*1080i - 1080 interlaced; one of two formats designated as high-definition television in the ATSC DTV standard, with 1,080 vertical pixels by 1,920 horizontal pixels. The i stands for interlaced, as opposed to progressive scanning, used in the second HDTV standard, 720p. Contrary to myth, 1080i is not superior to 720p; 1080i has more scanning lines but also suffers the disadvantages of interlaced scanning.
*Blu-ray - Format for next-generation recordable HD DVD that uses a shorter-wave blue laser and is supported by most major DVD manufacturers. A single-sided, single-layer disc can hold 25GB of data.
*Dolby Digital - Six-channel digital audio standard that is part of the U.S. digital television standard; also called AC-3 or Digital 5.1. The channels consist of front left, front right, front center, surround or rear left, surround or rear right, and a separate subwoofer (the .1).
*HDMI - High-Definition Multimedia Interface. USB-like digital video connectivity standard designed as a successor to DVI; can transmit both uncompressed digital audio and video signals; protected by HDCP digital copy protection.
*rear projection - TV system where the picture is projected onto the rear of a translucent screen via a series of mirrors and viewed as you would an average television.
*front projection - Type of TV system in which the picture is projected onto a reflective screen or even a wall. The larger the picture, the more visible the pixels or scan lines and the darker the image. CRT systems use three tubes (red, blue, and green), whereas LCD and DLP uses a single projection lens.
*plasma - Display technology used in large-screen, flat-panel TVs. Each plasma panel contains thousands of tiny tubes that are like miniature fluorescent lights, filled by ionized gas in a plasma state. When excited by electricity, the tubes--which are backed by red, green, or blue phosphors--glow in different colors and intensities to create an image.
*LCD - Liquid-crystal display. System used on many DTVs, clocks, answering machines, handheld organizers, camcorders, and personal computers. Liquid crystals are sandwiched between two glass plates. Minor temperature variations are introduced to particular points in the display using pinpoint electric charges, illuminating or causing the crystals to change colors in predetermined patterns.
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