| Our comprehensive glossary explains
the essentials of projector and home entertainment
system. |
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| Active
Matrix TFT
The most common type of
LCD used in most LCD projection panels and projectors.
A display in which each pixel is driven by a thin
film transistor allowing a larger viewing angle,
quicker response time and more color saturation.
Amorphous
It is a non-crystalline
silicon. In amorphous TFTs, the electron mobility
is low. This means the transistor must be large,
making it difficult to pack pixels densely in
a panel. Thus, amorphous TFTs are most suitable
for relatively large LCD panels and single panel
projector.
ANSI
American National Standards
Institute.
ANSI Lumen
The standard of measuring
brightness of a display device made by American
National Standards Institute. The measurement
represents the average value of 9 points on the
projected screen image.
Aperture
Ratio
Transmission rate of light
passing through pixels contained within a TFT.
The higher the number the brighter the image.
Aspect Ratio
The ratio between the width
and the height of a frame or a screen. The aspect
ratio for NTSC video is 4:3; HDTV is 16:9.
Audio in (Stereo Input)
The jack or jacks (typically
standard RCA jacks) to plug in sound coming from
a computer or video source.
Audio out (Stereo Out)
The jack or jacks to hook
up external (powered) speakers or a PA system. |
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| Bandwidth
Transmission capacity of
a computer or communications channel, the greater
the bandwidth, the more information or picture
detail will be displayed. In video system, this
value is expressed in megahertz (MHz).
Brightness
The amount of light emitting
from a display or projection device. The brightness
of projector is measured by ANSI lumens. |
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| Component
Video
The original elements of a color picture, including
the red, green, blue, and sync information. Regarded
as visually superior to composite video.
Composite Video
The complete color television picture information
including luminance, chrominance, blanking, and
sync signals encoded into one signal.
Compression Mode
A method to reduce the resolution
of the display image.
Contrast Ratio
The ratio of the brightest and darkest images
a display can reproduce. |
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| Deinterlacer
Converting from interlaced to progressive scan.
Diagonal
A measurement of display size. It measures from
one corner to the opposite corner.
Dichroic Mirror
To separate the light into Red, Green, and Blue
three primary colors for the LCD panels.
Dichroic Prism
To combine the Red, Green, and Blue lights for
the projection display.
DLP
"Digital Light Processing," reflective display
technology developed by Texas Instruments, using
small digital-controlled mirrors. Light passes
through a color filter and is sent to the DLP
chip, which arranges the RGB colors into a picture
projected onto a screen. Also known as DMD.
Dye Filter Optics
Dye filter optics are where
each pixel on an LCD has a red, green and blue
color filter that adjusts the amount of each of
these colors to produce an accurate image on the
screen. |
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| Field
Lens
To collimate the illumination of LCD panels and
to match it with projection lens.
Frequency
Defines number of cycles during a time period.
Hertz (Hz) used to express the frequency of an
electrical signal.
Front Surface Mirror
It is the same as the mirror function for folding
the illumination lights. |
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Gray
Scale
Special monochrome monitor capable of displaying
different shades of gray. |
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| Halogen
Lamp
Low color temperature (yellow light). The lifetime
is short but the light output is steady.
HDTV
An analog TV signal in the U.S. has 525 scan lines
for the image, and each image is refreshed every
30th of a second (half of the scan lines are painted
every 60th of a second in what is called an interlaced
display). 480 of 525 scan lines are used to hold
the picture. We can also call it 480i.
The formats used in HDTV are as followed:
480i - 640 x 480 pixels interlaced
480p - 640 x 480 pixels progressive
720p - 1280 x 720 pixels progressive
1080p - 1920 x 1080 pixels progressive
Hertz (Hz)
Cycles per second. It is a measurement of frequency.
1 Hz=1 cycle per second.
Hot Mirror
Rejects the unneeded infrared rays that will heat
the LCD panel and let visible light pass through. |
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| Input
/Output (I/O)
The process of transferring data to and from a
computer-controlled system using communication
channels, operator interface devices, data acquisition
devices, or control interfaces.
Integrator Lens
To make the display image more uniform.
Integrator Lens
Interlaced
Every other line is scanned during each total
vertical (full) screen refresh. |
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| Jitter
A rapid, small shift in image positions. |
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| Keystone
A type of distortion in which the displayed image
is smaller at Top (or Bottom) of the screen than
at the Bottom (or Top). Normally it is caused
by improper projector-to-screen angle. Named for
its similarity in shape to the keystone used in
constructing an arch.
Keystone Correction
A device that will correct an image that has a
keystone effect (wide-top and narrow-bottom problem).
Integrator Lens
Interlaced
Every other line is scanned during each total
vertical (full) screen refresh. |
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| LCD
Liquid Crystal Display. Liquid crystals are activated
by electric fields to produce the display image.
Line Doubler
A device intended to synthesize a picture with
twice as many scan lines with or without interlacing
in the final result.
Loop Through
An input signal that bypassed most of the internal
circuitry and loops through the signal; is buffered
and sent back out to make it available to be displayed
by another display device.
Lumen
It is a measurement of illumination on a screen
or other surface. 1 Lumen/m2 = 1 Foot-candle.
