Playboy's Electronic Lexicon

don't know your dcc from your epg? read this asap

If you're afraid to plug an MD into an A/V for fear of blowing up the whole shebang, you're not alone. These days, it almost takes ESP to keep on top of the technobabble that's standard operating procedure in consumer electronics. To resolve this, we've created a cheat sheet of electronics abbreviations to guide you the next time some jargon-spouter tries to sell you something.

AI: artificial intelligence. Computer technology that simulates human intelligence, now being built into cameras, televisions, etc. Open the pod door, Hal. (continued on page 148)Electronic Lexicon(continued from page 90)

A/V: audio/video. The much-heralded marriage of entertainment sights and sounds. Combine an A/V receiver with a big-screen stereo TV set, or a high-fidelity VCR with audio components, and you're ready for a movie-theater-like experience at home.

Caller ID: caller identification. A service that displays the name and/or telephone number of the caller, thus enabling you to decide whether to pick up or take a pass when it's your boss or ex on the line.

CD: compact disc--but you already knew that.

CD+G: compact disc plus graphics. In addition to standard CD audio, CD+Gs carry text information and still images. Great for karaoke.

CD-I: compact disc--interactive. The 16-bit CD-I's resemble conventional CDs but are programmed with a mix of sound, stills, animated graphics and text. (You'll need a CD-I player in order to perfect your massage techniques while watching Playboy's Complete Massage, just released by Philips.)

CDMA/TDMA: code division multiple access/time division multiple access. Dual-mode portable cellular phones that improve your chances of getting a channel and receiving data by fax or electronic mail on a connected laptop computer or personal digital assistant.

CDPD: cellular digital packet data. Technology that squeezes more users and information onto existing cellular networks. PDAs need CDPD to send e-mail.

CD-ROM: compact disc-read only memory. An optical data storage medium that can hold more computer text, graphics and audio than even Einstein's brain could absorb. They can't be re-recorded, so it's "read only."

CD32: Commodore's new 32-bit multimedia compact disc system. It plays games, audio CDs and full-motion-video CD movies.

CD-WORM: It's short for compact disc-write once read many times, a term for recordable CD systems that are already on the market for professionals. Affordable consumer versions should be available in about four years.

CEBus: consumer electronics bus. A home automation standard created to ensure that products from different manufacturers will be on the same wavelength, so to speak, when communicating with one another through power lines, telephone wire, coaxial cable and infrared. Beam us home, Scotty, and draw the bath.

CPU: central processing unit. The brains behind any computer. And you thought it was Bill Gates.

DAB/DAR: digital audio broadcasting/digital audio radio. Think of it as the future of radio. Great sound is broadcast "in-band" on current AM/FM frequencies, satellite-delivered to your car roof antenna or zapped through your cable television lines.

DAT: digital audio tape. A sophisticated recording medium using pint-size cassettes with up to four hours of recording time. Digital audio tape never made it as a consumer product, but it's the favored tool of Deadheads crowding the tapers' section.

dbx: Audio signal "companding" (compression, then expansion) system used for noise reduction of stereo TV broadcasts.

DCC: digital compact cassette. An improvement on the analog cassette format, DCC uses digital audio coding to achieve near-CD-quality sound. LCD panels on players display album name, artist and song title. Conventional analog cassettes can also be played on a DCC deck.

Dolby-NR: Dolby noise reduction. Systems of noise reduction invented by Ray Dolby. Good: Dolby B. Better: Dolby C. Best: Dolby S and (professional) SR.

DSD: Dolby surround digital. The first digital-processing system for movie soundtrack reproduction in the home. Sound is sent to three front speakers, two back ones and one subwoofer. Good news, techies: Channel crosstalk (bleeding) problems suffered by even the best four-channel analog Pro Logic gear have been eliminated. DSD laser discs, LD players and A/V receivers will show up next year, and Stateside HDTV will be up and running with DSD as early as 1996.

DSP: digital signal processing. Enhances audio signals in home and car stereos by replicating the acoustics of a club, hall, church, theater or stadium. What, no shower stall?

DSS: digital satellite system. A high-power direct broadcast satellite service that delivers 150 channels to an RCA dish antenna no larger than a pizza. Digital picture and sound performance are equal to that of laser discs--and the system is HDTV-ready.

e-mail: electronic mail. Subscribers send and retrieve messages and notes to and from on-line computer mailboxes. Unlike community bulletin board communiqués, e-mail is private.

EPG: electronic program guide. Onscreen TV program grids, such as FROX, Star-Sight Telecast (already active), Prevue Express and TV Guide On Screen, that display shows by time slots or let you customize program menus according to channel preferences and type (news, talk shows, movies, etc.).

ESH: electronic superhighway. The dream of presidents and corporate kings to connect our home video and computer terminals to a fiber-optic cable network of data bases and entertainment sources. You'll be able to call up videos on demand, shop at video malls, teleconference, bank from home and more. Time Warner/U.S. West and TCI/Bell Atlantic are weaving ESH webs for a 1998 debut in 25 cities.

FMV: full-motion video. An FMV cartridge or circuit board can upgrade CD and CD-ROM drives to play new video CDs that meet the digitally compressed, 30-frames-per-second movie standard. The picture quality of FMV approaches that of standard-play VHS tape, with program access features that are far better.

GPS: global positioning system. A hand-held navigation gizmo that receives transmissions from several Pentagon satellites, thus enabling users to plot their chart positions in latitude, longitude and altitude. The car version features LCD screens and a moving street map, which should be marked "you are lost here."

