamic noise limiting | an unpatented audio noise reduction system originally introduced by Philips in 1971 for use on cassette decks |
| DNR | dynamic noise reduction | audio noise reduction system developed by National Semiconductor in 1981 to reduce noise levels on long-distance telephony |
| Dolby noise reduction | unofficial initialism for any noise reduction system manufactured by Dolby Labs | |
| DNU | do not use | note taped to broken or malfunctioning equipment because it is NFG and a POS |
| DOC | DMX over category | using CAT cable to deliver DMX lighting control, rather than the traditional 3- or 5-pin XLR DMX cables |
| DoF | depth of field | the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp (in focus) |
| DOG | digital on-screen graphic | |
| Dolby A | Dolby type A | Dolby Labs' first noise reduction system, presented in 1966, intended for use in professional recording studios, where it became commonplace, gaining widespread acceptance at the same time that multitrack recording became standard |
| Dolby Atmos | Dolby atmosphere (atmospheric) | a Dolby surround-sound format utilizing multiple additional height channels/speakers and object-oriented steering of up to 128 channels of audio elements |
| Dolby B | Dolby type B | Dolby Labs noise reduction system, presented in 1968, intended primarily for use with audio cassettes |
| Dolby C | Dolby type C | an improved version of Dolby B noise reduction, introduced in 1980, for use with audio cassettes |
| Dolby HX | Dolby headroom extension | invented in 1980 and patented in 1981 by Jørgen Selmer Jensen of Bang & Olufsen; it attempts to modulate bias based on the input signal, creating more headroom rather than reduced noise; also known as Dolby HX-Pro |
| Dolby FM | Dolby frequency modulation | Dolby Labs noise reduction system, presented in 1970, intended for use with FM radio broadcasts; it never gained widespread acceptance |
| Dolby S | Dolby type S | launched in 1989, Dolby S was marketed as an improved version of Dolby B, but at a time when CDs were starting to replace cassettes as the dominant mass market music format |
| Dolby SR | Dolby Spectral Recording | introduced in 1986, SR was Dolby's second (and most effective) professional noise reduction system, found only on professional recording equipment |
| DOM | description/operation/maintenance | |
| DOS | digital operating system | |
| DOTS | digital optical tape system | a medium for optical storage generally consisting of a long and narrow strip of plastic onto which patterns can be written and read back |
| DP | display port | a digital display interface developed standardized by VESA, primarily used to connect a video source to a display device such as a computer monitor, and it can also carry audio, USB, and other forms of data |
| director of photography (also DoP) | ||
| dial pulse | in telephony, a method of sending address information by causing brief interruptions in the loop current; known as rotary or pulse dialing | |
| DPCM | differential pulse code modulation | |
| DPP | Digital Photo Professional | software that ships with Canon digital SLR cameras for editing and asset management of its Canon RAW (.CR2) files |
| Digital Production Partnership | an initiative formed jointly by the UK's public service broadcasters to help producers and broadcasters maximize the potential benefits of digital television production | |
| DPX | digital picture exchange | a file format for digital intermediate and visual effects work (ANSI/SMPTE standard 268M-2003), most commonly used to represent the density of each color channel of a scanned negative film in an uncompressed logarithmic image; DPX is the primary format for still frames storage in most Digital Intermediate post-production facilities and film labs |
| DR | disaster recovery | |
| DRAM | dynamic random access memory | |
| DRAW | direct read after write | |
| DRM | digital rights management | a class of technologies used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders, and individuals with the intent to control the use of digital content and devices after sale |
| DS | DIP switch | as in DS3, for example, on a printed circuit board |
| DS1 | digital signal 1 (also DS-1) | a T-carrier signaling scheme devised by Bell Labs; a widely used standard in telecommunications in North America and Japan to transmit voice and data between devices |
| DSC | David and Sue Corley | the founders of DSC Labs, manufacturer of camera and video cablibration charts |
| DSCP | differentiated services code point | a 6-bit IP header for packet classification purposes such as QoS; see also DiffServ |
| DSCP-x | differentiated services code point (class) | same as DSCP, above, where "x" is a class of service mark (number) that describes priority |
| DSI | Diversified Systems Integration | |
| DSK | downstream key(er) | adds effect to picture after the program bus |
| DSL | digital subscriber line | a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines; the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), the most commonly installed DSL technology for Internet access |
| DSLAM | digital subscriber line access multiplexer | (often pronounced dee-slam) a network device often located in telephone exchanges that connects multiple customer DLS interfaces to a high-speed digital communications channel using multiplexing techniques |
| DSLM | digital single-lens mirrorless | a digital still image camera that does not have a mirror reflex optical viewfinder |
| DSLR | digital single-lens reflex | a digital still image camera that uses a single lens reflex (SLR) mechanism |
| DSØ | digital single level zero | the smallest unit of telco data rate, 64kbps; other rates are multiples of the DSØ rate – T1 rate is 24x DSØ, E1 rate is 32x DSØ |
| DSP | digital signal processor | |
| digital signal processing | ||
| DSS1 | Digital Subscriber Signalling System No. 1 | a digital signalling protocol (D channel protocol) used for the ISDN, defined by ITU-T I.411 |
| DST | destination | output from a router |
| DTE | direct to edit | a digital video direct-to-disk recording method (also refers to the associated equipment) used to streamline the post-production video editing workflow of raw video files into a non-linear editing system |
| DTH | direct to home | satellite transmission |
| DTMB | digital terrestrial multimedia broadcast | |
| DTMF | dual-tone multi-frequency | used for telecommunication signaling over analog telephone lines in the voice-frequency band; the version of DTMF that is used in push-button telephones is known as Touch-Tone (0-9, *, #) |
| DTP | desktop publishing | the creation of documents using page layout skills on a personal computer primarily for print |
| digital teaching platform | educational technology: the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources | |
| a series of Extron products and digital delivery method that resembles HDBaseT | ||
| DTRS | digital tape recording system | recording format utilized by TASCAM DA-88 series of MDMs utilizing Hi-8mm tapes |
| DTS | Digital Theater Systems | a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. (formerly known as Digital Theater Systems, Inc.), an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications |
| DTS-ES | Digital Theater Systems Extended Surround | a 6.1 audio codec that includes two variants (DTS-ES Matrix and DTS-ES Discrete 6.1), implemented in ways which are compatible with DTS decoders that do not support -ES |
| DTT | digital terrestrial television | |
| DTV | digital television | |
| dub | duplicate | |
| DVB | digital video broadcasting | a set of internationally open standards for digital television, maintained by the DVB Project – an international industry consortium |
| DVB-ASI | digital video broadcast - asynchronous serial interface | same as ASI, above |
| DVB-C | digital video broadcasting - cable | |
| DVB-H | digital video broadcasting - handheld | one of three prevalent mobile TV formats |
| DVB-S | digital video broadcasting - satellite | newer -S2 |
| DVB-T | digital video broadcasting - terrestrial | the DVB consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television, first published in 1997; the system transmits compressed digital audio, digital video and other data in an MPEG transport stream, using coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (COFDM) modulation |
| DVB-T2 | digital video broadcasting - second genreation terrestrial | the extension of the television standard DVB-T, devised for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television |
| DVC | digital video cassette | |
| DVD | digital video disc | |
| digital versatile disc | ||
| DVE | digital video effects | visual effects that provide comprehensive video image manipulation; digital in that they deal primarily with computational effects such as resizing, distortion or movement of the image |
| DVGA | double video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 960x640 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio), double that of VGA (640x480) |
| DVI | digital visual (or video) interface | video display interface standard developed by the DDWG in 1999 |
| DVI-A | DVI analog (only) | analog video only on DVI connector |
| DVI-D | DVI digital (only) | digital video only: single-link (up to 1920x1200 at 60Hz) or dual-link (up to 2560x1600 at 60Hz) |
| DVI-I | DVI integrated (analog and digital) | combines digital and analog video signals on different pins of the same connector |
| DVIP | dynamic virtual IP | |
| DVIPA | dynamic virtual IP addressing | |
| DVR | digital video recorder | |
| DVS | descriptive video service | a major US producer of video description, which makes visual media such as television programs, feature films and home videos more accessible to people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired; DVS often is used to describe the product itself |
| DWDM | dense wavelength division multiplexing | optical signals multiplexed within the 1550 nm band so as to leverage the capabilities (and cost) of erbium doped fiber amplifiers |
| DX | digital index | barcode encoding (via ANSI and I3A standard) originally introduced by Kodak in 1983, for marking 135 and APS photographic film and film cartridges |
| distance (distant) | the hobby of receiving and identifying distant radio or television signals, or making two way radio contact with distant stations in amateur radio, citizens' band radio or other two way radio communications; the name comes from DX, telegraphic shorthand for "distance" or "distant" | |
| DX7 | digital synthesis 7 | Manufactured by Yamaha from 1983-1986, the DX7 was one of the most popular digital synthesizers of all time. It utilized phase modulation (PM) synthesis, marketed as frequency modulation (FM). |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| E1 | (also E-1) a digital telphone trunk system widely deployed outside the US and Canada, often referred to as European T1 lines; total data rate of 2.048mbps | |
| E2E | end-to-end | |
| EAC | enhanced audio codec | |
| E-AC-3 | enhanced audio codec 3 | known as Dolby Digital Plus, E-AC-3 is an enhanced coding system based on the AC-3 codec that offers increased bitrates (up to 6.144 Mbit/s), support for more audio channels (up to 13.1), and improved coding techniques (at low data rates) |
| EAS | Emergency Alert System | a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) |
| EAV | end of active video | in the ITU656 uncompressed SD digital video standard, the 4-byte-long code sequence that delimits the end of a horizontal scan line of video pixel data |
| EAW | Eastern Acoustic Works | American manufacturer of professional sound reinforcement tools, such as loudspeaker systems and processors |
| EAX | environmental audio extension | |
| EBS | Emergency Broadcast System | was an emergency warning system used in the United States that replaced the CONELRAD system; EBS was used from 1963 to 1997, at which point it was replaced by the Emergency Alert System |
| EBU | European Broadcasting Union | |
| EBUCore | European Broadcasting Union Core | the flagship descriptive and technical metadata specification of EBU, adapted to media assets |
| EC | European Commission | |
| EC-3 | enhanced compression 3 | see E-AC-3 |
| ECH | electric cable hanger (holder) | hook for suspending telecommunication or electrical cable from concrete or steel (manufactured by Hilti and others) |
| ECN | explicit congestion notification | an extension to IP and TCP which allows end-to-end notification of network congestion without dropping packets |
| EDGE | Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution | a digital mobile phone technology that allows improved data transmission rates as a backward-compatible extension of GSM; a pre-3G radio technology |
| EDH | error detection and handling | |
| EDID | extended display identification data | |
| EDL | edit decision list | |
| EDTV | enhanced (or extended) definition television | NTSC video display resolution of 852x480 (16:9 aspect ratio), also known as 480p (NTSC-HQ) |
| EE | electrical engineering | college degree or major, often spoken as "Double-E" |
| E&E | electrical and electronic | refers to technical personnel and/or equipment |
| E-E | electronics to electronics (also E-to-E) | video tape machine on "input", signal passing through encode & decode electronics |
| EEPROM | erasable elctronically programmable read-only memory | |
| EF | electro-focus | the standard lens mount on the Canon EOS family of SLR film and digital cameras; automatic focusing on is handled by a dedicated electric motor built into the lens |
| EFL | effective focal length | the focal length of an imaging system consisting of several lens and/or mirror elements, for example a telescopic lens |
| EF-M | electro-focus mirrorless | a derivative of the Canon EF lens mount designed for use with the Canon EOS M mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera |
| EFP | electronic field production | a video production which takes place in the field, outside of a formal television studio, in a practical location or special venue |
| EF-S | electro-focus single | a derivative of the EF lens mount created for a subset of Canon digital single-lens reflex cameras with APS-C sized image sensors |
| EFSS | enterprise file synchronization & sharing | GUI-based group file sharing application (like DropBox) |
| EIA | Electronic Industries Association (or Alliance) | formerly RMS or RETMA |
| EIA-608 | Electronic Industries Alliance 608 | the former standard for closed captioning for NTSC TV broadcasts in the United States, Canada and Mexico, (also known as 'line 21 captions') |
| EMC | electromagnetic compatibility | the branch of electrical engineering concerned with the unintentional generation, propagation and reception of electromagnetic energy which may cause unwanted effects such as electromagnetic interference (EMI); the goal of EMC is the correct operation of different equipment in a common electromagnetic environment |
| EMF | electomotive force | net electric potential of a source (voltage) |
| EMI | electromagnetic interference | |
| electromagnetic induction | ||
| Electrical and Musical Industries, Ltd. | record label and music publishing company based in UK, formed in 1931 | |
| EMS | electronic management system | |
| EMT | Elektro-Mess-Technik | (translation: electrical measuring technique) a German manufacturer of phonograph turntables and professional audio equipment, including a well-regarded line of artificial reverberation devices beginning with the EMT 140 plate reverb; the company was founded by Wilhelm Franz in 1938 |
| electrical metallic tubing | steel tubing used for electric wiring protection; sometimes called thin-wall as it is less costly and lighter than galvanized rigid conduit; EMT itself is not threaded, but can be used with threaded fittings that clamp to it | |
| ENG | electronic news gathering | |
| EOF | end of file | a condition in a computer operating system where no more data can be read from a data source |
| EOT | end of tape | |
| EOTF | electro-optical transfer function | a mapping of non-linear signal (data) values into light and colors as displayed on a monitor; examples include PQ and HLG |
| EP | extended play | vinyl record; VHS cassette type/capacity |
| executive producer | ||
| EPG | electronic program guide | |
| EPL | English Premier League | |
| EPP | encoder partner protection | hardware redundancy, often used in combination with SIPS |
| EPROM | electrically programmable read-only memory | |
| eQ | enterprise Quantel | HD/SD video compositing system made by Quantel |
| EQ | equalization | |
| EQXM | Evertz quality crosspoint matrix (?) | enterprise level SDI router developed by Evertz that handles up to 1152x1152 I/O in a single frame, expandable to a 2304x2304 system |
| ERP | effective (or equivalent) radiated power | a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency (RF) energy in watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains |
| eSATA | external serial advanced technology attachment | a variant of SATA meant for external connectivity; it uses a more robust connector, longer shielded cables, and stricter (but backward-compatible) electrical standards |
| ESD | electrostatic discharge | a sudden and momentary electric current that flows between two objects |
| electrostatic sensitive device | any component which can be damaged by common static charges | |
| ESPN | Entertainment and Sports Programming Network | a U.S.-based global cable and satellite sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications, founded in 1979 |
| ESU | electronic set up | |
| everybody shows up | colloquial definition, considering that ESU usually starts the production day | |
| ETSI | European Telecommunications Standards Institute | non-profit standardization organization of the telecommunications industry in Europe |
| EuCon | Euphonix control | high-speed Ethernet protocol developed by Euphonix to allow a hardware control surface (console) to directly communicate with a software application (DAW) |
| EVC | enhanced video connector | a VESA standard intended to reduce the number of cables around a computer by incorporating video (VGA and composite), audio, FireWire and USB into a single cable system |
| EV-DO | evolution-data optimized | (also EVDO) a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access |
