Glossary Guide Used in Entertainment Hub

Looking for devices and components to build your very own personalised Home Entertainment Hub? Then, it is rather important that you know some of the common terms that is being used in the industry, or perhaps, by the shop owners when browsing for products.

Listed below are a couple of popular terms that are commonly used. (click here...)

• Full-HD TV (High-definition)
  TV screens in full HD offer a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It is commonly labelled as 1080p. The letter "p" stands for progressive scan, for picture images transmitted as a full image instead of alternating lines as interlaced image. The latter will cause the screen to flicker. Hence, a Full-HD TV labelled as 1080i will produce images that are not as sharp as 1080p.
• HD-ready TV
  These televisions offer image quality of up to 1080i, which is sufficiently adequate for screen sizes up to 42 inches. The next lower image quality is 720p, followed by 720i.
• Standard definition (SD)
  Produces images measured by 480i and 480p, both of which are considered normal quality images offered by the current crop of DVDs.
• Component input
  Refers to cables that are made up of blue, red and green cables. These cables are capable of transmitting data, supporting image quality up to 480p.

Plasma and LCD flat-screen TV
Comparing the two formats, plasma technology provides a richer colour display than the LCD equivalent. However, the drawback is that it heats up faster than the latter.

• HDMI
  An interface used for connecting two devices, the high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) provides a mean to bridge components, such as the TV and the DVD players. The most recent version is 1.3, hence it is vital to note the version when you go purchasing for compatible HDMI interfaces, as there are still older (and cheaper) 1.1 and 1.2 versions available.
• DTS and Dolby Digital
  Most of you would have heard of Dolby Digital when you visit the cinema. Basically, these are digital audio standards used in movies and DVDs. Most of the home systems are capable of decoding both audio formats, although not al DVD movies contain soundtracks in both formats.
• 5.1 Surround Sound
  The 5.1 Surround Sound system splits the audio component into 5 sets of different speaks and one sub woofer as the bass. In this case, there will be 2 front speakers, 2 back speakers, 1 central speaker and a sub woofer to provide greater entertainment value.

With some of these basic knowledge at the back of your head, I'm sure you can get around getting a good bargain and know what you need to buy for your home entertainment unit.