Glossary R-T

	R
RAID	Redundant Array of Independent Disks. A standardization/categorization method for fault-tolerant disk systems.
RAMbo Drive	A DVD-RAM drive capable of reading and writing both CD-Rs and CD-RWs.
Random Erase	Erasing single files from a CD-RW, creating more free space which can be used (just like on a floppy disk).
Raw	An uncompressed video bitstream.
RCE	Regional Coding Enhancement. An addition to standard DVD regional coding which will stop Region 1 discs from being playable on code-free players. See Regional Coding.
Recordable Disc	A CD or DVD that can have data written to it with a laser.
Red Book	The specifications for standard audio CDs.
Reed-Solomon (or RS-PC)	An error-correction encoding system that cycles data through mathematical transformations to increase its effectiveness.
Regional Coding	Coding hard-wired into DVD players to ensure that a DVD can only be played in one of six different world regions: Region 1: United States of America, Canada Region 2: Europe, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Arabia, Japan and South Africa Region 3: Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo and Indonesia Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America Region 5: India, Africa, Russia and the former USSR countries Region 6: People’s Republic of China A multi-region DVD player may allow you to play movies from different regions, but the difference in frame rates (NTSC 29.97 fps, PAL/SECAM 25 fps) means an adapter might be needed to make the DVD viewable.
Registry	A database that contains information about a computer’s configuration, which can include: User profiles Software installed and associated files Hardware installed Port usage Although a computer’s registry can be updated with a simple text editor, it is a VERY good idea to back up the original version before making any changes. Registry errors can cause serious operating system problems.
Resampling	Converting from one resolution to another, whether spatial or temporal resolutions.
Reserved Bytes	Bytes in the header of a DVD sector reserved for future use.
Resolution	A measure of an image’s detail and overall quality, usually a numerical value based on the units making up the image. For instance, the effective resolution of an analog TV screen is 512 × 400 pixels, while HDTV can reach 1920 × 1080 pixels. The higher the resolution number is, the clearer the picture becomes.
RF	Radio Frequency. Part of the electromagnetic spectrum is used for radio transmissions; frequencies of 535 kHz–1605 kHz are used for AM radio, while FM radio is broadcast at frequencies between 88 MHz–108 MHz.
RGB	Red, Green and Blue; the three primary colors of light. Different levels and combinations of these three colors create the entire range of visible light.
Rip	To copy files off a CD or DVD, often converting them into another format (Audio CD tracks to MP3 files, DVD video to VOB files).
RLC	Run-Length Coding. A lossless method of compression method that makes use of contiguous samples with identical values.
Rock Ridge	An ISO 9660 extension that supports the UNIX file system.
Romeo	A temporary (and now outdated) solution to the “8-dot-3” Windows filename restriction before the creation of Joliet. See Joliet.
RSDL	Reverse Spiral Dual Layer (disc). A disc format that permits splitting a movie across two layers of a disc and then joining the layers for seamless continuous playback.
Run-In/Run-Out Blocks	Blocks of data written before and after a packet or a track on a disc that allow a recorder to synchronize with the data and to finish up interleaved data. Each packet gets four run-in blocks and two run-out blocks.
	S
S/PDIF	Sony/Philips Digital Interface. The standard for transmitting digital signals (like Dolby Digital) on consumer-grade systems.
SACD	Super Audio CD. A newer disc format that can play uncompressed digital multi-channel surround sound. SACD discs can be played in current CD players, but the output will only have normal CD quality sound. A “format war” is in progress between SACD and DVD-Audio to see which will become the new audio standard.
Sample Rate	The number of times a digital sample is taken (samples per second, or Hertz). A higher rate means better reproduction of the original signal; a sampling rate must be double the original signal frequency in order to avoid aliasing.
Sampling	Converting analog signals into a digital format by measuring the analog signal’s value at regular intervals and encoding the numerical values in digital form.
SATA	Serial ATA. A descendant of Parallel ATA with a higher transfer rate. Parallel ATA maxes out at 133MBps; Serial ATA’s base speed is 150MBps, and can max out at 600MBps.
Saturation	The amount of gray in a color; effectively, the intensity of a hue.
Scalability	Scalability offers a set of tools by which video can be coded at different resolutions in a single bitstream. When played, the bitstream is decoded at a suitable resolution (scale).
Scanning Velocity	Rate at which a laser travels along the spiral track of a disc.
SCART	Syndicat des Constructeurs d’Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs. The standard 21-pin European AV connector/socket for TVs, VCRs and DVD players.
Scene Access	The ability to skip to a certain scene on a DVD by using menus or pressing chapter numbers on a remote control.
Screener	A pre-release of a video which is sent to censors and film critics. Sometimes a copyright message is visible on the screen throughout the program to prevent illegal duplication.
SCSI	Small Computer System Interface. A standard electronic interface between a computer and its peripherals, such as hard drives or CD/DVD drives.
SDDS	Sony Dynamic Digital Sound. Sony’s multi-channel (six or eight channels) surround sound format, available only in movie theaters.
SDTV	Standard Definition Television. Digital signals transmitted at 480-line resolution. The picture and sound are better than a standard analog NTSC, but not as good as HDTV.
Seamless Branching	A DVD that can switch instantaneously between separate video, audio and subtitle tracks.
SECAM	Séquential Couleur Avec Mémoire. A composite color standard similar to PAL but currently used only in France and a few other countries. PAL video can be transcoded to SECAM by either the player or the transmitter.
Sector	A collection of bytes at the data layer; the smallest recordable unit on a disc. One sector can hold 2048 bytes of data or 2324 bytes of audio/video information.
Sector Information	A sector’s header that provides the sector number.