Lux
It is a Metric measurement of light quantity.
Taken from the reflection off the object illuminated.
1 Foot-candles = 10.76 lux. |
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| Metal
Halide Lamp
The lamp has high color temperature (white light).
The lifetime is about 1000 hours. Type of lamp
used as a light source in audio/visual equipment.
Brightness steadily decreases during its life
span.
MSRP
Manufacture's Suggested Retail Price. |
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| NTSC
"National Television Standards Committee". The
television standard for the US, administered by
the Federal Communication Committee (FCC). The
number of scanning lines in the luminance signal
(Y) is set at 525, and the field frequency is
60 Hz. 30 frames are transmitted per second. Set
in 1953. |
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| OSD
"On Screen Display," menu displayed on the screen
with different options that users could easily
use to adjust the display's picture.
Output Fresnel
Lens
To coordinate with illumination system, the image
from arc of lamp will be projected to projection
lens. |
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| PAL
"Phase Alternative by Line". The PAL system uses
625 scanning lines and a field frequency of 50
Hz., 25 frames are transmitted per second. The
standard color system used throughout England,
Western Europe, Scandinavia, South Africa and
Australia. PAL-M is the standard system in Brazil.
Panning
When you display a higher resolution image by
moving your picture or image left, right, up,
or down to see parts not shown in the display
area.
Passive Matrix
A display by which each row and column are overlapped
or addressed in turn. Passive matrix has a smaller
viewing angle, slower response time and pseudo
color compared to active matrix.
Pixel
A unique position on a display
that consists of a single dot or group of three
dots (red, green and blue). Total display pixels
are usually expressed in horizontal x vertical
dimension (e.g., 640x480).
Polysilicon
Type of TFT material for high-density displays.
Has greater electron mobility than other common
TFT materials.
Polysilicon TFT
It is a type of LCD technology that allows more
light at high temperatures through the LCD.
Progressive Scan
Progressive scan means drawing the odd and even
scan lines in order without interlacing. Progressive
scan by itself does not improve resolution. We
still have the same 480 (for NTSC) illuminated
scan lines' worth of picture detail. One reason
for progressive scan is to reduce flicker.
Pseudo Stereo
Creates a stereo like sound from a mono source
in the EzPro projector. |
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| Reflector
The spherical reflector is used to reflect the
divergent visible light beams from the lamp.
Refresh Rate
It is the number of times per second, during which
a displayed image is regenerated, expressed in
Hz. A low vertical refresh rate produces visible
flicker.
Relay Lens
To relay the blue light to the LCD panel so that
the illumination condition of it could be the
same as the other two color.
Resolution
The number of pixels per
image area expressed by Horizontal number of pixels
x Vertical number of pixels (e.g., 640x480). The
more pixels the display systems can address the
higher-quality image with more detail.
Response
Time
The time it takes for a pixel to turn on and off.
Response time is a good indication of how fast
motion such as video or computer animation will
appear on the projected image.
RGB
"Red, Green, Blue," primary colors used to make
color spectrum. |
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| SECAM
The spherical reflector is used to reflect the
divergent visible light beams from the lamp.
Serial Port
A data I/O port on the computer enabling other
devices or computers to link with the computer.
Also referred to as RS-232C or COM port.
Sharpness
The apparent image resolution.
Spatial Stereo
Surround sound quality mode
in the EzPro projector.
SVGA Resolution
"Super Video Graphics Array" which represents
800 x 600 pixels.
S-Video
A video signal that separates luminance (Y) and
chrominance (C) signals. Generic name is Y/C,
applied to S-VHS or Beta ED.
SXGA
"Super Extra Graphics Array" represents 1280 x
1024 pixels.
Sync
The synchronization or timing signals of a video
signal that ensure accurate picture scanning in
both the horizontal and vertical planes. |
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| TFT
The spherical reflector is used to reflect the
divergent visible light beams from the lamp.
Throw Distance
Length of the projection beam needed for a projector
to produce image of a particular size.
Throw Ratio
It represents the ratio between projection distance
to the width of projected image.
Transmitivity
The percent of the light
that is transmitted off the LCD panel.
TSTN
"Triple Super Twist Nematic". It is a technology
used to make Active Matrix LCD panels wherein
each pixel has its own transistor switch. |
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| UHP
lamp
Ultra High Performance projector lamp proved up
to three times longer lamp life than traditional
metal halide bulb. |
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| VESA
"Video Electronics Standards Association". A non-profit
group of companies organized to define and improve
computer graphics standards. It set the standardized
refresh rate of 72Hz for SVGA (800x600) and VGA
(640x480).
VESA Standard
A set of display specifications agreed upon by
the VESA organization, usually referred to resolution
and vertical refresh rate.
VGA Resolution
"Video Graphics Array" represents 640x480 pixels.
Viewing Angle
The angle, looking from
the left, right, above and below the display,
over which a display can be seen. |
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| Wide
Angle Lens
A lens that will project a larger image on a screen
at a closer distance than a standard lens will
project. |
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| XGA
Resolution
"Extended Graphics Array" represents 1024 x 768
pixels |
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| Zoom
Lens
The lens allows the user to make his display images
smaller or larger. |
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