| EVGA | extended video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1024x768 pixels, similar to (but not to be confused with) XGA (extended graphics array) of the same resolution |
| EVI | electric valve instrument | brass-style controller used to control synthesizers via MIDI or USB |
| EVS | Eastern Video Systems (?) | |
| EWI | electric wind instrument | woodwind-style controller used to control synthesizers via MIDI or USB |
| EXE | Evertz X-Link enabled | an Evertz product line of data/video switching platforms (such as the Magnum EXE46T) |
| exFAT | extended file allocation table | Microsoft file system optimized for flash drives |
| ext | external |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| F | female | connector gender |
| farad | unit of electrical capacitance | |
| F1 | short term for the Sony PCM-F1, a digital audio processor which was sold with a companion Betamax VCR (the Sony SL-2000 or SL-F1e) for prosumer 2-channel digital audio recording and playback (dbx, Inc. manufactured a competing Model 700 that used delta-sigma modulation, not PCM) | |
| FAIF | Fédération Internationale des Archives du Film | (translation: International Federation of Film Archives) an organization dedicated to the rescue, collection, preservation and screening of moving images, which are valued both as works of art and culture and as historical documents; a content metadata standard (cataloguing rules) |
| FANG | Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google | the "formidable foursome" of microservices who built their businesses on agile technology foundations, cloud-based, unburdened by legacy technology or practices |
| FAQ | frequently-asked questions | |
| FAT | file allocation table | computer file system architecture; file system |
| FAT32 | file allocation table 32-bit | FAT file system with 32-bit table element bits |
| FAX | facilities check | |
| fc | foot-candle (also ft-c or ftcd) | English unit of illuminance (one lumen per square foot) |
| Fc | center frequency | |
| FC | fiber-optic connector | type of fiber connector with a threaded metal body, good for high-vibration environments |
| FCC | Federal Communications Commission | independent agency of the United States government that regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable |
| FCP | Final Cut Pro | non-linear video editing software developed by Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. |
| FDD | floppy disk drive | |
| FDM | frequency-division multiplexing | digital multi-carrier modulation method |
| FEB | front-end board | as in the BARCO wall |
| FEC | forward error correction | a technique used for controlling errors in data transmission over unreliable or noisy communication channels by encoding the message with redundancy |
| FEP | fluorinated ethylene polymer | plastic insulator used for wire jackets |
| FET | field-effect transistor | |
| FF | fast-forward | to move forward through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played |
| FFV | Fast Forward Video | US manufacturer of digital video record and playback devices |
| FHD | full high definition | video display resolution of 1920x1080 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio); the HDTV transmission and storage standard, interlaced (known as 1080i) or progressive (known as 1080p) |
| FIFO | first in, first out | a method for organizing and manipulating a data buffer, where the oldest (first) entry, or 'head' of the queue, is processed first |
| FITL | fiber in the loop | |
| FFT | fast Fourier transform | algorithm to compute the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) and its inverse (i.e. frequency to time, or time to frequency) |
| FLAC | free lossless audio codec | an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio; the name of the reference codec implementation; the file extension .flac |
| FLOPS | floating-point operations per second | (also flops) a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific calculations that make heavy use of floating-point calculations |
| FM | frequency modulation | |
| floor manager | ||
| FMOD | a sound effects engine developed by Firelight Technologies for video games and applications that play and mix sound files of diverse formats | |
| FNIA | Football Night in America | NBC Sports show |
| F/O | fibre optic | (also FO) |
| FOBTV | Future of Broadcast Television (Intiative) | international association aimed at developing technologies for next-generation terrestrial broadcasting systems and making recommendations to standardization organizations around the world |
| FOP | fibre optic patch (or panel) | |
| FOSS | free and open-source software | computer software that can be classified as both free software and open-source software |
| FOV | field of view | in optical instruments or sensors, the solid angle through which a detector is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation (light) |
| FPD-Link | flat panel display link | digital video display standard, competitor to DVI, also known as FLATLINK |
| fps | frames per second | |
| fields per second | ||
| FPV | first person viewing | piloting a drone fitted with a camera while wearing goggles or another heads-up display to view the image from the drone's perspective |
| Fs | sampling frequency | |
| FS | full screen | images or windows that occupy the entire real estate of the intended display |
| full-scale | (also fs) the absolute maximum quantization value of a digital system, used as a reference at or below which all signals are measured | |
| frame synchronizer | (also F/S) a device that buffers an incomming video signal until it can output it synchronized to an external reference signal; frame syncs often incorporate other video and audio processing options | |
| foil shield | ||
| FSK | frequency shift keying | |
| FSS | fixed satellite service | geostationary communications satellites - TV broadcast in North America |
| FTA | free to air | |
| FTB | fade to black | |
| FTP | file transfer protocol | |
| FTV | free to view | |
| FUHD | full ultra high definition | video display resolution of 7680x4320 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), four times the resolution of UHD, sixteen times the resolution of FHD; also known as 8K |
| FW | firmware | (also F/W) a computer program that provides the low-level control for the device's specific hardware |
| FWVGA | full wide video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 854x480 pixels, the same height as VGA (640x480), but wider, resulting in an aspect ratio of approximately 16:9 |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gb | gigabit | |
| GB | gigabyte | |
| GBIC | gigabit interface converter | |
| GbE | gigabit Ethernet | various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of one gigabit per second (1,000,000,000 bits per second); see also GigE |
| gel | gelatin | a transparent colored material that is used in theater, event production, photography, videography and cinematography to color light and for color correction; historically made of gelatin, modern gels are thin sheets of polycarbonate or polyester, placed in front of a lighting fixture in the path of the beam |
| GELCO | GE Leasing Company | generic name for mobile trailers used for production |
| GHz | gigahertz | |
| GigE | gigabit Ethernet | various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of one gigabit per second (1,000,000,000 bits per second); see also GbE |
| GML | George Massenburg Labs | US manufacturer of audio equipment, founded in 1982 by George Massenburg (inventor of the parametric equalizer) |
| GND | ground | |
| GOBO | go before optics | in lighting and photography, a template used to control the shape of emitted light by casting shadow in a specific location |
| go between | in audio recording, a movable acoustic absorption/isolation panel | |
| GOTD | game of the day | |
| GPI | general purpose input | |
| GPI/O | general purpose input/output | |
| GPO | general purpose output | |
| GPON | gigabit passive optical network | a PON capable of handling gigabit bandwidth |
| GPS | global positioning system | |
| GPST | global positioning system time | |
| GPU | graphics processing unit | computer graphics acceleration processor (highly parallel structure) |
| GSM | Global System for Mobile Communications | (originally Groupe Spécial Mobile) a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as tablets, first deployed in Finland in 1991 |
| GT&O | global technology and operations | |
| GUI | graphical user interface | a type of computer interface that allows users to interact with software and devices through graphical icons and visual indicators, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation |
| GV | Grass Valley | a Canadian manufacturer of television production and broadcasting equipment, including playout, video cameras, editing and media storage, and character generators |
| GVG | Grass Valley Group | same as GV, above |
| GVIF | gigabit video interface | |
| GXF | multimedia file wrapper type, and associated file extension (.gxf) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| H | henry | unit of electrical inductance (named after American scientist Joseph Henry, 1797-1878) |
| H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, Advanced Video Coding | a block-oriented motion-compensation-based video compression standard; supports resolutions up to 4096×2304 |
| H.264-SVC | H.264 scalable video coding | the name for the Annex G extension of the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC video compression standard; SVC standardizes the encoding of a high-quality video bitstream that also contains one or more subset bitstreams |
| HAAT | height above average terrain | a measure of how high an antenna site is above the surrounding landscape, used extensively in FM radio and television for determining the range of broadcasts (VHF and UHF in particular, as they are line of sight transmissions) |
| HANC | horizontal ancillary (data) | low-bandwidth ancillary (ANC) data located in non-picture portions of SDI horizontal scan lines |
| HAVi | home audio video interoperability | |
| HBRMI | high bit rate media over IP | high quality streaming specification |
| HCE | hot/common/earth | British reference to the three prongs of a typical Edison (NEMA 5) AC power plug (American terminology is hot/neutral/ground) |
| HD | high definition | video display resolution of 1280x720 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio) |
| HDA | HDSDI distribution amplifier | |
| high definition audio | ||
| HDBaseT | high definition base T (twisted) | connectivity technology for transmitting uncompressed HD video, audio, power, networking and control over one CAT6e cable (supported by the HDBaseT Alliance) |
| HDCAM | high definition camcorder | |
| HDCP | high-bandwidth digital content protection | digital rights management protocol developed by Intel |
| HDD | hard disk drive | |
| HDMI | high definition multimedia interface | compact audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed or compressed video and digital audio data |
| HDR | high dynamic range | a set of techniques used in video imaging and photography to reproduce a greater dynamic range of luminosity than standard digital imaging or photographic techniques can do (also HDRI), requiring a bit depth of 10 bits per sample; also refers to a monitor capable of displaying high dynamic range images |
| HDR10 | high dynamic range 10-bit | a HDR format which uses the wide-gamut Rec. 2020 color space, a bit depth of 10-bits, and the SMPTE ST 2084 (PQ) transfer function |
| HDR10+ | high dynamic range 10-bit plus | an update to HDR10 that adds dynamic metadata |
| HDR HD | high dynamic range high definition | same as HDR, above, with high definition resolution |
| HDRI | high dynamic range imaging | see HDR, above |
| HDSDI | high definition serial digital interface | |
| HDSP | high density signal processing | a digital audio processing technology (trademark of Calrec Audio, Ltd.) |
| HDTV | high definition television | video display format, either 720p (1280x720 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio) or 1080i/1080p (known as Full HD or FHD, 1920x1080 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio) |
| HEVC | high efficiency video coding | a video compression standard (successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC), also known as H.265 |
| HF | high frequency | |
| HFC | hybrid fiber-coaxial | type of transmission cable |
| HFOV | horizontal field of view | the field of view as measured from left to right; see also angle of view (AOV) |
| HFR | high frame rate | film or video frame rates higher than typical prior practice, often 2x or 4x normal speed, but sometimes up to 1000x |
| HFS+ | hierarchical file system | Mac OS extended file system |
| HH | handheld | refers to cameras, computing and other devices small enough to hold and operate in the hand |
| Hi-Fi | high fidelity | a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts (audiophiles) to refer to high-quality reproduction of sound |
| HLG | hybrid log-gamma | a high dynamic range (HDR) video standard jointly developed by the BBC and NHK, compatible with standard dynamic range (SDR) displays |
| HLP | high-latency profile | |
| HLS | HTTP live streaming | an HTTP-based media streaming communications protocol implemented by Apple Inc. (2009) as part of its QuickTime, Safari, OS X, and iOS software |
| HMP | hd (solid-state) media player/server | Miranda card (HMP-1801, for example) |
| HP | headphones | |
| HPA | Hollywood Professional Alliance | a Southern California based trade association founded in 2002 by seasoned professionals and studio executives from major post facilities and manufacturers with a mission to serve the post production community; also their annual tech retreat (formerly called Hollywood Post Alliance) |
| HPF | high-pass filter | an electronic filter that passes high-frequency signals but attenuates signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency |
| HQVGA | half quarter video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 240x160 (or 160x240) pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), half the resolution of QVGA (320x240) |
| HRC | harmonically-related carriers | a cable TV modulation technique |
| high-resolution channel | ||
| HSIA | high speed Internet access | the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers and other devices, and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web |
| HSL | hue saturation lightness | cylindrical-coordinate representation of points in an RGB color model |
| HSV | hue saturation value | cylindrical-coordinate representation of points in an RGB color model |
| HSXGA | hexadecatuple super extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 5120x4096 pixels (5:4 aspect ratio), sixteen (hexadecatuple) times the resolution of SXGA |
| HTML | hypertext mark-up language | the standard markup language used to create web pages |
| HTML5 | hypertext mark-up language version 5 | a core technology markup language of the Internet used for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web; it is the fifth revision of the HTML standard (created in 1990) and, as of December 2012, is a candidate recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) |
| HTOA | hidden track one audio | audio in the pregap of the first song of a CD, thus hidden unless one scans backward |
| HTTP | hypertext transfer protocol | an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems; the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web |
| HTTPS | hypertext transfer protocol secure | a communications protocol for secure communication over a computer network, with especially wide deployment on the Internet (also defined as "HTTP over TLS" or "HTTP over SSL") |
| HUI | human user interface | control console and protocol invented by Mackie |
| HUXGA | hexadecatuple ultra extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 6400x4800 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), sixteen (hexadecatuple) times the resolution of UXGA, and coincidentally 100 times the resolution of VGA (640x480) |
| HVAC | heating, ventilation, air-conditioning | technology of indoor and environmental control systems |
| HVGA | half-size video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 480x320 pixels (3:2 aspect ratio), half the resolution of VGA (640x480) |
| H/W | hardware | |
| HXGA | hexadecatuple extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 4096x3072 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), sixteen (hexadecatuple) times the resolution of XGA |
| Hz | hertz | cycles per second |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| IaaS | infrastructure as a service | cloud computing tech/business concept |
| IAD | interaural delay | see ITD, below |
| IAS | intermodulation analysis system (or software) | RF frequency coordination software |
| IATSE | International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees | labor union representing technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the entertainment industry, including live theatre, motion pictures, television production, and trade shows |
| IBC | International Broadcast Center | |
| International Broadcasting Convention | ||
| IBEW | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | labor union which represents workers in the electrical industry, particularly electricians, or Inside Wiremen |
| IBM | International Business Machines Corporation | |
| I3DL2 | interactive 3D audio level 2 | |
| IC | integrated circuit | |
| ICMP | Internet control message protocol | |
| ICON | integrated console environment | tactile control surface developed by Digidesign/Avid, launched in 2005 (the D-Control was the most popular ICON product) |
| ICT | image constraint token | Blu-Ray protocol flag that can cause downsampling of HD video |
| ID3 | identification 3 | a descriptive metadata container (often called an ID3 tag) most often used in conjunction with the MP3 audio file format; it allows information such as the title, artist, album, track number, and other information about the file to be stored in the file itself |
| IDD | international direct dialing | |
| IDF | intermediate distribution frame | a telephony distribution point which cross-connects individual user line circuits; also known as the phone closet (see also MDF) |
