Portable Dvd Glossary, Everything You Wanted To Know But Were Afraid To Ask

By Author: Rose Li
Total Articles: 109
Comment this article

For those new to the world of Portable DVD Players and those of us can't consider themselves technophiles the terms and formats that go along with portable DVD players can be confusing to say the least.

Many consumers in the Portable DVD Player market are up on the technical information and they are looking to buy from someone who has at least an equal base of knowledge.

So here is a list of terms to help you become knowledgeable in the world of Portable DVD Players:

** Disc Formats **

1. CD: Stands for Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM), and is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data that is accessible, but not writable.
2. CD-R: A CD-R is a recordable Disc that allows for content to be written once and read many times. It is possible to store all type of media files on this disc.
3. CD-RW: This is a rewritable Disc which allows content to be written and read many times. The CD-RW can also be used to store different formats.
4. VCD: Known as Video Compact Disc is a format for storing video on CDs, and is similar to a VCR in that you cannot skip chapters or view rich ...
... data, just fast forward and rewind.
5. SVCD: Known as Super Video Compact Disc. The VCD and was intended to challenge the DVD format. Quality and storage capacity is superior to a VCD, but lower than the DVD.
6. DVD: Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Discs. They look like CDs but store six times more data and can display video in chapters.
7. DVD RW/ DVD+RW/ DVD-RW: These three terms refer to the same thing. Rewritable DVDs. They can be rewritten close to a thousand times, which makes them useful for backing up media. The + and - represent different standards, but it is generally agreed that + is superior and therefore has become the industry standard for rewritable disks.

** Media Formats **

1. MPEG 1, 2, 3 & 4: Are compression standards for audio and video set by the Moving Pictures Export Group. The numbers refer to different versions with 1 being the 1st and 4 being the latest.
2. MP4: Is another name of the MPEG 4-Part 14 standard created by the Moving Pictures Expert Group standards. This specifies compression for both video and audio. A number of manufacturers use MP4 on products that playback both audio and video. This can be misleading as MP4 products must be able to playback files with the extension .mp4.
3. WMA: Windows Media Audio is a standard of audio data compression which was developed by Microsoft.
4. DiVX: Is a compression technique that converts long videos into smaller pieces without sacrificing detail. It utilizes MPEG-4 compression standards.
5. XVID: The opposite of DiVX, is a compression technique and a direct competitor for DiVX. It uses video compression based on the MPEG-4 standard. The difference is that DiVX is proprietary while XVID is free to use.
6. MP3: Designed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group, is a standard for audio files compression.
7. JPEG: This is a compression standard for photographs and is used by most digital cameras. Having this lets the user playback pictures from the camera on the portable DVD screen.

** Memory Devices **

1. AV In/Out: Audio/Video input that connects external devices such as video cameras directly, or directly out to connect to other devices such as home TV, car system
2. VGA Out: Video Graphics Array port, connect to LCD displays among others.
3. SD/MMC/MS Card Reader: Secure Digital/Multimedia Card and Memory Stick are flash memory used in most portable electronics including MP3/MP4 players and digital cameras.
4. USB: Universal Serial Bus is the most common interface devices on a variety of platforms allowing you can connect many portable devices.
5. HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface offers audio/video interface for uncompressed digital data. Used to connect digital audio/video sources including Blu-ray Disc players, and video game consoles (such as the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360).
6. S-Video: Separate Video is an analog video signal that carries the video data as two separate signals, lumen (luminance) and chroma (color). Carries standard def video but doesn't carry audio on the same cable.

** TV Inputs **

1. PAL: Phase Alternating Line is analog color encoding system generally used in broadcast television. PAL encoded DVDs will not play unless the player can decode this signal.
2. NTSC: Developed in America, it is an analog color encoding system for broadcast television. Generally used in America.
3. DVB: Digital Video Broadcasting is becoming the industry standard for digital video.
4. ATSC: Advanced Television Systems Committee defines the digital broadcast standard for the US, Canada, and Mexico.

** Other Capabilities **

1. NES/SNES: Nintendo Entertainment System/Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Gaming consoles released by Nintendo in the early 80's and90's. Many third-party devices come with these built-in, portable DVD players included.
2. ESP Protection: Electronic Skip Protection basically ensures playback of audio/video is skip free especially when mobile...say in a car.

Modern consumers, particularly consumers looking for electronic devices, are more educated than ever so it is important to have a wide base of knowledge if you are looking to buy or sell electronics.

The more forms of media and inputs that a Portable DVD player is equipped to handle the more in demand it will be and the greater profit it will bring in today's market.
Now you know what the terms mean get the best portable DVD models on the block. Just visit Chinavasion.com or paste this URL into your address bar. http://www.chinavasion.com/index.php/cName/home-audio-video-portable-dvd-players/