Glossary

Advanced Audio Compression coding provides high quality compressed digital music files in the SD format

A way of storing data using electrical signals. An analogue TV tuner uses radio frequencies which are susceptible to interference. Digital components - such as TVs, radios, recorders, video players, etc, use digital signals which are less prone to interference and offer enhanced quality, ease of use and greater versatility.

Watch a wide aspect ratio on a conventional 4:3 TV set and you either get big black bars across the top and bottom or the film is 'panned and scanned' so that you only get the central part of the image filling the screen. Either way, you're not getting the whole picture. Most movies on DVD are presented in their original aspect ratio and a widescreen TV is the first step in getting to see the whole image. But because the picture is not an exact fit for the screen's 16:9 shape, you may still get black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. A DVD with an anamorphic widescreen picture gives enhanced quality and digitally squeezes the sides of the picture forcing it upwards and downwards to fill the screen. A widescreen TV then decodes the anamorphic code and a 1.85:1 picture fits perfectly onto a widescreen. An anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer will still have those black bars, but they'll be much smaller.

Working much like the pupil of the eye, the movement of the lens' internal aperture blades closes or opens the aperture to adjust the amount of light passing through the lens. The value inscribed on the aperture ring of the lens (F1.4, F2, F2.8, etc.) represents the size of the aperture and is called the "aperture value" or "f-stop." As this value increases, the aperture narrows, or is "closed," and as it decreases, the aperture widens, or is "opened."

Describes the shape of a screen: a box that is 16cm wide and 9cm high is therefore 16:9. Movies are shot in a particular ratio for particular types of screens. There are four main aspect ratios: 4:3 the shape of a conventional TV and used by older films 16:9 widescreen: a compromise between 4:3 and the wider formats used by film makers 1.85:1 letterbox: the most commonly used picture format 2.35:1 Cinemascope: The widest of the most common ratios and also expensive. Used for the ultimate widescreen experience.

CD and DVD players need to convert digital signals into analogue so that we can hear them. Panasonic DVD portables use high quality converters for superb sound and they can feature a sample rate of up to 192kHz/24-bit. That means the player samples 24-bit chunks of digital data 192,000 times before it delivers the optimum sound signal.

All speakers need amplification. Most speakers are passive so they need to be driven by an external amplifier. An active speaker has a built-in amplifier and therefore does not need to be driven by an external one. Many subwoofers designed for home cinema use tend to be active.

TV picture quality is determined by factors such as edge delineation, gradation and signal-to-noise ratio. Creating super-high-quality pictures requires precise control over these factors. Panasonic's Acuity Core TV technology does this. It is the world's first platform that provides full 10-bit processing of all video signals in real time, from input all the way through to output. The new Acuity function combines a range of technologies including increased horizontal and vertical resolution, a new 3D Comb Filter and improved Motion Compensation.

Keeps contrast levels high, whilst maintaining focus and detail levels.

Controls sharpness in selected areas.

Instead of the standard field by field interlace method this system displays all active lines at once as a complete frame. The result is a picture that is superbly sharp and clear.

Advanced Virtual Surround Sound creates a surround sound effect by simulating surround channel sounds using only 2 front speakers. The advanced section creates a wider range from left to right. This effect does not work on karaoke discs

AXIS uses pixel interpolation data obtained by differential calculation to precisely process the CCDs' output. This maximizes the effect of the Quad-Density Pixel Distribution, helping to produce clear, high-contrast images.