| IDS | intrusion detection system | a device or software application that monitors network or system activities for malicious activities or policy violations and produces reports to a management station |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission | an international standards body that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies; perhaps best known for the AC power plug used on most computers and office equipment |
| inter-exchange carrier | a telephone "long distance" carrier; also referred to as IXC | |
| IEE | Institution of Electrical Engineers | former British professional organization, now IET |
| IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers | a professional association whose objectives are the educational and technical advancement of electrical and electronic engineering, telecommunications, computer engineering and allied disciplines |
| IET | Institution of Engineering and Technology | largest multidisciplinary professional engineering institution in the world |
| IF | intermediate frequency | between AF and RF (modulated around 10.7 MHz) |
| IFB | interrupted foldback (or feedback) | |
| IFR | interleaved frame recording | |
| IGF | Interessen-Gemeinschaft Farbenindustrie (IG Farben) | (translation: literally, "community of interests" of dye-making corporations) German magnetic tape manufacturer |
| IGMP | Internet group management protocol | a communications protocol used by hosts and adjacent routers on IP networks to establish multicast group memberships; an integral part of IP multicast; utilized by the Telos Livewire technology |
| ILVU | interleaved video unit | |
| IMAG | image magnification | large-scale theatrical or concert video projection to enable audience members seated at great distance from the stage to see details of the performer's body language and facial expressions that could not be seen with the unaided eye; also refers to graphics presentation projection displays |
| IMD | intermodulation distortion | |
| IMF | interoperable master format | a file-based master format for cinema distribution and overall IP file-based workflow, standardized by SMPTE |
| IMG | image | refers to a motion or still image (or image file) |
| IMUX | inverse multiplexing | the process of breaking up a data stream into multiple streams of lower data rates, also referred to as aggregation; not to be confused with demultiplexing |
| indie | independent | refers to record labels or film studios that operate independently of the major companies; also describes the media produced by independent studios (example: indie rock) |
| int | internal | |
| InGaN | indium gallium nitride | semiconductor material, the light-emitting layer in modern blue and green LEDs |
| I/O | input/output | |
| IOC | International Olympic Committee | the international, non-governmental, non-profit organisation based in Switzerland which is the supreme authority of the worldwide Olympic movement |
| ISDN ordering code | a system devised by the National ISDN User's Forum to simplify ordering new ISDN lines in the USA and Canada | |
| iOS | iPhone operating system | mobile operating system developed by Apple |
| IoT | Internet of Things | the network of physical objects (things) embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity to enable it to achieve greater value and service by exchanging data with the manufacturer, operator and/or other connected devices (also known as Internet of Everything) |
| IP | Internet protocol | (sometimes written as I/P) |
| intellectual property | ||
| IPD | I/P Director | EVS product |
| IPG | Internet protocol gateway | a device that allows serial digital video/audio/data signals to interface with an IP-based media transport network |
| interactive programming | broadcast content that is adjustable via the requests of viewers | |
| inter-packet gap | for Ethernet devices, a minimum idle period between transmission of Ethernet packets, a recovery time between packets which allows devices to prepare for reception of the next packet | |
| ips | inches per second | a unit of speed or velocity expressed by distance in inches traveled, divided by time in seconds; a foundational parameter in magnetic tape transports |
| IPS | in-plane switching | a screen technology used for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), designed to solve the main limitations of early matrix LCDs, including slow response time, strong viewing angle dependence, and low-quality color reproduction |
| IPTV | Internet protocol television | a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as a LAN or the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats |
| IPv4 | Internet protocol version 4 | the fourth version in the development of the Internet Protocol (IP), which routes most traffic on the Internet since its development in 1981 (typical IPv4 address: 192.168.006.001) |
| IPv6 | Internet protocol version 6 | the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communications protocol that routes traffic across the Internet; developed to deal with the long-anticipated problem of IPv4 address exhaustion, IPv6 is intended to replace IPv4 (typical IPv6 address: 2001:0DB8:AC10:FE01) |
| IPX | Internet protocol switch | IP video switching router, "Magnum" series manufactured by Evertz |
| IR | infra-red | |
| IRD | integrated receiver/decoder | receives radio frequency and converts digital information transmitted within |
| Internet radio device | a hardware device that is capable of receiving and playing streamed media from Internet radio stations or a home network (also called network music player) | |
| IRENE | Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etc. | Technology used at LOC (et al) for deriving digital audio files from hi-res scanned images of original audio masters, named for first recording processed: "Goodnight Irene" (1950) by The Weavers |
| IRF | interrupted return feed | |
| IRQ | interrupt request | a hardware signal sent to a computer processor that temporarily stops a running program and allows a special program, an interrupt handler, to run instead |
| IS | immersive sound | term used to describe the spatial qualities of audio (often compared to and bundled with 3D video) |
| ISAD(G) | international standard archival description general | content metadata standard that defines a list of elements and rules for the description of archives and describes the kinds of information that must and should be included in such descriptions |
| ISDB | Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting | Japanese standard for digital television and digital radio |
| ISDN | Integrated Services Digital Network | a flexible type of telephone service which allows dialing on digital channels with multiple bidirectional bearer channels (56 or 64Kbps each) and a single bidirectional data channel |
| ISI | intersymbol interference | form of signal distortion in which one symbol interferes with subsequent symbols |
| ISO | International Standards Organization | |
| in search of | ||
| ISP | Internet service provider | |
| ISRC | International Standard Recording Code | uniquely identifies sound and music video recordings |
| IT | information technology | |
| ITD | interaural time difference | difference in arrival time of a sound between two ears, important in the localization of sounds |
| ITM | inverse tone mapper | a device or program that accomplishes iTMO (see below) |
| iTMO | inverse tone mapping operator | the process of expanding low dynamic range images (LDRIs) to create high dynamic range images (HDRIs) by extending dynamic range in areas of high luminance |
| ITS | insertion test signal | |
| ITU | International Telecomminications Union | |
| ITV | interactive television | |
| IVTS | international video teleconferencing service | |
| IW | inside wiring | in telecommunication, customer-owned communications transmission lines (also called on-premises wiring or customer premises wiring) |
| IXC | inter-exchange carrier | same as IEC, above |
| IXF | multimedia file wrapper and associated file extension (.ixf) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| J | jumper | as in J4, for example, on a printed circuit board |
| jack | as in J5, for example, on a printed circuit board | |
| J2K | JPEG-2000 | HD video compression |
| JBL | James Bullough Lansing | name of the audio/speaker engineer who founded JBL and Altec Lansing |
| JFET | junction field-effect transistor | |
| JND | just-noticeable difference | in psychophysics, the amount something must be changed in order for a difference to be noticeable, detectable at least half the time; utilized in picture quality assessments and evaluations |
| JOC | joint object coding | a parametric coding tool to efficiently code a set of object-based content; utilized for steering in Dolby ATMOS |
| JPEG | Joint Photographic Experts Group | |
| JSID | Journal of the Society for Information Display | official monthly magazine of the SID, publishing original works dealing with the theory and practice of information display |
| JVC | Victor Company of Japan | |
| JVT | joint video team |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| kbps | kilobits per second | a unit of data transfer rate equal to 1000 bits per second, or 125 bytes per second |
| kBps | kilobytes per second | a unit of data transfer rate equal to 8000 bits per second, or 1000 bytes per second, or 8 kilobits per second |
| kHz | kilohertz | a frequency of 1000 cycles per second |
| KPI | key performance indicator | a type of performance measurement that evaluates the success of an organization or of a particular activity in which it engages |
| KVM | keyboard/video/mouse | KVM switch: a hardware or software device that allows a user to control multiple computers from one or more keyboard, video monitor and mouse |
| kW | kilowatt | one thousand (103) watts, typically used to express the power of electric motors, tools, machines, and heaters; also a common unit used to express the electromagnetic power output of broadcast radio and television transmitters |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| L*a*b* | lightness a-dimension b-dimension | a color space which includes all perceivable colors, with dimension L for lightness and a and b for the color-opponent dimensions, based on nonlinearly compressed coordinates (CIE XYZ) |
| LADSPA | Linux audio developer's simple plug-in API | |
| LAN | local area network | |
| LAPD | link access protocol, D channel | in ISDN telecommunications, LAPD is part of the network's communications protocol which ensures that messages are error free and executed in the right sequence |
| LATA | local access and transport area | a US telecommunications term referring to a legally defined geographical area within which regional telephone carriers may offer exchange access services; also applies to metro Ethernet (MAN) boundaries |
| LC | Lucent connector | type of fiber connector (small form factor) |
| little connector | type of fiber connector (small form factor) | |
| local connector | type of fiber connector (small form factor) | |
| inductor capacitor | an electric circuit composed of inductors and capacitors, also called a resonant circuit, tank circuit, or tuned circuit | |
| LCD | liquid crystal display | |
| LCP | level control panel | RTS product |
| LD | lighting director | |
| long-distance | ||
| LDI | LVDS display interface | digital video display standard, competitor to DVI |
| LDPC | low-density parity-check | a linear error correcting code, a method of transmitting a message over a noisy transmission channel |
| LDRI | low dynamic range image | an image or video with standard dynamic range, lower than those of HDMI |
| LE | local exchange | the equivalent European telephony term for central office (CO) |
| LEC | local exchange carrier | a traditional telephone company; a local telephone provider |
| LED | light-emitting diode | |
| LF | low frequency | |
| Lfe | low frequency effects | (also LFE) subwoofer channel of 5.1 and 7.1 multichannel audio formats |
| LG | Lucky-GoldStar | LG Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics company (part of the LG Group) and one of the largest television manufacturers in the world; formerly named Lucky-GoldStar Corporation; the initials LG also correspond to the company's tag line "Life's Good" |
| LIFO | last in, first out | a method for organizing and manipulating a data buffer, where the newest (most recent) entry, or 'top of the stack' is processed first |
| Linux | Linus system | Unix-like open-source computer operating system developed by Linus Torvalds |
| LKFS | loudness k-weighted (relative to) full scale | a loudness standard designed to enable normalization of audio levels for delivery of broadcast TV and other video; LKFS is standardized in ITU-R BS.1770-4 |
| LFO | low frequency oscillator | sub 20Hz oscillator used to drive vibrato and tremelo |
| lm | lumen | unit of luminous flux |
| LMS | long medium short | a color space represented by the response of the three types of cones of the human eye, named after their responsivity (sensitivity) at long, medium and short wavelengths |
| LNA | low-noise amplifier | electronic amplifier for very weak signals |
| LNB | low-noise block downconverter | receiving device mounted on satellite TV dishes |
| LNC | low-noise converter | same as LNB, above |
| LND | low-noise downconverter | same as LNB, above |
| LOC | Library of Congress | research library for the US Congress; also handles copyright |
| LOS | loss of signal | an LED or other indicator that illuminates if a signal is absent |
| LOTS | laser optical tape storage | an optical tape data storage format developed by LOTS Technology, Inc. |
| Lp | loudness pressure | sound pressure; perceived loudness of a sound, including the effects of room reverberation and attenuation |
| line pair | two television lines (each with the thickness of one pixel) of resolution | |
| LP | long-play | vinyl record; VHS cassette recording speed/capacity |
| line producer | ||
| line pairs | expression of image resolution (typically LP/mm, line pairs per millimeter) | |
| line printer | ||
| low-power | refers to low-power AM, FM, or TV station broadcasting | |
| LPAM | low-power amplitude modulation | an AM radio broadcast station operating at a low electrical power to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region |
| LPCM | linear pulse-code modulation | a specific type of PCM where the quantization levels are linearly uniform |
| LPF | low-pass filter | a filter that passes signals with a frequency lower than a certain cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with frequencies higher than the cutoff frequency |
| LPFM | low-power frequency modulation | an FM radio broadcast station operating at a low electrical power to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region |
| LPTV | low-power television | a television broadcast station operating at a low electrical power to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region |
| LSB | least-significant bit | |
| LSI | large-scale integration | |
| LSM | live slow motion | EVS product |
| LSR | linear spatial reference | JBL studio monitor series |
| LT | line termination | in telephony, the electrical and protocol specifications for the central office end of an ISDN line |
| LTC | linear time code (or longitudinal time code) | |
| LTFS | linear tape file system | the format of data recorded on magnetic tape media, and the implementation of specific software that uses this data format to provide a file system interface to data stored on magnetic tape (makes an LTO data tape appear like a disk to an operating system) |
| LTO | linear tape-open | magnetic tape data storage technology (open standards alternative); LTO Consortium, made up by HP, IBM, Quantum and others; LTO-1 (100 GB) through LTO-6 (2.5 TB), with future theoretical LTO-8 (12.8 TB) |
| LTT | live to tape | |
| LU | loudness unit | describes loudness (K-weighted) without direct absolute reference and therefore describes loudness level difference |
| LUFS | loudness units (relative to) full scale | identical to LKFS (see above) when LUFS indicates the value of Lk with reference to digital full scale |
| LUT | lookup table | an array that replaces runtime computation with a simpler array indexing operation, with potentially significant savings in processing time; used often in audio and video compression algorithms |
| lux | luminous flux | metric unit of illuminance (one lumen per square meter) |
| LVDS | low-voltage differential signaling | serial data communication standard used in LDI, OpenLDI, FDP-Link and FLATLINK |
| Lw | loudness in watts | sound power; the raw acoustic energy produced by a product |
| LXF | multimedia file wrapper type, proprietary to Harris/Leitch (and associated file extension .lxf) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| M | male | connector gender |
| M2M | machine-to-machine | |
| M4A | MPEG-4 Part 14 (audio only) | file wrapper (and extension .m4a), in which audio is compressed using AAC or Apple Lossless format |
| M4P | MPEG-4 Part 14 (protected) | a protected file wrapper format (and extension .m4p) which employs DRM technology to restrict copying |
| MAC | Macintosh | a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc. since January 1984 |
| media access control | the MAC address of a device is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications at the data link layer of a network segment | |
| MAM | media asset management | |
| MAN | metropolitan-area network | a computer network larger than a local area network, covering an area of a few city blocks to the area of an entire city, possibly also including the surrounding areas; sometimes referred to as "metro Ethernet" |
| MARC21 | machine-readable cataloging 21st century | a descriptive metadata standard format for the description of items catalogued by libraries, such as books, developed the US Library of Congress during the 1960s, revised for modern implementation |
| MATV | master antenna television | |
| MAVIS | Merged Audio Visual Information System | Wizard Information Systems' media collection database (Oracle 11g) software used by Library of Congress and other institutions; each piece of media receives a unique 27-digit number |
| Mb | megabits | |
| MB | megabyte | |
| MBR | master boot record | a special type of boot sector at the very beginning of partitioned computer mass storage devices like fixed disks or removable drives, introduced in 1983 with PC DOS 2.0 |
