E-K Media, Inc.
Glossary of
Audio, Video, CD and DVD Terminology

ASCII: Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII), a coding system that assigns numeric values to letters, numbers, punctuation marks,and other characters.

Audio Cassette Shell: Plastic enclosure for an audio tape which can be printed on.

AVI: Acronym for Audio Video Interleave, a format used for video files inMicrosoft Windows. All AVI files have an AVI file name extension.

Bitmaps and Pixels: A bitmap is a graphic image that use a grid of small squares, known as pixels (short for picture element), to represent graphics. Each pixel in a bitmap image has a specific location and color value assigned to it, and is equal to one or more bits of memory.
Bitmap images are resolution dependent—that is, they represent a fixed number of pixels. As a result, they can appear jagged and lose detail if they are scaled on-screen or if they are printed at a higher resolution than they were created for. When stored as graphic files, bit maps have the file extension BMP.

Bleed: is the amount of artwork that falls outside of the crop marks and trim marks. If the artwork has printing that goes right to the edge, you MUST design an extra 1/8” on all sides. This will eliminate problems of white edges showing up on the finished product. However, you need NO bleeds when designing CD labels.

Booklet: The pages that go in the front of the jewel case. Booklets are typically folded or saddle stitched , in 2 to 16 panels. You must specify the number of color and the number of panels used in the artwork when requesting a quote on the job.

Browsers: A software program that translates HTML (hypertext markup language) files on the Internet into the pictures, text, and hypertext that you see on your computer screen.

CD-ROM: Acronym for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, a technology in which data is stored on a compact disc. Data is encoded in a binary form that can easily be mastered, replicated and played back. The binary data is first embossed into the plastic of a CD in a series of pits and lands running along a spiral track, and then a reflective layer is applied. The data is played back with an optical pickup, which measures the intensity of the reflection from a laser beam directed at the track of data.Compact discs are capable of storing up to 1 GB of data, although typical storage capacity is 640 MB. Unlike floppy disks and hard disks, CD-ROM’s are "read only," meaning that the data on them cannot be erased or written over once it has been recorded onto the disc.

CD-R: Acronym for Compact Disc - Recordable, a technology that uses dye recording as a method to store data on a disc. A dye layer is sandwiched between a polycarbonate substrate and a reflective layer. The disc is written by laser heating. The dye layer absorbs heat from the recording laser and the heat causes a physical change in the polycarbonate and reflective layers. CD-R ‘s can be played back in the same player as a CD-ROM. CD-R is recordable once read many, CD-RW is recordable many, read many (can be written over once it has been recorded onto the disc.

Clear Overlay: A layer of clear vinyl on the outside of a video case into which a printed sheet can be inserted and / or sealed in permanently during manufacturingColor Separation: To reproduce color and continuous-tone images, printers usually separate artwork into four plates—one plate for each of the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black portions of the image. When inked with the appropriate color and printed in register with one another, these colors combine to reproduce the original artwork. Color separating is the process of dividing the image into two or more colors, and the films from which the plates are created are called the separations.

CMYK: see Process Color

Crop Marks: Lines that show where the job is to be cut (registration color)

DVD: Acronym for Digital Versatile Disc, (or Digital Video Disc). While DVD disks look like a conventional CDs, they use a sophisticated encoding system (See MPEG1 and MPEG2) allowing them to store much more data than a CD. A single sided, single layer DVD can store up to seven times more than a CD -- roughly 9 hours of music, 133 minutes of video, or the equivalent data of 3,400 floppy discs. DVD also enables a much higher picture quality with a horizontal resolution of 500 lines, it is twice that of VHS tape. While DVD drives can read both DVD disks and conventional CDs, conventional CD drives can’t read DVD discs.
Storage capacity of Digital Versatile Disc are:
D V D - 5 4.7 Gbytes (1 side, 1 layer )
D V D - 9 8.5 Gbytes (1 side, 2 layers)
D V D - 10 9.4 Gbytes (2 sides, 1 layer)
D V D -18 17.0 Gbytes (2 sides, 2 layers)

Embossing Imprinting: dyes are applied, using heat and pressure to produce graphics with a raised appearance on the surface of a printed booklet or tray card on paper or vinyl product

EPS: The Encapsulated Postscript (EPS) language file format is used to transfer Postscript language artwork between applications. Typically, EPS files represent single illustrations or tables that are placed onto a host page. EPS files can contain both vector and bitmap graphics.

FireWire: A ultra high speed standard (IEEE 1394) for transferring data from peripherals to PCs originally developed and named by Apple. A FireWire connection is capable of transferring data up to 400 Mbps (400 million bits per second) and it is particularly suited to transfer large data files from peripherals like digital video cameras to PCs.

Flatten: Many image-processing programs, allow you to build images in layers. These layers are individually created then placed on top of each other to assemble the whole image. While the file is a stack of layered images, each can be manipulated to alter the completed picture. In order to move the file to another program or save it as a GIF or JPEG, however, you may have to flatten all these layers into one file. After flattening, all visible layers are merged into a selected layer, and cannot be individually manipulated.