HDTV: high-definition television. The video standard of the future. Aside from delivering digital, multichannel sound and twice the picture clarity of current broadcast TV, HDTV will have a new, wide-angle picture format that has a ratio of 16:9 (similar to theatrical movie presentations). HDTV is targeted to debut with the broadcast of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

Hi-8: A high-end videotape format that produces sharp, vivid pictures with a horizontal resolution that measures 400 lines or better, compared with 250 for standard 8mm.

HX-Pro: A tape bias monitoring system developed by Bang & Olufsen and marketed by Dolby that allows you to record on analog tape at higher decibel levels, thus reducing tape hiss. Don't buy a cassette deck without it.

IDTV: improved definition television. A computerized line-doubling technique that improves the resolution of broadcast television.

ITAD: integrated telephone answering device. The hottest toy in phone land, ITADs combine a phone with a digital (tape-free) answering machine.

LCD: liquid crystal display. A flat-panel screen used for watches, laptop computers and TVs.

LD: laser disc. A 12-inch disc that contains analog video, two tracks of digital audio and two tracks of analog audio. Considered to be the best consumer movie format currently available.

MD: minidisc. First recordable audio disc system for the consumer. The 2.5-inch discs have a recording time of up to 74 minutes. The names of the album, artist and song are displayed on the player. You also get instant access to tracks, great sound, durability and portability.

MD-Data: Looks like an audio minidisc, but it's actually a computer medium with a storage capacity equal to 100 floppy discs. Holds graphics and audio as well as computer data. MD-Data drives also play audio minidiscs.

MPC: multimedia personal computer. A standard for PCs built around the Windows operating system, with requirements in memory, sound and video capabilities. P.S.: If your MPC's central processing unit doesn't have a 386 or better, deep-six it.

MPEG: Moving Picture Image Expert Group. A consortium established by the International Organization for Standardization to set requirements for digital compression of video software. So far, the group has established the MPEG-1 standard for VHS-quality full-motion-video CDs and is at work on a superior MPEG-2 standard for CD-ROM and MDs.

MTS/SAP: multichannel television sound/second audio program. The dbx technology that compresses a stereo signal and secondary monaural channel at the TV transmission point. It is then decoded for full stereo reproduction, making switching or mixing possible.

PC: The generic term for IBM-compatible personal computers using Microsoft disc operating system (MS/DOS) software.

PCMCIA: Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. A mouthful either way, PCMCIA cards slip into notebook computers and PDAs to add software programs, extra storage, sound reproduction, fax and modem capabilities and more.

PDA: personal digital assistant. Also called personal communicators, PDAs are pen-based computers that serve as battery-powered private secretaries, reading your rotten handwriting, carrying out shorthand commands and sending faxes, e-mail and more.

Photo CD: A Kodak invention that allows you to store still pictures on CD-ROM. The 100-image discs can be viewed on most multimedia systems as well as on television-attachable photo CD players.

PIP: picture-in -picture. Great for people who want to be in two places at once, PIP is a special digital effect that floats a second TV image (from an additional tuner or external video source such as a VCR) in the corner of a television screen during normal viewing.

POP: picture-outside-picture. The ability of wide-screen 16:9 ratio TVs to show up to three additional pictures next to the conventional 4:3 ratio broadcast image.

PPV: pay-per-view. A business that sells video or live-event programming. Now a small factor in the cable industry, PPV will soar when phone companies are able to charge for TV show delivery as they do for local calls.

RBDS: radio broadcast data system. RBDS enables an FM station to broadcast text display (call letters, music formats, song titles), the correct time and emergency alert information to RBDS-equipped radios.

SCMS: serial copy management system. Circuitry built into all consumer digital recorders that allows you to make a digital copy of a source program, but prohibits you from making a copy of the copy. Bummer.

16:9 TV: New wide-screen televisions with movie-theater aspect ratios. The 16:9s are ideal for home theater presentation of "letterbox" movie discs and videotapes.

S-VHS: super-video home system. A VHS upgrade that records a sharper picture (400 lines of resolution, compared with 240 on VHS). The S-VHS VCRs can record and play both S-VHS and conventional VHS tapes.

3DO: A 32-bit interactive player for TV-based multimedia fun. Fast graphics microprocessor and double-speed CD-ROM drive pump programs with almost-three-dimensional, movie-like picture realism.

THX: Lucasfilm sound enforcement project named after director George Lucas' first feature film, THX 1138. It originally set performance criteria for cinema sound and is now applied to home theater systems. THX-licensed speakers, used with a decoder and amplification, incorporate the Dolby Pro Logic Surround sound process.

TVCR: A television and videocassette recorder combined in one sleek chassis. A single TV tuner is usually shared between the two components.

VANS: voice activated navigation system. A CD-based audio navigation system that offers directions in a human voice. Understands a variety of American dialects.

V-CD: video CD. A CD-ROM format conforming to the JVC and Philips standard for full-screen, full-motion-video presentation.

VCR: videocassette recorder. The great viewing emancipator of the television age.

VCR Plus: When programmed with a code number found in the TV listings, this wireless TV remote controller automatically signals a VCR to turn on, tune to the correct channel and commence recording. Also built into many video recorders.

VR: virtual reality. A computer-generated world with which you can interact by donning devices such as data gloves or a stereoscopic head-mounted display. Do not wear your virtual reality helmet while you're pushing the lawn mower.

W-VHS: wide-screen-video home system. An analog video recorder for HDTV that JVC recently introduced in Japan. It may arrive in the U.S. when our own HDTV system is up and running. W-VHS can also record two standard broadcast TV programs simultaneously on one tape.

"DAT never made it as a consumer product, but it's the favored tool of Deadheads in the tapers' section."