| MBRS | motion picture, broadcasting and recorded sound | media archival division of the Library of Congress |
| MC | machine control | |
| master control | ||
| M&C | monitoring and control | verification and operational aspects of an automated or remote transmission system or network |
| MCP | multi-camera production | |
| MCS | master control system | |
| MCU | medium close-up | |
| Mackie Control Universal | ||
| MD | metadata | |
| MDAC | multiplying digital-to-analog converter | |
| MDCT | modified discrete cosine transform | algorithm for signal compression applications (most modern lossy audio formats) |
| MDF | main (master) distribution frame | a centralized point of telephony distribution to connecting equipment or intermediate distriution frames (IDF) in a facility; often the point of entry |
| MDM | modular digital multitrack | examples: DA-88, ADAT, PCM-800 |
| MDQC | metadata quality control | a software tool developed by AVPS that reads embedded metadata and compares it against a set of reules defined by the user, verifying integrity |
| MDS | multilateral distribution service | Host broadcaster video routing (to smaller broadcasters) |
| M/E | mix/effects | on a video production switcher, an additional buss (or several of them) that operate similarly to the program/preset buss, and selectable as a source on P/P; used to build complex video images |
| MEF | Metro Ethernet Forum | a nonprofit international industry consortium dedicated to worldwide adoption of Carrier Ethernet networks and services (founded in 2001) |
| METS | metadata encoding & transmission standard | standard for encoding metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using XML |
| MER | modulation error ratio | a measure used to quantify the performance of a digital radio (or digital TV) transmitter or receiver in a communications system using digital modulation (such as QAM) |
| Metro-E | metropolitan-area Ethernet | Ethernet networking whose range is city-wide, a format commonly used to connect multiple business office locations to each other (see also MAN) |
| MF4 | multi-frequency 4 | UK version of DTMF (Touch-Tone dialing) |
| MFSL | Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs | (also MoFi) re-issue record label known for audiophile-quality sound recordings |
| MFX | Fairlight digital audio workstation controller surface | |
| MHz | megahertz | |
| MIDI | musical instrument digital interface | |
| MiFi | mobile WiFi | a brand name used to describe a wireless router that acts as mobile WiFi hotspot |
| MIG | multiple image generator | generic term for any multiviewer, but used most often with Miranda |
| MIMO | multiple-input multiple-output | in radio: the use of multiple transmitter and receiver antennae |
| MIPS | million instructions per second | |
| MIS | management information systems | |
| MISO | multiple-input single-output | in radio: the use of multiple transmitter antennae, but only one receiver antenna |
| MIX | metadata for images in XML | a technical metadata standard (an XML schema) developed by the Library of Congress to manage large digital image collections |
| Mix(-) | mix-minus | (also MixM or M/M or Mix–) a setup on a mixing console or matrix mixer, such that a particular output is a mix of everything except the associated input |
| MLP | Meridian lossless packaging | |
| MKV | Matroska video | file wrapper (using extension .mkv) that utilizes the Matroska multimedia container standard (open source), derived from the name of the hollow wooden concentric nesting Russian dolls (Matryoshka) |
| MM | multi-mode | optical fiber type: core diameter 50-100 micrometers, 850-1320 nm wavelengths, 100Mb/s, 2km max distance |
| M/M | mix-minus | see Mix(-), above |
| MME | multi-media effects (?) | |
| MMF | multi-mode fiber | same as MM, above |
| MMJ | multi-media journalism (journalist) | |
| MMT | MPEG media transport | a digital container standard developed by Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) that supports High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), specified as ISO/IEC 23008-1 (MPEG-H Part 1) |
| MO | modus operandi | |
| MOD | manufacturing-on-demand | |
| MODS | metadata object description schema | an XML-based bibliographic description schema developed by the United States Library of Congress' Network Development and Standards Office |
| multiplexed optical data storage | a system which involves using polarized light to increase the storage capacities of optical storage mediums | |
| modem | modulate/demodulate | |
| MoFi | Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs | see MFSL, above |
| MOS | man on the street | television interview style in which interviewees are shown in public places, and supposed to be giving spontaneous opinions in a chance encounter; unrehearsed persons, not selected in any way, whose opinions are supposedly representative of those of the general public |
| mitt-out sound | colloquialism that refers to a segment of video (or an entire video tape) that does not contain audio or is otherwise silent; mitt is German for "with" | |
| metal oxide semiconductor | ||
| MOTD | match of the day | |
| .mov | MooV (movie) | file extension for Apple's QuickTime movie format (type code: MooV) |
| MP | megapixel | one million pixels; the term is used not only for the number of pixels in an image, but also to express the number of image sensor elements of digital cameras or the number of display elements in digital displays |
| MP3 | MPEG-1 (or -2) Audio Layer III | encoding format for digital audio files |
| MP4 | MPEG-4 part 14 | digital multimedia file format used to store video, audio, subtitles and still images, allowing streaming over the Internet (file extension .mp4) |
| MPA | Music Publishers Association of the United States | oldest trade music organization in the US, founded in 1895 (non-profit) |
| MPEG | Motion Picture Experts Group | |
| MPEG-TS | MPEG transport stream | |
| MPel | megapixel (also Mpel) | one million pixels; the term is used not only for the number of pixels in an image, but also to express the number of image sensor elements of digital cameras or the number of display elements in digital displays (see also MP) |
| MPLS | multiprotocol label switching | network mechanism for short path labels (used for ISDN) |
| MPN | manufacturer part number | |
| MR | machine room | |
| MRS | master router switcher | |
| MSB | most-significant bit | |
| MS-DOS | Microsoft digital operating system | |
| MSG | master sync generator | |
| MTBF | mean time between failures | the predicted elapsed time between inherent failures of a system during operation, also known as "up-time"; often expressed in (thousands of) hours for hard drives, rotary heads, power supplies, etc. |
| MTC | MIDI time code | |
| MTF | mean time between failures | see MTBF, above |
| modulation transfer function | a measurement of the optical performance potential (efficiency) of a lens; the relative contrast, given by the absolute value of the optical transfer function (OTF) | |
| MT-RJ | mechanical transfer registered jack | type of fiber connector (small form factor) |
| media termination recommended jack | type of fiber connector (small form factor) | |
| MTS | multichannel television sound | |
| MPEG transport stream | ||
| MTU | maximum transmission unit | the size (in bytes) of the largest protocol data unit that a communications protocol layer can pass onwards |
| MTV | mobile television | television content optimized for viewing on a small handheld or mobile device |
| music television | an American basic cable and satellite television channel owned by the MTV Networks Music & Logo Group, a unit of the Viacom Media Networks division of Viacom | |
| multicast | multiple broadcast | application layer group communication in computer networking (also called one-to-many or many-to-many) where information is addressed to a group of destination computers simultaneously |
| MUSICAM | masking-pattern adapted universal subband integrated coding and multiplexing | |
| MUX | multiplex | |
| MVP | multiviewer/processor | |
| multi video processing | ATI Technologies | |
| multimedia video processor | ||
| most valuable player | ||
| MVPD | mobile video playback device | |
| multichannel video programming distributor | cable television systems, direct-broadcast satellite providers, and various other wireline video providers which broadcast several channels of programming simultaneously | |
| MW | monitor wall | |
| MXF | material exchange format | SMPTE standard file container (wrapper) format for digital video and audio media |
| MXF_OP1a | MXF operational pattern 1a | single file, with multiple audio and/or video essences or tracks |
| MZ | mix zone | (also mixed zone) an designated area where reporters can interview athletes on-camera after they finish a sporting event/race, so called because this is where the media and athletes mix, most often used in high-profile sporting events being covered by multiple broadcasters |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| NAB | National Association of Broadcasters | a trade association and lobby group representing the interests of commercial and non-commercial over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the US |
| NABA | North American Broadcasters Association | a non-profit group of broadcasting organizations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, committed to advancing the interests of domestic and international broadcasters |
| NABET | National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians | labor union representing employees in television, radio, film, and media production; a division of the Communications Workers of America, fully known as NABET-CWA |
| NAND | not and | binary logic gate that accomplishes alternative denial, the opposite of AND (true if and only if at least one of the operands is false); A·B or A↑B |
| NARB | National Association of Radio Broadcasters | former name of NAB |
| NARTB | National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters | former name of NAB |
| NAT | network address translation | a methodology of remapping one IP address space into another by modifying network address information in IP datagram packet headers while they are in transit across a traffic routing device |
| natural | "nat sound" refers to natural ambience or other sound effects in an environment, differentiated from dialog and music | |
| NBC | National Broadcasting Company | |
| NBCSG | NBC Sports Group | |
| NC | noise criterion | curves used to evaluate noise conditions in spaces (rooms, theaters); NC-30, for example, describes a curve centered around 30dBspl at 1kHz |
| ND | non-drop-frame (timecode) | |
| NDCP | network digital control protocol | network based protocol (instead of the traditional serial connection protocols) to Broadcast devices |
| NEC | National Electrical Code | |
| NECAM | Neve computer assisted mixdown | Neve Electronics console automation system, introduced in the 1970s, the world's first moving fader automation system |
| NEMA | National Electrical Manufacturers Association | |
| NEP | Northeast Pennsylvania | international teleproduction truck company based in Pittsburgh, PA |
| network-enhanced production | term for a production truck or facility that utilizes SDVN (typically Evertz) | |
| N/F | not functioning | (also NF) tag placed on broken equipment |
| NFG | no fucking good | tag placed on broken equipment |
| NGBP | next-generation broadcast platform | an Open Network Enabled broadcast/broadband converged media platform (created by ONE Media, LLC) to accommodate and extend existing high power/tall tower broadcast infrastructure and business models, and eliminate the technical limitations of a conventional mobile TV standard to penetrate the mobile device marketplace |
| nHD | ninth high definition | video display resolution of 640x360 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), exactly one ninth of a full HD (1080p) frame and one quarter of an HD (720p) frame |
| NHK | Nippon Hoso Kyokai | (official English name: Japan Broadcasting Corporation) Japan's national public broadcasting organization |
| NIC | network interface card | a computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network, also known as a network adapter or LAN adapter |
| not in contact | ||
| NICAM | near instantaneously companded audio multiplex | |
| NID | network interface device | a telecommunications device that serves as the demarcation point between the carrier's local loop and the customer's premises wiring |
| NISO | National Information Standards Organization | a United States non-profit standards organization that develops, maintains and publishes technical standards related to publishing, bibliographic and library applications, founded in 1939 |
| NIUF | National ISDN User's Forum | a user's group formed under the National Institute of Technology (NIST) where switch manufacturers and telcos can get input from users |
| nit | nitere | (Latin: to shine) a non-SI name for a unit of luminance (1 nit = 1 cd/m2) |
| NIT | network information table | a segment of PSI metadata within an MPEG transport stream that describes information about the associated network |
| NL | non-linear | |
| near-line | archived data which is available after a short delay, but not for immediate access | |
| NLE | non-linear editing (system) | a video or audio editing system that performs non-destructive editing on source material |
| nm | nanometer | typical wavelengths of fiber transmission: 1310nm, 1550nm |
| NMS | network management (or monitoring) system | a system that constantly monitors a computer network for slow or failing components, and notifies the network administrator in case of outages |
| NOC | network operations center | one or more locations from which network monitoring and control, or network management, is exercised over a computer, telecommunication or satellite network |
| NOM | number of open mics | one of several typical automix parameters |
| NOR | not or | binary logic gate that accomplishes joint denial, the opposite of OR (true precisely when neither operand is true, i.e. when both operands are false); A+B or A↓B |
| NOT | not | binary logic gate that accomplishes negation (inversion); A or ~A |
| NPN | N-doped P-doped N-doped | type of biploar junction transistor |
| NPR | National Public Radio | a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States |
| NR | noise reduction | the reduction of tape hiss in analog tape recording (Dolby and dbx are examples) |
| noise rating | curves developed by the ISO to determine the acceptable indoor environment for hearing preservation, speech communication and annoyance (NC curves are often used in the US) | |
| noise regulation | statutes or guidelines relating to sound transmission established by various levels of government; a noise regulation restricts the amount of noise, the duration of noise and the source of noise, and usually places restrictions for certain times of the day | |
| NRT | near-real-time | (also nearly-real-time) the time delay introduced, by data processing or network transmission, between the occurrence of an event and the display of the media; the result of latency |
| non-real-time | a file transfer or other process whose duration is different (typically slower) than the running time of the media | |
| NT | network termination | the electrical and protocol specifications for the user end of an ISDN line (same as NT1) |
| NT1 | network termination 1 | equipment in an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) that physically and electrically terminates the network at the customer's premises |
| Nouvelle Télévision 1 (New Television 1) |
a French television channel, initially called the La Quatre (The Four), later renamed to TFX | |
| NTC | National TeleConsultants | a US provider of media technology and IT design, consulting and implementation services for the media and entertainment industry |
| NTE | NTE Electronics, the largest aftermarket semiconductor supplier in the industry, founded in 1979 in New Jersey | |
| network termination equipment | a device that connects the customer's data or telephone equipment to a carrier's line that comes into a building or an office | |
| not to exceed | when an equipment or labor budget has a fixed maximum limit | |
| NTFS | new technology file system | file system developed by Microsoft for Windows NT 3.1 |
| NTSC | National Television System Committee | television format (US) |
| NTSC-HQ | National Television System Committee high quality | television format (US) |
| Nvidia | new version | US manufacturer of graphic processing units (GPUs) for computers; early files were tagged NV ("new version"), and the word invidia is Latin for "envy" |
| NVoD | near video on demand | |
| nWb/m | nanowebers per meter | measurement of magnetic flux density |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| O/A | off-air | a radio or television station that is completely shut down, not transmitting any signal, not even an un-modulated carrier wave; also refers to a signal that is muted (silent) or routed away (dark) from the transmission output path |
| OAIS | open archival information system | a reference model for long-term content preservation |
| OB | outside broadcast | |
| OBJ | object file (also Obj or .obj) | |
| OBS | Olympic Broadcast Service | |
| OBTW | oh by the way | that part of the system specification that wasn't in the system specification |
| OC | open captioning | |
| OC703 | Owens Corning 703 | rigid (compressed) fiberglass product, commonly used in acoustic absorption treatment panels |
| OCR | optical character recognition | |
| OEM | original equipment manufacturer | term used when one company makes a part or subsystem that is used in another company's end product |
| OFA | optical fiber amplifier | |
| OFDM | orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing | method of encoding digital data on multiple carrier frequencies (used in DTV, DSL/ADSL, 4G mobile communications) |
| OFE | owner-furnished equipment | |
| OLED | organic light-emitting diode | |
| OLPF | optical low-pass filter | filter which reduces moiré and aliasing in a camera lens/sensor interface |
| OLT | optical line terminal (termination) | a device which serves as the service provider endpoint of a passive optical network (PON) |
| OMF | open media framework | a platform-independent file format intended for transfer of digital media between different software applications (also file extension .omf) |