Foil Stamping Utilizing dyes, heat, pressure and a variety of colored foils, graphics can be depressed onto a product surface, producing a metallic design

Fold Marks: Dashed lines that show where the job is to be folded (in registration color). Normally used on booklet and tray card art.

FTP: Acronym for File Transfer Protocol, a standard that allows a single computer to transfer files to and from another computer over a TCP/IP network.

GIF: Acronym for Graphics Interchange Format. Originally developed by CompuServe, GIF is commonly used to display color graphics and images in hypertext markup language (HTML) over the World Wide Web . GIF is a compressed format. that is designed to facilitate the efficient transmission of pictures on-line.

HTML: Acronym for Hypertext Markup Language, the language used to author or create
documents on the World Wide Web.

Inlay or Tray Card: The sheet that goes into the back of the jewel case. It has two perforated spines attached on the sides.
Insert sheets Typically 4 color, coated one side, enamel stock. These inserts are inserted into the outside overlay of a video case.

Iris Print or Rainbow: A high quality print made from the computer file. Shows the colors of the job much better than any kind of printer.

ISDN: Acronym for Integrated Services Digital Network. An ISDN line is a digital link that uses a telephone line to connect to the Internet at speeds of up to 128 Kbs a second. An ISDN connection differs from using a modem, in that a computer can transmit digital signals directly to another computer without converting them to analog sound waves as a modem will. ISDN connections are not only faster than the fastest modem, they are also more reliable because digital signals are less prone to noise.
J-Card or U- Card A J-shape (cross shaped) or U-shaped insert for an audio cassette box

JPEG: Acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the consortium that established the file format. JPEG format is commonly used to display photographs and images in hypertext markup language (HTML) files over online services. JPEG retains all the color information in an RGB image. JPEG uses a compression scheme that identifies and discards extra data not essential to the display of the image. Once an image has been compressed and then decompressed, it will not be identical to the original image.

Masks: crop part of the artwork so that only a portion of the artwork appears through the shape you create.

Match Print: A color print made directly from the film that will make the job. The truest representation of the job before printing.

MIDI: Acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, a hardware specification and communication standard adopted by the electronic music industry. MIDI is used to represent and transmit sounds, enabling music synthesizers and musical instruments to communicate with computers and with each other.

MPEG:Acronym for Moving Pictures Experts Group, which developed a standard compression scheme used for compressing data for CD-ROM and for DVD replication.

MPEG: is used to compress digital video to the CD Audio data rate and is used most commonly with CD media. It squeezes 167 Mbits per second into about 1.4 Mbits per second, a reduction of over 99%. This compression method reduces the picture size, halves the horizontal resolution to 352 pixels, and discards on of the fields (halves the vertical resolution) and segments the frame for encoding. Lastly, the frames are analyzed and any parts that do not change from frame to frame are not stored, and any segment that has moved to another place but not changed is encoded with significant data savings. MPEG 1 can be played back on a computer screen at full screen 30 frames per second.

MPEG2: is used with DVD media, and employs some of the same methods as MPEG1 but without the resolution and size reduction.
MPEG2 varies the data it used to store material (changes the number of data bits per second) depending on how difficult it is to encode.Slow moving sequences compress more efficiently than fast moving video

NTSC: The US Standard for displaying video pictures. It uses 30 interlaced frames (or pictures) per second, at a horizontal resolution of 720 pixels, and a vertical resolution of 480 pixels. Interlacing divides each frame into two fields of 1/2 the vertical resolution and displays it on alternating lines. The fields are updated alternately at twice the normal rate.

PAL: The European standard for displaying video pictures. It uses 25 interlaced frames per second, at a horizontal resolution of 720 pixels and a vertical resolution of 576 pixels. Interlacing divides each frame into two fields of 1/2 the vertical resolution and displays it on alternating lines. The fields are updated alternately at twice the normal rate.

PANTONE: Used for printing inks. Each PANTONE color has a specified CMYK equivalent. One of the great problems of the digital age has been matching colors between a digital RGB image from a monitor and making it look the same in print using CMYK. These problems are addressed by the Pantone Matching System (PMS)

PDF: format is used by Adobe Acrobat(R), Adobe’s electronic publishing software. PDF can represent both vector and bitmap graphics. PDF pages are identical to Postscript pages, but can also contain electronic document search and navigation features like hypertext links and an electronic table of contents.

Postscript: is a page description language that is built into many desktop printers and virtually all high-end printing systems.

Printer font: The other part of a postscript font needed of the film to be processed.

Process Color or CMYK: Pure cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y) and black (K) pigments combine to produce any number of tones in the print run. CMYK is based on the light-absorbing quality of ink printed on paper. As white light strikes translucent inks, a portion of the spectrum is absorbed. Color that is not absorbed is reflected back to your eye. Combining these inks to reproduce color is called four color process printing

QuickTime: QuickTime is a video and animation system developed by Apple Computer that also supports encoding formats like JPEG and MPEG. Quick time can be played back at half or quarter screens, 15 frames per second.

Registration Marks: (Reg Marks) Marks that the print shop uses to align the separations. Registration marks are the most commonly used marks in printing, because they are easy to line up accurately.

