Nicam

Means Stereo sound. A Nicam VCR is capable of handling digital stereo sound. Using a Nicam VCR with a Nicam TV you will get stereo sound on most recordings of the kind of quality you would expect from a CD player.

Dolby Pro Logic

Surround sound. 4 channels usually stereo front, left and right, centre dialogue and mono rear.

Virtual Dolby Pro Logic

A virtual surround sound. This imitates Dolby Pro Logic without needing rear speakers.

Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1) Surround Sound

Recreates the sound system used in a cinema in your own home using 5 speakers and 1 subwoofer (low frequency loudspeaker for powerful bass) positioned around the room each with their own sound channel so you can have a different sound coming out of each speaker. stereo front left and right, centre dialogue and stereo rear channels. Additional super woofer channel.

100Hz

Reduces flicker and is easier on the eye
A normal television scans its picture at 50hz, which means that the picture is flickering all the time which can make a picture look unrealistic. A 100Hz set doubles this scan rate giving a flicker free picture and the most realistic and deep picture reproduction available when combined with a super flat tube.

Super Flat Screen

The screen on these televisions is 100% flat, eliminating any reflection or glare, giving a much sharper and realistic picture. This combined with 100Hz Scanning (see above) give one of the most realistic picures available.

Digital Television

Digitally transmittied television signals carrying superior picture and sound quality and a larger number of channels using either an aerial or minidish. For more information on digital see our “Digital TV explained' section.

Widescreen (16:9)

The new format of screen size. This new aspect ratio uses the same viewing ratios as your eyes making everything look a lot more realistic. It is also the same ratio used for cinema screens, so you are viewing films how they are meant to be, without losing any of the picture or having big black bars. All new technology is being made with widescreen in mind and nearly all digital programmes and DVDs are in widescreen.

Traditional TV (4:3)

The 'Old' style screen aspect ratio (not widescreen) there are very few conventional sized televisions left on the market.

Auto setup

Makes tuning the TV in very easy.

PAL

Broadcast standard used in Britain, Australia and some other countries.

SECAM

Broadcast standard used in France and some other countries.

NTSC

American and Japanese broadcast standard

Scart

A European standard connection allowing you to easily connect your equipment together giving the best quality results. (DVD players can't be connected to a television without a scart socket)
Scart leads - used for connecting your TV to a VCR, DVD player or satellite system. Vital if you want to get Nicam stereo sound from a Nicam capable VCR or Dolby from a DVD player.

Fastext

Teletext Where you can move quickly through the pages by using the coloured buttons on the remote control.

Rear projection

Very large screen TVs often have this. A system where the red, blue and green of TV images are projected onto a mirror which reflects the picture onto the screen.

Super Woofer

A low frequency loudspeaker for more power bass effects.

Tweeter

A speaker that plays high frequency sounds.

4-Head

A 4 head VCR gives good quality long play recording, a perfect still picture in standard (not long) play and has stereo sound.

2-Head

A 2 head VCR won't give as good a playback in long play, a very jumpy pause picture or no pause picture at all and doesnt have stereo sound.

Audio Digital Optical Output

Using an optical cable, this output allows you to connect your Hi-Fi system to products such as mini-disc recorders and DVD players. This takes full advantage of high performance digital signals and allows you to playback sound through a Dolby 5.1 amplifier/decoder.


Front AV

Phono sockets located on the front of the video recorder for easy connection to other pieces of equipment such as camcorders.

Hi-Fi Stereo Sound

Allows a much fuller and realistic sound reproduction then from mono equipment seperating sound into the left and right channels.

Long Play

This feature doubles the length of your tapes, giving you 8 hours recording time on a 4 hour tape.

Mono Sound

The most basic sound format coming out of only one channel.

VideoPlus

Easy recording. next to the TV listings in most publications there is a plus code. Simply enter this code into your VCR and your record timer will be set to record that programme.