| OMFI | open media framework interchange | same as OMF, above |
| ONE | open network enabled | ONE Media, LLC was established as a joint investment between Coherent Logix and Sinclair Broadcast Group with a vision to build the Next Generation Broadcast Platform, enabling broadcasting to be competitive across all platforms |
| ONT | optical network terminal | equipment used to terminate the fiber optic line of a PON, demultiplex the signal into its component parts (voice telephone, television, and Internet), and provide power to customer telephones |
| ONU | optical network unit | |
| OpEx | operational expenditure | the cost of maintaining equipment or infrastructure |
| OPM | optical power meter | a device used to measure the power in an optical signal; usually refers to a device for testing average power and transmission efficiency in fiber optic systems |
| opticalCON | optical connector | (also opticon) a Neutrik pre-assembled SMPTE-standard camera cable with 2 single-mode fibers, 4 copper pins, overall braided shield, stainless steel strength member, and a strong black outer jacket for abrasion resistance |
| O&O | owned and operated | a broadcast facility serving a small regional area, but managed and supported by a larger network entity |
| OOPS | object-oriented programming system | |
| OR | or | binary logic gate that accomplishes disjunction (true if and only if one or more of its operands is true); A+B |
| ORTF | Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Fraçaise | national agency (1964-1974) that provided public radio and television in France; also refers to the stereo microphone technique (110-degree angle separation between two directional microphones, left/right) |
| OS | operating system | |
| OSC | oscillator | |
| OSG | on-screen graphic | |
| OSI | open systems interconnection | |
| OSPF | open shortest path first | a routing protocol for Internet Protocol (IP) networks |
| OSS | open sound system | interface for making and capturing sound in Unix and Unix-like operating systems; it can be thought of as a device driver (or a collection of device drivers) for sound controller hardware |
| operations support system | telecommunications computer systems used to manage (telephone) networks and support management functions such as network inventory, service provisioning, network configuration and fault management | |
| OS X | operating system 10 (Unix) | a series of Unix-based graphical interface operating systems developed and marketed by Apple Inc., designed to run on Mac computers, having been pre-installed on all Macs since 2002 |
| OTA | over-the-air | a synonym for wireless; for television (termed terrestrial television), a wireless broadcast of television using antennas; for radio (terestrial radio), a wireless broadcast of radio using antennas (often using the AM and FM bands) |
| OTDR | optical time domain reflectometer | an optoelectronic instrument used to characterize an optical fiber by injecting a series of optical pulses into the fiber under test and extracts, from the same end of the fiber, light that is scattered or reflected back from points along the fiber |
| OTF | optical transfer function | the transfer function of an optical system (camera, microscope, human eye, projector), used by optical engineers to describe how the optics project light from the object or scene onto a sensor, screen, or the next item in the transmission chain |
| OTT | over-the-top | programming distribution to customers typically via the Internet, bypassing traditional providers such as terrestrial and cable television (ex: Netflix) |
| OU | occasional use | often "OU services" |
| OVP | online video platform | a productized service that enables users to upload, convert, store and play back video content on the Internet, often via a structured, scalable solution that can be monetized |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| P2 | professional plug-in | professional digital recording solid-state memory storage media format introduced by Panasonic in 2004, especially tailored to ENG applications |
| P2HD | professional plug-in high definition | HD version of the P2 recording format described above |
| PA | public address | |
| production assistant | ||
| PaaS | platform as a service | a category of cloud computing services that provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run and manage Web applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with developing and launching an app |
| PAL | phase alternation line | television format (Europe) |
| PAM | production asset management | system that focuses on managing assets as they are being created for a digital media production (video game, 3D feature film, animation, visual-effects shots, etc.) |
| PAN | personal area network | a computer network used for data transmission among devices such as computers, telephones, personal digital assistants, heart-rate and cycling monitors |
| PAP | program assign panel | |
| PAT | program association table | a segment of PSI metadata within an MPEG transport stream that lists all programs available in the stream |
| PATA | parallel advanced technology attachment | originally AT Attachment (ATA); a parallel interface standard for the connection of storage devices such as hard disks, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in computers (see also SATA) |
| PB | playback | |
| PBCore | Public Broadcasting Core | a descriptive metadata dictionary (an XML schema) created by the public broadcasting community to manage audiovisual assets |
| PBS | Public Broadcasting Service | |
| PBX | private branch exchange | a telephone exchange or switching system that serves a private organization and performs concentration of central office lines or trunks and provides intercommunication between a large number of telephone stations in the organization (lines selected automatically, as opposed to "key systems") |
| PC | personal computer | |
| physical contact | grade of polish for fiber-optic connectors | |
| PC/AT | personal computer advanced technology | (also PC AT) IBM's second-generation PC, designed around the 6 MHz Intel 80286 microprocessor and released in 1984 as System Unit 5170 |
| PCB | printed circuit board | |
| PCCS | practical color coordinate system | a discrete color space indexed by hue and tone, developed by the Japan Color Research Institute |
| PCL | printer control language | |
| PCM | pulse-code modulation | |
| PCR | production control room | |
| program clock reference | a data burst (time stamp) transmitted at least once each 100ms in the adaptation field of an MPEG-2 transport stream packet that enables a decoder to present synchronized content (such as audio tracks matching the associated video) | |
| PCWA | Pacckard Campus Workflow Application | Library of Congress software for media migration production |
| P&D | plug and display | digital display standard (competitor to DVI) |
| PDC | program delivery control | |
| portable document format | ||
| PFL | pre-fader listen | |
| PGA | Producers Guild of America | a trade association formed in 1950 representing television producers, film producers and new media producers in the United States |
| PhTF | phase transfer function | the complex argument of the optical transfer function (OTF), depicted as a second real-valued function |
| PID | packet identification | element in an MPEG stream |
| passive infrared detector | ||
| program identifier | metadata used in cable & satellite television transmission that enables the receiver to genreate a program guide | |
| PIP | picture-in-picture | |
| pixel | picture element | |
| PL | packet loss | occurs when one or more packets of data traveling across a computer network fail to reach their destination |
| party line | a local loop telephone circuit that is shared by multiple telephone service subscribers; also, for television production, a "2-wire" communications topology | |
| positive lock | lens mount developed by Arri for 16mm and 35mm movie cameras | |
| private line | available in a 4-wire (matrix) communications system | |
| Pro Logic | ||
| PLA | programmable logic array | |
| PLC | programmable logic controller | a digital computer used for automation of processes |
| PLL | phase lock loop | |
| PLP | packet layer protocol | the network layer protocol for the X.25 protocol suite, used on ISDN using Link Access Procedures, D channel (LAPD) |
| physical layer pipe | the overall data path specified in the DVB-T2 and ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standards | |
| pluge | picture line-up generation equipment | (also PLUGE) the greyscale test patterns used to adjust the black level and contrast of displays |
| PM | phase modulation | a modulation pattern for conditioning communication signals for transmission, encoding a message signal as variations in the instantaneous phase of a carrier wave |
| pulse modulation | ||
| preventive maintenance | ||
| project manager | ||
| PMCD | pre-master compact disc | specially formatted CD-R designed to be sent to a CD pressing plant for replication |
| PMI | Project Management Institute | not-for-profit professional organization for the project management profession |
| PMP | project management professional | a certification/credential offered by the Project Management Institute (PMI) |
| point-to-multipoint | telecommunications concept wherein communication is accomplished via a distinct type of one-to-many connection, providing multiple paths from a single location to multiple destinations (also P2MP or PTMP) | |
| P-MPix | perceptual megapixel | a proprietary ranking of lens-camera combinations (created by DxO Labs) intended to express the resolution of which a combination of camera and lens is capable |
| PMT | program map table | a segment of PSI metadata within an MPEG transport stream that describes information about the program content |
| PN | part number (also P/N) | |
| PNG | portable network graphics | a raster graphics file format that supports lossless data compression, created as an improved, non-patented replacement for Graphics Interchange Format (GIF); also the file extension .png |
| PnP | plug and play | |
| PNP | P-doped N-doped P-doped | type of biploar junction transistor |
| PoE | power over Ethernet | any of several standard or ad-hoc systems which pass electric power along with data on twisted pair Ethernet cabling, allowing a single cable to provide both data connection and electric power to devices such as wireless access points, IP cameras, and VoIP phones |
| POE | point of entry | |
| PoH | power over HDBaseT | same as PoE (see above) but specifically delivered between HDBaseT-compliant devices |
| PON | passive optical network | a telecommunications network that uses point-to-multipoint fiber to the premises in which unpowered optical splitters (prisms) are used to enable a single optical fiber to serve multiple premises |
| POOG | progressive optimization of gear (?) | modifying and re-engineering existing equipment to improve performance |
| POP | point of presence | (also PoP) also called the point of demarcation, the point at which telecommunication providers hand off (patch) their services to the customer's in-house network |
| proof of performance | ||
| point of purchase | same as point of sale (below) | |
| Pacific Ocean Post | post-production facility in Santa Monica, CA | |
| POS | person on the street | politically correct gender neutral version of man on the street |
| piece of shit | a broken piece of gear, or one that malfunctions regularly | |
| plan of study | a strategy to research a technology before recommending or implementing it | |
| point of sale (service) | the time and place where a retail transaction is completed, and the technology involved in facilitating the transaction | |
| position | ||
| positive | ||
| purchased operator service | ||
| post-super | post production supervisor | a technical manager who oversees the post production process |
| POT | plain old telephone | outdated term for a black rotary-dial desk phone, usually a Western Electric model 500 |
| POTS | plain-old telephone system | voice-grade telephone service employing analog signal transmission over copper loops; the standard service offering from telephone companies from 1876; frequency range of approximately 300 to 3300 Hz (called the voiceband) |
| PoV | point of view | |
| P/P | program/preset | the main section of a video production switcher, comprised of three busses (program, preset, and key) |
| PPCM | pixels per centimeter | a measurement of the pixel density (resolution) of devices such as computer displays, image scanners, and digital camera image sensors; also implies the horizontal or vertical density; see also PPI |
| PPE | personal protective equipment | protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection |
| PPI | pixels per inch | a measurement of the pixel density (resolution) of devices such as computer displays, image scanners, and digital camera image sensors; also implies the horizontal or vertical density; see also PPCM |
| PPM | peak program meter | |
| PPV | pay-per-view | |
| PQ | pause/control | bit channels in the CD subcode used for timing information |
| perceptual quantizer (quantization) | a non-linear electro-optical transfer function (EOTF) that allows for the display of high dynamic range (HDR) video with a luminance level of up to 10,000 cd/m2 and can be used with the Rec. 2020 color space | |
| PQA | picture quality assessment | |
| PQI | picture quality index | a rating that Samsung applies to its televisions, which takes into account a number of factors that affect overall image quality, such as resolution, color and other image enhancement techniques |
| PQR | picture quality rating | |
| PRC | pre-recorded cassette | |
| PREMIS | Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies | an international working group concerned with developing metadata for use in digital preservation |
| PRI | primary | |
| primary rate interface | a form of ISDN with 23 bearer channels and one data channel, all on a single twisted pair | |
| PROM | programmable read-only memory | |
| ProRes | professional resolution | high quality (but lossy) video compression format developed by Apple Inc. for use in post production that supports up to 4k resolution |
| ProRes422 | professional resolution 4:2:2 | ProRes, with 4:2:2 color sampling (target data rate is approximately 147 Mbps at 1920x1080 and 29.97 fps) |
| PSI | program-specific information | a metadata segment of the MPEG transport stream describing the program or channel, containing four table structures (see PAT, CAT, PMT, NIT) |
| PSIP | program and system information protocol | the MPEG and ATSC method for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a television station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch by title and description |
| PSK | phase-shift key(ing) | |
| PSNR | peak signal-to-noise ratio | |
| PSU | power supply unit | |
| PST | preset | |
| PSTN | public switched telephone network | the aggregate of the world's circuit-switched telephone networks that are operated by national, regional, or local telephony operators, providing infrastructure and services for public telecommunication |
| PT | prime time | |
| PTP | precision time protocol | |
| prime time | ||
| point-to-point | for ISDN, point-to-point lines have only one incoming phone number (calls go to line 1 and roll over to line 2) | |
| PTT | push to talk | |
| posts, telegraph and telephone | ||
| PUMA | protected user-mode audio | |
| PVA | packetized video audio | |
| PVC | polyvinyl chloride | plastic insulator used for wire jackets |
| PVW | preview (also PV) | video switcher "on-deck" buss; on-screen view of content as it will look when finalized or printed |
| PWF | pure world feed (or factory) | |
| PWM | pulse width modulation | |
| PxP | play-by-play |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Q | quality | (also Q factor) parameter that describes the bandwidth of oscillation or resonance, relative to a center frequency |
| QAM | quadrature amplitude modulation | combination of PSK and ASK |
| QBH | query by humming | |
| QC | quality control | |
| QCIF | quarter common intermediate format | |
| qHD | quarter high definition | video display resolution of 960x540 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), exactly one quarter of a full HD (1080p) frame |
| QHD | quad high definition | video display resolution of 2560x1440 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), four times the resolution of the 720p HDTV video standard; also known as WQHD or 1440p |
| QKT | ||
| QoE | quality of experience | a measure of a customer's experiences with a service (web browsing, phone call, TV broadcast, call to a Call Center); sometimes written QoX or QX |
| QoS | quality of service | the overall performance of a telephone or computer network, particularly the performance seen by the users of the network; the ability to provide different priority and/or performance to different network applications, users, or data flows |
| QoX | quality of experience | see QoE, above |
| QPSK | quadrature phase-shift keying | (also quadraphase PSK) a modulation scheme which uses four points on the constellation diagram, equispaced around a circle; four phases, enabling QPSK to encode two bits per symbol |
| QQVGA | quarter quarter video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 160x120 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), one quarter the resolution of QVGA, which is one quarter the resolution of VGA (640x480) |
| QSXGA | quad super extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 2560x2048 pixels (5:4 aspect ratio), primarily for medical use |
| QTFF | QuickTime file format | Apple multimedia container file (wrapper) that contains one or more audio/video tracks |
| QUHD | quad ultra high definition | video display resolution of 15360x8640 pixels (aspect ratio 16:9), sixteen times the resolution of UHD; also known as 16K |
| QUXGA | quad ultra extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 3200x2400 pixels (aspect ratio 4:3), coincidentally 100 times the resolution of QVGA, below |
| QVGA | quarter video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 320x240 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), one quarter the resolution of VGA (640x480) |