Registration color: A color set up to print ALL plates of your job. Crop and registration marks that print only in black are useless to the printers. Registration color looks black on the screen, so make a special note.

RGB: A large percentage of the visible spectrum can be represented by mixing red, green, and blue (RGB) colored light in various proportions and intensities. Because the RGB colors combine to create white -- that is, all light is reflected back to the eye. RGB colors are used for lighting, video, and monitors.

RTF: Acronym for Rich Text Format, a standard developed by Microsoft Corporation for specifying formatting of documents. RTF files are actually ASCII files with special commands which include information about formatting.

Screen font: One part of a complete (postscript) font set. Usually is inside the “suitcase” Icon.

SCSI: Acronym for Small Computer System Interface, pronounced "scuzzy". A parallel interface for attaching peripheral devices to computers.

Silk Screening: Using color separated artwork, a screen is created for each separate color and/ or copy change. These screens (stencils) are used to apply color ink to a CD or other product. Originally, screens were made with silk material. thus the term “silk screening”

Spot colors: are special premixed colors that require their own separations and their own plates on a printing press. Spot colors may or may not fall within the CMYK gamut; for example, a spot color may be a neon or metallic ink that is not within the CMYK gamut, or it may be a shade of green that falls within the gamut. Spot colors are usually identified using the Pantone Matching System (PMS)

Template: A computer file, already made to specification that you can drop your job into and instantly have it to the right size, and with crop/fold/registration marks!

TIFF: The Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF) is used to exchange files between applications and computer platforms. TIFF is a flexible bitmap image format that supports RGB, CMYK, and gray scale color models. It’s compression method does not discard detail from the image.

Trapping: Mis-registration can cause gaps between colors on the final output when colors printed from separate plates overlap or adjoin one another. To compensate for potential gaps between colors in artwork, print shops use a technique called trapping to create a small area of overlap (called a trap) between two adjoining colors.

WAV: Acronym for Waveform Audio File Format, a digital audio standard that MS-DOS-based computers can understand and manipulate. The is used in the Windows operating system and can be identified by their .WAV file name extension.

White Flood: A white base placed over the entire printable area of a CD label prior to printing the colors specified. The white flood provides an appearance that more accurately reflects artwork as printed on white paper.

Video formats: The following video formats are commonly available.

3/4 inch - U-Matic introduced in 1972. Composite analog format and quality was limited to 330 lines of resolution. Recording time is 75 minutes in NTSC / PAL.

1 inch - Composite Analog format, Dolby A noise reduction. 3 hours recording time, 1” tape width and NTSC / PAL formats.

8 millimeter (8 mm) - The quality of 8mm video is similar to VHS and the reduced size of the tape cassette means that camcorders could be made smaller than VHS camcorders. Sony introduced Hi8, a higher quality version of 8mm. This is also used as an acquisition format and under optimum conditions can produce very high quality video. In mid-1999, Sony introduced digital-8 for the consumer market. This format not only represented a major improvement in quality, but the digital approach made a number of improvements in camcorder features possible

Betacam - Introduced in 1982 by the Sony Corp. Component analog format with 2 channels of linear analog audio employing Dolby C noise reduction and FM HiFi analog audio. In 1987, they improved on the concept with Betacam SP (for superior performance). 94 minutes recording time, NTSC and PAL formats.

D1 - Was the world's first digital videotape standard. Uncompressed 8 bit composite digital format with 4 channels of digital audio plus time code, 94 minutes recording time, 19 mm tape width. NTSC and Pal formats.

D-2 -Same as D1 with 124 minutes recording, NTSC, D-3 same as D2 with 185 minutes recording and a wider tape width (1/2”).

D-5 - Highest quality Uncompressed 10 bit digital format with 4 channels of digital audio. D-5 cassettes will record up to two hours of program material on a single videotape cassette. Because of its ability to record much more data per unit of time, the D-5 format can be readily adapted to DTV/HDTV production.

Digital Betacam -Introduced in 1993, very high quality compressed 10 bit digital format , NTSC / PAL. 124 minutes recording time, 1/ 2 inch tape width.

DVCAM - Beta SX Sony introduced the DVCAM and Beta SX as professional digital formats. Compressed 8 bit digital format with 2 channels of digital audio plus time code. 184 minutes of recording time, 1/4 inch tape width. Included with these systems is complete range of innovative linear and nonlinear editing equipment.

DVCPRO - Compressed 8 bit digital format with 2 channels of digital audio plus time code. 123 minutes recording time with 1/4 inch tape format.

D-9 Format - The quality of the D-9 format exceeds all of the analog formats, and many of the digital formats. This format offers four channels of uncompressed audio. It uses the basic VHS tape transport design, that has been improved to meet professional standards. Although some D-9 machines will play back S-VHS tapes, the format is far superior to S-VHS, especially when it comes to multi-generational applications, such as editing. The D-9 format uses 1û2-inch metal-particle tape and is capable of broadcast quality HDTV.

VHS - The most successful of all the video formats has been VHS (video home service). Although the technical quality of VHS has been improved significantly since its introduction, the quality still leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to professional applications. When
S-VHS (super VHS) was introduced, technical quality was improved significantly.