Sector Number	A number identifying the physical sector on a disc.
Sequence	An MPEG definition for a set of dependently coded pictures that follow a sequence header until a sequence_end_code appears. All pictures in a sequence have the same common bit rate, buffer size, picture size, aspect ratio and frame rate. See GOP, B Frame, I Frame, P Frame.
Sequence Header	Encoding and displaying parameters placed before one or more GOPs in an MPEG file.
Sequential Erase	Erasing an entire disc so that it can be re-used.
Session	A recorded segment of a disc which may contain one or more tracks of any type (data, audio or video). Data recordings usually have one track per session, but there can be multiple sessions on a disc. All video and audio tracks should be in a single session. A lead-in and a lead-out are recorded for each session on a disc.
Session-at-Once	A subset of Disc-at-Once. In Session-at-Once recording, a first session containing multiple audio tracks is recorded in a single pass, and then the laser is turned off, but the disc is not closed. Then a second session (data) is written and closed. See Disc-at-Once.
SIF	Source Interchange Format. A compressed video format standard: 352 × 240, 29.97 fps for NTSC and 352 × 288, 25 fps for PAL and SECAM. Image quality is roughly equivalent to VHS tape.
Slice	An independently coded portion of an image. Video decoding and error correction can take place at the slice layer of a disc.
Spindown	A power-saving feature on some drives that stop a disc from spinning when the drive is not in use. This can cause buffer underruns during the recording process.
Square Pixels	The pixels that make up an image can have different height-to-width ratios. A square pixel has a ratio of 1.0.
SSDL	Single-Sided Dual-Layer DVD.
SSSL	Single-Sided Single-Layer DVD.
Still Gallery	A collection of stationary images on a DVD; a viewer can use the skip button on their remote control to move from one image to the next. A single DVD can hold thousands of images.
Subchannels (or Subcodes)	Eight subchannels of non-audio data on a CD (lettered P–W). Channels P and Q contain instructions for an audio player, telling it how to play the disc. On a CD+G disc, one of the subchannels would be used for storing song lyrics.
Sub-Picture	A picture superimposed over a video.
Substrate	The clear polycarbonate that surrounds and protects the information on a DVD. It also helps to ensure greater accuracy in the laser pick-up.
Subtitles	Text appearing on the screen for viewers to read, either due to a hearing problem (closed-captioning) or because the film is in a foreign language. DVDs can hold up to 32 subtitle tracks.
Subwoofer	A speaker designed to reproduce extremely low frequencies (bass). Since bass is not very directional, most home theater systems only need one mono bass speaker.
Surround Speakers	Speakers in a surround sound system that individually handle the different audio channels. For instance, a ProLogic sound system uses five surround speakers: center, front left, front right, rear left and rear right.
SVCD	Super VideoCD. An SVCD disc can hold 35–60 minutes of MPEG-2 video along with two stereo audio tracks and four selectable subtitles.
S-Video Output	Video signals that are split into two parts: chrominance (color) and luminance (light and dark). This provides a better picture than composite video, but not as good as component video.
	T
Table of Contents	Shows the number of tracks, their starting locations, and the total length of the data area on a disc (either whole or for any session on it).
TBC	Time Base Corrector. A device that removes or masks variations in video synchronizing signals by automatically delaying the video signals, ensuring that each line starts at the correct time.
Teaser (Theatrical) Trailer	A very short movie trailer that does not give away any significant plot elements.
Telecine	Adding frames to a film so the 24 fps film rate more closely matches the 29.97 fps NTSC video speed. See Pulldown.
Telesync	A bootlegged video recorded with sophisticated camera equipment (instead of a hand-held camcorder). The audio track is either recorded directly from the theater’s audio system or the bootleg is made in an empty theater so there is no audience noise.
Thermal Calibration	Recalibrating the read/write heads in a CD/DVD recorder to take into account thermal expansion; CDs and DVDs, like many materials, expand when heated, and the reading/writing process does generate a fair amount of heat. Most modern recorders handle the calibration themselves.
THX	A high-performance playback specification developed by Lucasfilm Ltd.
Timbre Matching	Matching tonal characteristics between speakers in a surround-sound audio system.
Time Code (or SMPTE time code)	Information that indicates a position in time on an audio or video recording, usually with values for hours, minutes, seconds and frames.
Title	A logically distinct section of a DVD, such as the main feature, a documentary or cast interviews. One DVD can have up to 99 titles.
Titles and Chapters	The directory structure on a DVD that allows navigation to a specific part of a movie.
TMPGenc	An MPEG-1/MPEG-2 encoder used to encode VCD, SVCD and DVD.
Track	A separate “element” in audio-visual information; on a DVD, there can be 1 video track (with multiple angles), 8 audio tracks, and 32 subpicture tracks. Data or audio “groups” recorded to a CD during a session; a session will have at least one track, although multiple tracks can appear in a single session. A single spiraling channel of information on a disc, like the single groove on each side of an LP.
Track Buffer	A unit that keeps bitstream rates constant when disc access rates fluctuate.
Track Pitch	Distance along radial vector between adjacent tracks.
Track-at-Once	A data recording method where the recording laser is stopped after each track is completed.
Trailer	A short preview for a feature film, television program or other multimedia content (like a videogame).
Transcoding	Reformatting content to another type of content without changing the source.
Transport Stream	Once a movie file has been multiplexed (or muxed), a transport stream is used to send it across a network. Viewers receive and decode the signal, allowing them to watch the movie. The transport stream used for HDTV is MPEG2; each MPEG2 file contains audio, video and other data in packetized elementary stream (PES) packets.
TSCV	A VCD/SVCD authoring program for use with VCDimager (a VideoCD image mastering and ripping tool).

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