| QWXGA | quad wide extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 2048x1152 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), the same horizontal resolution of QXGA, with fewer vertical lines (not to be confused with WQXGA) |
| QX | quality of experience | see QoE, above |
| QXGA | quad extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 2048x1536 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), four times the resolution of XGA (1024x768) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| RAID | redundant array of inexpensive disks | (also redundant array of independent disks) a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple disk drive components into a logical unit for the purposes of data redundancy or performance improvement; see also RAID levels, below |
| RAID 0 | RAID level zero | (also known as a stripe set or striped volume) splits data evenly across two or more disks (striped), without parity information and with speed as the intended goal |
| RAID 1 | RAID level one | an exact copy (or mirror) of a set of data on two disks (no parity) |
| RAID 2 | RAID level two | stripes data at the bit (rather than block) level, and uses a Hamming code for error correction |
| RAID 3 | RAID level three | uses byte-level striping with a dedicated parity disk (rarely used in practice) |
| RAID 4 | RAID level four | uses block-level striping with a dedicated parity disk |
| RAID 5 | RAID level five | uses block-level striping with parity distributed over multiple disks |
| RAID 6 | RAID level six | extends RAID 5 by adding another parity block; thus, it uses block-level striping with two parity blocks distributed across all member disks |
| RAM | random access memory | |
| RCA | Radio Corporation of America | |
| RCP | remote control panel | |
| RCU | remote control unit | |
| RCVR | receiver | an electronic device that receives electromagnetic waves (or data) and converts the information carried by them to a usable form |
| R&D | research and development | |
| RDA | resource description & access | a descriptive metadata standard for cataloging initially released in June 2010, providing instructions and guidelines on formulating bibliographic data; the successor to AACR2 |
| remote database access | a protocol standard for database access that describes the connection of a database client to a database server | |
| REC | record | (also rec) command that causes a machine to begin recording content |
| Rec. 2020 | ITU-R Recommendation BT.2020 | defines various aspects of ultra-high-definition television (UHDTV) with standard dynamic range (SDR) and wide color gamut (WCG), including picture resolutions, frame rates with progressive scan, bit depths, color primaries, RGB and luma-chroma color representations, chroma subsamplings, and an opto-electronic transfer function |
| REF | reference | (also ref) a timing signal used to time-align audio and video signals, data streams, and/or sytem clocks; a standard voltage level against which other levels are measured by ratio (often decibels) |
| REH | rehearse (or rehearsal) | |
| REM | remote | |
| rep | representative | (as in "sales rep" or "manufacturer rep") |
| REP | Recording Engineer/Producer | recording studio and production magazine published from 1970 to 1992 |
| REPL | ? ? positive lock | lens mount |
| rez | resolution | |
| rf | radio frequency | |
| RFI | radio frequency interference | |
| RFoG | radio frequency over glass | a deep-fiber network design in which the coax portion of the hybrid fiber coax (HFC) network is replaced by a single-fiber passive optical network (PON) |
| RFS | rack/frame/slot | (also R/F/S) a modular equipment designation method that identifies cards by location: rack (number), frame (letter), slot (number) – for example FS21B6 identifies the frame sync card installed in rack 21, frame B, slot 6 |
| RG | red green | a color space that uses only two colors (red and green), used both in additive and subtractive spaces |
| RG-58/U | radio grade (category 58) utility | 50-ohm coaxial cable specification used for low-power signal and RF signals |
| RG-59/U | radio grade (category 59) utility | 75-ohm coaxial cable specification used for low-power video and RF signals |
| RGB | red-green-blue | an RGB color space is any additive color space based on the RGB color model; also refers to the red, green, and blue pixels of televisions and computer displays |
| RIAA | Radio Industry Association of America | |
| RJ11 | registered jack type 11 | 6 position 2 contact connector used for a single telephone line |
| RJ12 | registered jack type 12 | 6 position 6 contact connector used for one telephone line in a keyed system |
| RJ45 | registered jack type 45 | 8 position 8 contact connector used for Ethernet and other serial communications |
| RK | rack | |
| RKO | Radio-Keith-Orpheum (Pictures) | (also RKO Radio Pictures) American film production and distribution company, founded 1928 |
| RLC | resistor inductor capacitor | an electrical circuit consisting of a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor, connected in series or in parallel (a very basic band-pass filter) |
| RLS | release | |
| RMA | return merchandise authorization | |
| RMS | root-mean-square | |
| RMST | remastered | |
| RNM | resistors network method | |
| RoHS | reduction of hazardous substances | |
| ROI | region of interest | specific portion of a video signal from which a final video signal is scaled |
| return on investment | ||
| ROM | read-only memory | |
| romcom | romantic comedy | films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles |
| romedy | romantic comedy | same as romcom, above |
| Roy G. Biv | red orange yellow green blue indigo violet | color wavelength mnemonic, as in a person's name |
| rpm | revolutions per minute (also RPM) | a measure of the frequency of a rotation, it annotates the number of turns completed in one minute around a fixed axis; it is used as a measure of rotational speed of a mechanical component |
| RS-232 | recommended standard 232 | an EIA standard for serial communication transmission of data, intended for bit rates lower than 20,000 bits per second, developed by the EIA |
| RS-422 | recommended standard 422 | an EIA technical standard that specifies electrical characteristics of a serial digital signaling circuit; differential signaling can transmit data at rates as high as 10 Mbit/s, and may be sent on cables as long as 1500 meters |
| RS-485 | recommended standard 485 | an EIA standard defining the electrical characteristics of drivers and receivers for use in balanced digital multipoint systems over long distances and in electrically noisy environments |
| RSS | rich site summary | |
| RDF site summary | ||
| really simple syndication | ||
| RT60 | reverberation time 60dB | the time required for reflections (reverberation) of a direct sound to decay 60 decibels |
| RTAS | real-time audiosuite | Digidesign audio plug-in format |
| RTB | return talkback | also known as "Sneaky talkback" |
| RTD | replay transition device | |
| round-trip delay | the length of time it takes for a telecommunications signal to be sent plus the length of time it takes for an acknowledgment of that signal to be received (see also RTT) | |
| RTFM | read the manual | usually expressed when the speaker is irritated by another person's question or lack of knowledge (see RTM, below) |
| RTI | Research Technology International | manufacturer of film processing and inspection equipment since 1970 |
| RTL | Radio Television Luxemburg | RTL Group is a European TV, radio, and production company |
| register-transfer level | (also register-transfer logic) a type of architecture for digital logic circuits based on gates and registers, or this level of abstraction, particularly in a hardware description language | |
| resistor-transistor logic | a class of digital circuits built using resistors as the input network | |
| RTLL | realtime loudness leveler | a feature of Dolby AC-4 which generates an ITU-R (loudness) compliant gain value for transmission, if the loudness metadata normally present from the source is missing or cannot be authenticated |
| RTM | real-time monitoring | the measurement of all points in the transmission chain to quickly diagnose faults |
| read the manual | ||
| RTP | real-time transport protocol | a network protocol for delivering audio and video over IP networks, used extensively in communication and entertainment systems that involve streaming media; the mechanism that helps ensure "clean" switching of packetized (IP) video |
| RTR | router | |
| RtR | reel to reel (also R-R) | |
| RTS | Radio Telephone System (?) | Intercom devices manufacturer (now Telex) |
| Radio Television Society | ||
| Royal Television Society | ||
| request to send | ||
| RTSP | real-time streaming protocol | a network control protocol designed for use in entertainment and communications systems to control streaming media servers, used for establishing and controlling media sessions between end points |
| RTT | round-trip time | the length of time it takes for a telecommunications signal to be sent plus the length of time it takes for an acknowledgment of that signal to be received (see also RTD) |
| RTV | real-time video | |
| RTW | manufacturer of visual audio metering products, based in Cologne | |
| RU | rack unit | |
| RVON | RTS (request to send) voice over network | |
| RX | reception (receive) | |
| RYB | red yellow blue | a historical set of colors used in subtractive color mixing (predates modern scientific color theory which specifies magenta, yellow, cyan); commonly used set of primary colors in art (painting), design, and education |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| S3DTV | stereoscopic 3-dimensional television | |
| SA | stage announce | a system that allows a director or stage manager to talk to crew on stage and/or backstage by means of a switched microphone/amp/speaker arrangement |
| SaaS | software as a serivce | a software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted; sometimes referred to as "on-demand software" |
| SAC | spacial audio coding | |
| SACD | super audio compact disc | |
| SAG | Screen Actors Guild | American labor union representing film and television principal and background performers worldwide, formed in 1933 |
| SAG-AFTRA | Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists | American labor union representing film and television principal and background performers, journalists, and radio personalities worldwide, created in 2012, following the merger of SAG and AFTRA |
| SAM | Snell Advanced Media | a UK manufacturer of solutions for the media production market including applications for central operations, live production, post production, playout and media management |
| SAMMA | System for the Automated Migration of Media Archives | robotic video cassette reformatting system, built by Media Matters for the Library of Congress (first JPEG2000 lossless encoder) |
| SAN | storage area network | a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage; primarily used to enhance storage devices, such as disk arrays and tape libraries, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices to the operating system |
| SAP | source assignment panel | 2-wire communications "router" |
| SAS | serial-attached SCSI | a point-to-point serial protocol that moves data to and from computer storage devices such as hard drives and tape drives; replaces the older parallel SCSI |
| server attached storage | see network attached storage (NAS) | |
| single audio system | an integrated shipboard voice communications system consisting of telephone sets, voice-signal switching devices, and various control devices | |
| steerable antenna system | ||
| Steve A. Sammet | SAS Audio Labs (established 1997 in Illinois, and named after the founder) manufactures audiophile reference speakers and amplifiers | |
| satellite audio service | see SDARS (satellite digital audio radio service) | |
| SATA | serial advanced technology attachment | a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives; replaced the older AT Attachment standard (later referred to as Parallel ATA or PATA); see also eSATA |
| SAV | start of active video | in the ITU656 uncompressed SD digital video standard, the 4-byte-long code sequence that delimits the beginning of a horizontal scan line of video pixel data |
| SB | sound blaster | |
| SBC | smart bitrate control | |
| subband coding | Philips digital audio encoder decoder, specified for A2DP | |
| SBE | Society of Broadcast Engineers | a professional organization formed in 1964 for engineers in broadcast radio and television, which offers certification in various radio, video and audio technology areas for its members |
| SC | subscriber connector | Fiber connector |
| square connector | Fiber connector | |
| standard connector | Fiber connector | |
| SCART | Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorecepteurs et Televiseurs | French-originated standard and associated 21-pin analog audio and video dub connector, designed by CENELEC |
| SCC | screen content coding | a portion of the HEVC video compression standard that allows for higher efficiency coding of screen content material such as text and graphics with motion |
| SCSI | small computer system interface | a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices (disk drives) |
| SCTP | stream control transmission protocol | a transport-layer protocol, providing some of the same service features of TCP and UDP; it is message-oriented like UDP and ensures reliable, in-sequence transport of messages with congestion control like TCP |
| SD | standard definition | |
| SDA | SDSDI distribution amplifier | |
| SDARS | satellite digital audio radio service | digital radio service operated by XM Radio and Sirius in the US (2.3 GHz S-Band: 2320 to 2345 MHz) |
| SDDS | Sony dynamic digital sound | digital cinema sound system for 35mm film (7.1 audio), developed by Sony; digital dots are stored near the sprocket holes of 35mm film |
| SDH | synchronous digital hierarchy | standardized network protocol that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs); see also SONET |
| SDI | serial digital interface | |
| SDID | secondary data identifier | part of ancillary SDI data packet |
| SDK | software development kit | a set of software development tools that allows the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar development platform (also known as 'devkit') |
| SDLT | super digital linear tape | variant of DLT, with higher capacity |
| SDM | software-defined modulator | |
| S-DMB | satellite digital multimedia broadcasting | DMB transmitted via satellite |
| SDN | software-defined network(ing) | an approach to computer networking that allows network administrators to manage network services through abstraction of lower-level functionality by decoupling the system that makes decisions about where traffic is sent (the control plane) from the underlying systems that forward traffic to the selected destination (the data plane); see also SDVN |
| SDO | studio (?) | |
| SDR | standard dynamic range | video rendered using a conventional gamma curve, presenting a dynamic range that's considered standard (as opposed to HDR high-dynamic-range) based on the limits of the cathode ray tube (CRT) which allows for a maximum luminance of 100 cd/m2 |
| SDRH | software-defined radio head | |
| SDTI | serial data transport interface | SMPTE 305M standard method of transporting data (in addition to video content) over traditional SDI (coax) infrastructure |
| SDTV | standard definition television | video transmission and storage format (NTSC, 4:3 aspect ratio) |
| SDVN | software defined video networking | Evertz product range allowing hybrid scalable SDI and IP video routing |
| SDW | software defined workflow | broadcast workflow management software engine developed by Imagine Communications, used in their Xenio products |
| SEC | secondary | a redundant or backup system or path designed to duplicate and take over in the event of a failure of the primary |
| (also sec) second | the SI base unit of time, commonly understood and historically defined as 1/86,400 of a day, although the scientific definition is the time needed for a cesium-133 atom to perform 9,192,631,770 complete oscillations | |
| SECAM | séquentiel couleur à mémoire | (translation: sequential color with memory) an analog color television system invented in France by Henri de France in the late 1950s; it is, historically, the first European color television standard |
| SEO | search engine optimization | the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's 'natural' or un-paid ('organic') search results |
| SFN | single-frequency network | a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel |
| SFP | small form-factor pluggable | hot-pluggable transceiver for optic fiber |
| SGCS | Silicon Graphics Computer Systems | early name of SGI, below |
| SGI | Silicon Graphics, Inc. | American manufacturer of computer hardware and software, 1982-2009 |
| SGL | Software Generation Limited | manufacturer of content management/storage systems |
| SGO | ||
| SHA-1 | secure hash algorithm | cryptographic hash function design by the NSA, with a hash value typically rendered as a 40-digit-long hexadecimal number (261 different variations) |
| SHF | super-high frequencies | radio frequencies in the range of 3 GHz to 30 GHz |
| SI | systems integration | the process of building and aggregating broadcast sub-systems into one system, and ensuring that the subsystems function together to accomplish the intended overarching functionality |
| International System of Units | (French: Le Système international d'unités) the modern form of the metric system, and the most widely used system of measurement | |
| simultaneous interpretation | the process of extemporaneously translating speech into another language; applications include foreign language closed captioning, and multi-national governmental meetings (United Nations) | |
| SID | Society for Information Display | an industry organization for displays, generally electronic displays such as televisions and computer monitors, founded in 1962 |
| SIG | special interest group | Bluetooth Special Interest Group, for example |
| SILK | an audio compression format and audio codec developed by Skype Ltd., developed for use in Skype and extended to the Internet standard Opus codec | |
| SIMO | single-input multiple-output | in radio: the use of one transmitter antenna, but multiple receiver antennae |
| sin | sine | trigonometric function of an angle (in a right triangle: sin=opposite/hypotenuse); plotted, the function forms a sine wave |
| sinc | cardinal sine (function) | (Latin: sinus cardinals) in mathematics, the unnormalized sinc function is sinc(x)=[sin(x)]/x; in digital signal processing and information theory the normalized sinc function is sinc(x)=[sin(πx)]/πx. Both functions describe the impulse response, and a sinc filter is an idealized bandpass filter. |
| SINAD | signal-to-noise and distortion | a measure of the quality of a signal from a communications device, expressed in dB (not to be confused with SNR) |
| SIPS | streaming intelligent packet switching | protected (clean) packet switching across IP networks using dual network feeds (patented by Nevion) |
| SISO | single-input single-output | in radio: the use of only one antenna both in the transmitter and receiver |
| SLA | service-level agreement | a part of a service contract where particular aspects of the service (scope, quality, responsibilities, contracted delivery time) are agreed between the service provider and the service user |
| SLP | super long play | VHS cassette recording speed/capacity |
| SLR | single-lens reflex | a camera that uses a mirror and prism to divert focused image to a viewfinder |
| SM | single-mode | optical fiber type: core diameter 8-10 micrometers, wavelength 1310-1550 nm, 10Gb/s, 80km max distance |
| stage manager | ||
| SMA | subminiature version A | miniature coaxial connector, 50-ohm impedance, DC to 18 GHz operation |
| SMF | single-mode fiber | same as SM, above |
| SMPTE | Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers | |
| SMR | server machine room | |
| SMS | short message service | text messaging service for phone, web, mobile communications |
| systems managed storage | data storage utilizing batch processing and automated tape loading and processing | |
| Studio Management Services, Inc. | logistics and booking service for Hollywood Center Studios film lot (also generic term for any studio management department) | |
| SMT | SportsMEDIA Technology | manufacturer of devices used for graphics, telestrators, tickers |
| surface-mount technology | ||
| SN | serial number (also S/N) | |
| S/N | signal to noise | see SNR |
| SNIA | Storage Networking Industry Association | an association of manufacturers and consumers of storage networking products, dedicated to ensuring that storage networks become complete and trusted solutions across the IT community |
| SNMP | simple network management system | |
| SNR | signal to noise ratio | a measure that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise, defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power, often expressed in decibels |
| SOAP | simple object access protocol | a protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services in computer networks |
| SOF | sound on film | process where the audio accompanying picture is physically recorded onto photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture |
| start of file | ||
| SONET | synchronous optical networking | standardized network protocol that transfer multiple digital bit streams synchronously over optical fiber using lasers or highly coherent light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs); see also SDH |
| SOP | standard operating procedure | |
| SOT | sound on tape | |
| SOW | scope (statement) of work | a formal document that captures and defines the work activities, deliverables, and timeline a vendor must execute in performance of specified work for a client |
| SP | standard play | VHS cassette recording speed/capacity |
| SPARS | Society of Professional Audio Recording Services | an organization that holds conferences and publishes papers about the professional audio community |
| SPC | super physical contact | grade of polish quality for fiber-optic connectors |
| S/P-DIF | Sony/Philips digital interface format | (also SPDIF) |
| SPID | service profile identifier | a number issued by ISDN service providers in North America that identifies the services and features of an ISDN circuit; typically each B (bearer) channel is assigned a unique SPID |
| SPOC | Stamford Productions Operation Center | temporary name for the new (2013) NBC Sports Group facility in Stamford, CT |
| SPL | sound pressure level | |
| sQ | scalable Quantel | a series of video editing products manufactured by Quantel |
| SqD | square division | a method of 4K video transmission in which the full image is divided into four quadrants (legs), carried over four HDSDI paths, and reassembled into the original 4K image at the receiver or display |
| SRC | sample rate converter | |
| source | input to a router | |
| sRGB | standard red green blue | |
| SRO | standing room only | a standard RGB color space created cooperatively by HP and Microsoft in 1996 for use on monitors, printers, and the Internet (same primaries as used in studio monitors and HDTV) |
| SS | super-speed | mode/feature of USB 3.0 |
| SSB | single-sideband | refinement of AM that more efficiently uses transmitter power and bandwidth |
| SSD | solid-state (disk) drive | a data storage device using integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently (no spinning disk) |
| SSID | service set identifier | a unique identifier for a wireless LAN, commonly called the "network name" |
| SSL | Solid-State Logic | UK manufacturer of audio consoles and other equipment |
| studio-to-studio link | sends one broadcast studio's audio and video to a second broadcast studio in another location | |
| secure sockets layer | predecessor to Transport Layer Security, a protocol for encrypting information over the Internet | |
| solid-state lighting | a lighting technology that utilizes a cluster of LEDs | |
| SSO | single sign-on | |
| STB | set-top box | cable demodulator unit installed in the home |
| ST/BFOC | straight tip / bayonet fiber optic connector | Fiber connector with metal twist-lock ring |
| STL | studio/transmitter link | sends a radio station's or television station's audio and video from the broadcast studio to a radio transmitter or television transmitter in another location |
| standard telegraph level | the power per individual telegraph channel required to yield the standard composite data level | |
| small transmitting loop | a magnetic loop antenna that is physically smaller than the wavelength being transmitted | |
| STM-1 | synchronous transport module level-1 | the SDH ITU-T fiber optic network transmission standard with a bit rate of 155.52 Mbit/s (higher levels go up by a factor of 4 at a time: the other currently supported levels are STM-4, STM-16, STM-64 and STM-256) |
| STP | shielded twisted pair | data conductors that are twisted to reduce EMI, and include an overall shield, possibly with a drain wire (balanced analog audio cables are often STP) |
| STV | straight to video | |
| SVC | scalable video coding | (see H.264-SVC) |
| SVG | scalable vector graphics | an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation; an open standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) since 1999 |
| SVGA | super video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 800x600 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), also known as ultra video graphics array (UVGA) |
| S-VHS | Super VHS | VHS video tape format, providing improved picture quality (420 lines vs. 240 lines) |
| S-Video | separate video | video signal which separates the black-and-white and color signals; resolution typically 480i or 576i |
| Super-video | marketing term for above | |
| SW | software | (also S/W) stored and executable code that consists of data and/or computer instructions, in contrast to the physical hardware from which the system is built |
| SXGA | super extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1280x1024 pixels (5:4 aspect ratio), a non-standard aspect ratio of 5:4 |
| SXGA- | super extended graphics array minus | computer graphics resolution of 1280x960 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), a slightly lower resolution than SXGA, preserving the common aspect ratio of 4:3 |
| SXGA+ | super extended graphics array plus | computer graphics resolution of 1400x1050 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), often used on laptop displays |
| sync | synchronize (or synchronization) | method for temporally aligning audio and video signals, or multiple audio and/or video streams or transports; or the reference signal used for same |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| T568A | TIA/EIA-568 type A | definition of pin/pair assignments for CAT3, CAT5, CAT6 cabling on RJ45 connectors |
| T568B | TIA/EIA-568 type B | definition of pin/pair assignments for CAT3, CAT5, CAT6 cabling on RJ45 connectors (equivalent to AT&T 258A) |
| TA | terminal adaptor | the electronic interface between an ISDN device and the network termination |
| TAC | tactical | "TAC-12" represents a tactical mobile fiber optic cable run consisting of 12 strands |
| tan | tangent | trigonometric function of an angle (in a right triangle: tan=opposite/adjacent) |
| tar | tape archive | the file format (extension .tar) and the type of program used to handle archive bitstreams for tape backup purposes, supported by LTO (requires unpacking) |
| TASCAM | TASC America Corporation | |
| TB | talkback | |
| TBA | to be announced | |
| T-Bar | take-bar (also transition-bar) | fader on video switcher that transitions from program to preview |
| TBC | time base corrector | |
| the best consoles | TBC Consoles studio furniture | |
| TBD | to be determined | |
| TBS | Turner Broadcasting System | |
| TC | time code | a sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing synchronization system, standardized by SMPTE/EBU |
| telecine | the process of transferring motion picture film onto video and is performed in a color suite; the equipment used in the film to video post-production process | |
| tinned copper | a common type of conductor for sub-radio frequency signals, especially in the audio band | |
| TCP | transmission control protocol | TCP provides reliable, ordered and error-checked delivery of data between programs running on computers connected to a local area network, intranet or the public Internet. It resides at the transport layer. |
| TCP/IP | transmission control protocol/Internet protocol | same as above, indicating that TCP is a major protocol within IP |
| TD | technical director | |
| TDD | telecommunication devices for the deaf | |
| TDK | Tokyo Denkikagaku Kogyo | Japanese manufacturer of recording media |
| TDM | time-division multiplexing | old non-real-time audio plug-in format |
| T-DMB | terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting | DMB transmitted terrestrially (as opposed to satellite, S-DMB) |
| TDR | time domain reflectometer | an electronic instrument that uses time-domain reflectometry to characterize and locate faults in twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, connectors, printed circuit boards, or any other electrical path |
| TEAC | Tokyo Electronic Acoustic Company | |
| TER | tertiary | the backup to the backup (after the primary and secondary) |
| TETRA | terrestrial trunked radio | (formerly trans-European trunked radio) |
| tfayd | technology for all you do | also, thanks for all you do |
| TFLOPS | tera floating-point operations per second | teraFLOPS refers to a computer that is capable of at least 1012 (one trillion) floating-point operations (calculations) per second; see also FLOPS |
| TFT | thin-film transistor | |
| THX | Tomlinson Holman crossover | reproduction standard for movie theaters |
| TI | Texas Instruments | semiconductor manufacturer |
| TIA | Telecommunications Industry Association | a standards organization (offshoot of the EIA) |
| TICO | tiny codec | a disruptive visually lossless light-weight compression developed by intoPIX; the codec is extremely tiny in hardware (FPGA, ASIC), and also operates in software (CPU) with very low latency |
| TIF | telephone interface | a device (analog or digital) that provides bi-directional communication between an intercom matrix and a standard DTMF capable telephone line |
| TiMi | terrestrial interactive multiservice infrastructure | |
| TK | to come | similar use to TBD and TBA, referring to text yet to be written |
| T&L | transformation and lighting | terms referring to the manipulation of 3D graphics |
| TLA | three-leter acronym (abbreviation) | |
| TM | technical manager | |
| TMDS | transition minimized differential signaling | high speed serial link developed by Silicon Image, used in DVI |
| TMO | tone mapping operator | the process of compressing the luminance range of high dynamic range video while retaining most of the contrast, in order to display it as faithfully as possible on standard (low) dynamic range displays |
| TNT | Turner Network Television | |
| TOC | technical operations center | |
| table of contents | ||
| TOF | top of file | |
| ToS | type of service | a field in the IPv4 header redefined (recently) as a six-bit Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) field plus a two-bit Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) field; used to specify a datagram's priority and request a low-delay high-reliability route |
| TOSLINK | Toshiba link | fiber |
| TP | telepresence | a set of technologies which allow a person to feel as if they were present at a place other than their true location, to give the appearance of being present or to have an effect, via teleconferencing or telerobotics |
| twisted pair | a type of wiring in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility and/or common-mode reduction | |
| TPO | transmitter power output | the actual (as opposed to effective) amount of power (in watts) of radio frequency energy that a transmitter produces at its output |
| TRS | tip-ring-shield | |
| timing reference signal | ||
| TRT | total record time | |
| TSID | transmission signal identifier | |
| TSoIP | transport stream over Internet protocol | the transmission of MPEG data (audio and/or video) over an IP network |
| TTA | the true audio | real-time lossless audio codec |
| TTL | through the lens | |
| TTY | teletype | or teletypewriter |
| TV | television | |
| TV-1 | television 1 | transmission link model |
| TVBD | television band devices | radio frequency devices that operate in the spectrum of television channels (54 to 698 MHz) |
| TVRO | television receive-only | North American television reception from FSS-type satellites |
| TW | two-wire | intercom PL |
| TX | transmission (transmit) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| UAA | universal audio architecture | |
| UDI | unified display interface | |
| UDP | user datagram protocol | transport layer member of the Internet protocol suite, designed by David Reed in 1980; uses a simple connectionless transmission model with terse protocol (no handshaking) |
| UDW | user data words | |
| UDX | up/down cross converter | a multi-resolution video format conversion appliance (or software) |
| UGA | ultra (extended) graphics array | see UXGA, below |
| UGC | user generated content | any form of content such as blogs, wikis, discussion forums, posts, chats, tweets, podcasting, pins, digital images, video, audio files, and other forms of media that was created by users of an online system or service, often made available via social media websites |
| UHD | ultra high definition | video display resolution of 3840x2160 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio, also known as Quad HD and/or 4K and/or UHD4K), part of the UHDTV standard |
| UHD4K | ultra high definition four thousand | used synonymously with UHD (see above) |
| UHD8K | ultra high definition eight thousand | video display resolution of 7680x4320 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio), sixteen times the resolution of 1080p HDTV; also known as FUHD |
| UHDTV | ultra high definition television | |
| UHF | ultra-high frequency | radio frequencies 300 Mhz to 3 GHz |
| UHP | ultra-high performance (pressure) | mercury arc lamp originally known as the ultra-high-pressure lamp because the internal pressure was as much as 200 atmospheres, developed by Philips in 1995 for use in commercial projection systems, home theatre projectors and video walls |
| UHQR | ultra-high-quality record | LP records pressed on heavy-weight (200 gram) virgin vinyl, pressed by JVC and others |
| UI | user interface | the space where interactions between humans and machines (computers) occur |
| ULD | ultra-low delay | low-latency digital audio coder developed by Fraunhofer |
| U-Matic | U-shaped automatic | 3/4" analog videocassette recording format, named for the U-shaped tape path around the helical scan video head drum |
| UMD | under-monitor display | |
| UMID | unique material identifier | |
| UMTS | universal mobile telecommunications system | a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard |
| unicast | unique broadcast | computer networking transmission of messages to a single network destination identified by a unique address |
| U-NII | unlicensed national information infrastructure | a radio band that is part of the radio frequency spectrum used by IEEE-802.11a devices and by many wireless ISPs |
| UNIX | uniplexed information and computing system | multitasking, multi-user computer operating system (also Unix) |
| UPC | ultra physical contact | grade of polish quality for fiber-optic connectors |
| Universal Product Code | barcode symbology for tracking trade items in stores (12 numerical digits) | |
| UPL | user programmable logic | |
| UR | unrated | |
| URL | uniform resource locator | a reference to a resource that specifies the location of the resource on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it |
| URN | uniform resource namespace | |
| URS | universal reference signal | Miranda digital backplane reference |
| USB | universal serial bus | |
| USK | upstream key(er) | adds key effect to picture before the program bus |
| Util | utility | production crew position, also known as camera assistant |
| UTC | coordinated universal time | the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time; one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time |
| UTP | unshielded twisted-pair | data conductors that are twisted to reduce EMI, but have no sheild (telehone, CAT5, CAT6 are examples) |
| UUID | universally unique identifier | an identifier standard used in software construction, a 128-bit value used for (among other things) media and AXF object files |
| UV | ultra-violet | |
| UVD | unified video decoder | |
| UVGA | ultra video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 800x600 pixels, also known as super video graphics array (SVGA) |
| UX | user experience | a person's behaviors, attitudes, and emotions about using a particular product, system or service |
| UXGA | ultra extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1600x1200 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), four times the resolution of SVGA (800x600); also known as UGA |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| V | volt | |
| VA | volt-ampere | power rating |
| value added | extra feature(s) of an item of interest (product, service, person etc.) that go beyond the standard expectations and provide something 'more', even if the cost is higher to the client or purchaser | |
| VAIO | Visual Audio Intelligent Organizer | manufacturer of personal computers, originally a brand of Sony |
| video audio integrated operation | ||
| VALID | video/audio lineup identification | lip-sync timing system |
| VANC | vertical ancillary | low-bandwidth ancillary (ANC) data located in non-picture regions of the SDI video frame |
| VandA | video and audio | |
| VAR | variable | a symbolic name or character associated with a value and whose associated value may be changed |
| varispeed | (also vari-speed) a pitch control on an audio device such as a turntable, tape recorder, or CD player that allows the operator to deviate from a standard speed | |
| value-added reseller | a company that adds features or services to an existing product, then resells it (usually to end-users) as an integrated product or complete "turn-key" solution, commonly in the electronics or IT industries where a VAR might bundle a software application with supplied hardware | |
| volt ampere reactive | (var) in electric power transmission and distribution, a unit by which reactive power is expressed in an AC electric power system (when the current and voltage are not in phase) | |
| visual-aural range | a short range radio navigation aid, used from about 1940-1960, that provided four-course visual and aural track guidance signals at a range of about 100 miles | |
| VCA | voltage-controlled amplifier | |
| VCD | video compact disk | |
| VCEG | video coding experts group | |
| VCI | video cursor interface | |
| VCL | video coding layer | |
| VCN | virtual cloud network | an Oracle networking technology that maximizes throughput by providing direct connectivity between compute and storage nodes, and is hypervisor-free virtualization |
| VCO | voltage-controlled oscillator | |
| VCP | video cassette player | |
| VCR | video cassette recorder | |
| VDCP | video device (disk) control protocol | RS422-based control of video devices |
| VDI | video device interface | |
| VDS | video distribution system | |
| VDSL | very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (also VHDSL) | a DSL technology with data rates much faster than ADSL (up to 52 Mbit/s download, 16 Mbit/s upload on copper twisted pair, or 85 Mbit/s up/download on coax) |
| VEIL | video encoded invisible light | |
| VERA | vision electronic recording apparatus | early analog linear videotape recording format developed in 1952 by the BBC (static heads, 5.08 m/s tape speed, 405-line black-and-white) |
| VESA | Video Electronics Standards Association | international non-profit corporation standards body for computer graphics formed in 1988 |
| VF | viewfinder | referring either to an eyepiece lens or a screen, the device which the photographer/videographer looks through (at) to compose and focus the image |
| VFX | visual effects | |
| VG | voice-grade | telephony term denoting quality of audio transmission |
| VGA | video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 640x480 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio); display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987 |
| VGPI | ||
| VHF | very high frequency | radio frequencies 30 MHz to 300 MHz |
| VHS | video home system | |
| vertical helix scan | ||
| very high standard | ||
| VIC | video interface controller | |
| VIP | very important person | |
| video image processing | ||
| video in place | Evertz multiviewer product range | |
| video over IP | ||
| VIT | vertical interval test | test signals inserted in composite video |
| VITC | vertical interval time code | |
| VIVO | video in video out | bi-directional graphics port video connector (usually 9-pin mini-DIN) |
| Vizrt | Visualization in Real-Time | (also Visual Artist) a Norwegian manufacturer of content production, management and distribution tools for the digital media industry |
| VJ | video jockey | |
| VKL | variable keyframe interface | |
| VLC | VideoLAN client | a portable, free and open-source, cross-platform media player and streaming media server written by the VideoLAN project |
| VLF | very low frequency | |
| Vlink | virtual link | a Cisco OSPF routing technology that allows connection to a network backbone through a non-backbone area |
| virtual matrix link | RTS software application that enables remote users to interface with RTS matrix intercoms | |
| VLSI | very large-scale integration | |
| VMR | video machine room | |
| VO | voice over | spoken script; a narration to a video presentation (implied voice over video) |
| VOA | Voice of America | |
| VOBU | video object unit | |
| VoD | video on demand | system which allow users to select and watch/listen to video/audio content when they choose to, rather than having to watch at a specific broadcast time, often delivered via IPTV (see also AVoD) |
| VOG | voice of God | colloquial name of a stage announce (SA) speaker, especially if the speaker is mounted high on the wall or ceiling or on the lighting grid |
| VP | video processor | |
| VPC | virtual private cloud | an on-demand configurable pool of shared computing resources allocated within a public cloud environment, providing a certain level of isolation between the different users utilizing the resources |
| VPU | visual processing unit | same as GPU, above |
| VR | virtual reality | |
| VSB | vestigial sideband | a radio communications sideband that has been only partly cut off or suppressed |
| VSM | virtual studio manager | software suite by LSB (Germany) that controls, monitors and automates various functions of broadcast studios, including routing, GPIO, tallies |
| VST | virtual studio technology | plug-in type |
| VSTi | virtual studio technology instrument | plug-in instrument |
| VTC | video tele-conference | |
| VTR | video tape recorder | |
| VU | volume unit | |
| VVIDD | VESA video interface for digital displays |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| W | watt | |
| W3C | World Wide Web Consortium | the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web |
| WAN | wide area network | |
| WAP | wireless access point | a networking hardware device that allows a Wi-Fi device to connect to a wired network; not to be confused with a hotspot, which is the physical location where Wi-Fi access to a WLAN is available |
| wireless application protocol | a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network | |
| WAV | waveform | digital audio file format (abbreviated as WAVE, trancated to .WAV as a file extension) |
| Wb | weber | unit of magnetic flux |
| WCG | wide color gamut | a larger subset of display colors compared to standard color gamuts like RGB and NTSC |
| WebDAV | web distributed authoring and versioning | an extension of HTTP that allows clients to perform remote Web content authoring operations |
| WEP | wired equivalent privacy | A wireless network security standard (sometimes erroneously called Wireless Encryption Protocol) |
| WFM | waveform monitor | a special type of oscilloscope used in television production applications, typically used to measure and display the level or voltage of a video signal with respect to time |
| WGA | wide (video) graphics array | see WVGA, below |
| WHSXGA | wide hexadecatuple super extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 6400x4096 pixels (25:16 aspect ratio), sixteen (hexadecatuple) times the resolution of WSXGA |
| WHUXGA | wide hexadecatuple ultra extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 7680x4800 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), sixteen (hesadecatuple) times the resolution of WUXGA |
| WHXGA | wide hexadecatuple extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 5120x3200 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), a wide version of HXGA |
| WiDi | wireless display | a technology, developed by Intel, that enables users to stream music, movies, photos, videos and apps wirelessly from a compatible computer to a compatible HDTV, supporting HD 1080p video quality, 5.1 surround sound, and low latency |
| WiFi | wireless fidelity (also wifi or WIFI) | a local area wireless technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data or connect to the internet using 2.4 GHz UHF and 5 GHz SHF radio waves; a play on words referencing Hi-Fi |
| WiMAX | Worldwide Interoperability of Microwave Access | a wireless communications standard designed to provide 30 to 40 megabit-per-second data rates, with the 2011 update providing up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations, developed by the WiMAX Forum formed in 2001 |
| WIMP | windows, icons, mouse and pulldown menus | |
| WL | wireless | |
| WLAN | wireless local area network | |
| WMA | Windows media audio | appended with either Lossy or Lossless |
| WMD | wavelength division multiplexer | optical fiber technology |
| WMV | Windows media video | video compression algorithm, and file extension (.wmv) for files containing video compressed with that algorithm |
| WP | workprint | |
| word processor | ||
| WPA | WiFi protected access | a wireless encryption standard; an intermediate measure to take the place of WEP pending the availability of the full IEEE 802.11i standard |
| WPA2 | WiFi protected access II | a newer wireless encryption standard which replaced WPA and added AES-based encryption mode with strong security |
| WPS | WiFi protected setup | a standard that attempts to automate secure wireless network set up and connection |
| WQSXGA | wide quad super extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 3200x2048 pixels (25:16 aspect ratio); one variant is 3280x2048 (approx. 16:10) |
| WQUXGA | wide quad ultra extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 3840x2400 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), a wide version of QUXGA |
| WQVGA | wide quarter video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 400x240 pixels, the same height as QVGA (320x240), but wider, resulting in an aspect ratio of 5:3 |
| WQXGA | wide quad extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 2560x1600 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), a wide version of QXGA and having four times the resolution of WXGA (1280x800); not to be confused with QWXGA |
| WQXGA+ | wide quad extended graphics array plus | computer graphics resolution of 3200x1800 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio) |
| WRT | with reference to | |
| WS | widescreen | |
| WSS | Windows sound system | |
| WSVGA | wide super video graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1024x576 pixels (16:9 aspect ratio); a variant is 1024x600 (between 15:9 and 16:9), a wider version of SVGA (800x600) |
| WSXGA+ | widescreen super extended graphics array plus | computer graphics resolution of 1680x1050 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), a wider version of SXGA+ |
| WUXGA | widescreen ultra extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1920x1200 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), a wide version of UXGA, with a 16:10 aspect ratio |
| WVGA | wide video graphics array (also WGA) | computer graphics resolution of 768x480 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio), the same height as VGA (640x480), but wider; variants include 720x480 (3:2), 800x480 (5:3), 848x480, 852x480, 853x480, and 854x480 (~16:9) |
| WVR | waveform/vector rasterizer | a type of measurement instrument used in television production applications, typically used to measure and display the level or voltage of a video signal with respect to time, generating a raster (CRT) signal for display |
| WWW | World Wide Web | a system of interlinked hypertext documents that are accessed via the Internet; commonly known as 'the Web' |
| WXGA | wide extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1366x768 pixels (~16:9 aspect ratio), a wider version of XGA (1024x768); variants include 1360x768 (~16:9), 1280x720 (720p, an HDTV standard; 16:9 aspect ratio), 1280x768 (5:3), and 1280x800 (16:10) |
| WXGA+ | wide extended graphics array plus | computer graphics resolution of 1440x900 pixels (16:10 aspect ratio); a variant is 1440x960 pixels (15:10 aspect ratio) |
| WYSIWYG | what you see is what you get |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| x86 | architecture 86 | a family of backward compatible instruction set architectures based on the Intel 8086 CPU; named for the many successors to the 8086 ending in "86", including 80186, 80286, and later i386 and i486 processors |
| XAND | exclusive and | a digital logic gate whose function and truth table is exactly the same as XNOR, and thus rarely used; A↛B |
| X-ART | extended accelerating ribbon technology | ribbon tweeter developed by Klaus Heinz of ADAM Pro Audio |
| X-Fi | extreme fidelity | |
| XDCAM | unlimited/ultimate disc/digital/dimension/definition camera | a series of products for digital recording using random access solid-state memory media, introduced by Sony in 2003; four product lines (the XDCAM SD, XDCAM HD, XDCAM EX and XDCAM HD422) differ in types of encoder used, frame size, container type and recording media |
| XGA | extended graphics array | computer graphics resolution of 1024x768 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio); IBM's official upgrade to VGA, superceded by Super VGA |
| XGA+ | extended graphics array plus | computer graphics resolution of 1152x864 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio) |
| XGA-2 | extended graphics array 2 | computer graphics resolution of 1024x768 pixels (4:3 aspect ratio), adding a 24-bit DAC to allow 256-color mode (or 800x600 resolution with up to 65,536 colors) |
| XLD | X lossless decoder | audio decoder application |
| XLR | shield left right | |
| shield (ground) line return | ||
| XMIT | transmit | |
| XML | extensible markup language | a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format which is both human-readable and machine-readable, the design goals of which emphasize simplicity, generality, and usability across the Internet |
| XNOR | exclusive not or | a digital logic gate whose function is the logical complement of the exclusive OR (XOR) gate (true if both operands are equal); A⊕B or A☉B |
| XOR | exclusive or | binary logic gate that accomplishes biconditional or exclusive OR (true only when the two operands are different, and false if they are equal, regardless of the value); A⊕B |
| XRCD | extended resolution compact disc | mastering and manufacture process patented by JVC for producing redbook compact discs, first introduced in 1995 |
| XRCD2 | extended resolution compact disc (20-bit) | improved 20-bit XRCD technology utilizing magneto-optical disk |
| XRCD24 | extended resolution compact disc (24-bit) | further improvement to XRCD and XRCD2, achieving 24-bit resolution |
| XSD | XML schema definition | specifies how to formally describe the elements in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document |
| xvYCC | extended video (gamut) luminance chrominance chrominance | a color space that can be used in the video electronics of television sets to support a gamut 1.8 times as large as that of the sRGB color space, proposed by Sony |
| X/Y | X and Y | stereophonic microphone technique in which two directional microphones (X and Y), placed at 90-degree angles (each 45 degrees off center), capture the left (X) side and the right (Y) side of the stereo stage |
| X-axis, Y-axis | mode offered in some 2-channel oscilloscopes that plots channel 1 on the X (horizontal) axis and channel 2 on the Y (vertical) axis, enabling visual relative phase comparison in stereo audio signals |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Y/C | luminance/chrominance | |
| YCbCr | luminance (Y) blue chrominance red chrominance | (also written YCBCR or Y'CbCr or Y'CBCR or Y Pb/Cb Pr/Cr) method for encoding the color space used in video and digital photography systems (defined in HDMI 1.3 spec) |
| YCC | luminance chrominance chrominance | abbreviation of YCbCr |
| YCgCo | luminance (Y) chrominance green chrominance orange | the color space formed by luminance (Y), chrominance green (Cg), and chrominance orange (Co), supported by video compression codecs such as H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and Dirac since it can losslessly be converted to and from RGB with fewer bits required compared with other color models |
| YDbDr | luminance (Y) difference blue difference red | (sometimes written YDBDR) the colour space used in the SECAM analog terrestrial color television broadcasting standard, which is used in France and some countries of the former Eastern Bloc |
| YIQ | luminance (Y) in-phase quadrature (also Y'IQ) | the color space used by the NTSC color TV system (IQ represent chrominance) |
| YPbPr | luminance (Y) difference blue difference red | (sometimes written YPBPR) a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables (Pb=blue minus Y, Pr=red minus Y) |
| YUV | luminance (Y) chrominance (UV) | (sometimes written Y'UV) color space of a color image pipeline; also file format encoded using YCbCr (Y=luminance, U=blue-luminance, V=red-luminance) |
| Acronym | Definition | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Z | impedance | symbol for electrical impedance, the complex ratio of voltage to current in an alternating current circuit |
| zip | an archive file format that supports lossless data compression, contains one or more files or folders that may have been compressed; the zip file format (and associated file extension .zip) permits a number of compression algorithms |