Receiver Specs/Definitions Defined!


So you are shopping for a receiver and decide to check out the specifications. You look through the long list of technical terms, and if anyone is nearby, you act like you know what all those terms and acronyms mean…

Well, here is a sample list of specifications followed by selected definitions of the most common terms used….Enjoy!

All of the definitions/explanations below were cut/pasted from other public sources on the net.


Specifications:

DUAL (2) Tuners : Blind Scan Supported*
Dual Recording & Playback Simultaneously
USB 2.0 Supported : 3 Embedded host ports
Time-Shift mode supported
Recording Capacity depending on External HDD Size
***** (80GB -> 40 Hours, 160GB-> 80Hours, 200GB-> 100Hours)
Powerful Trick Mode Supported.
Fully MPEG-2 & DVB-S Supported : STi 5100 MPEG Chip-Sets
32 Bit RISC CPU
64M Byte DDR SDRAM/4M Byte Flash
128K Bit EEPROM
PIG (Picture-In-Graphic) Available
PIP (Picture-in-Picture)
Component output (Y, Pb, Pr
USAL Supported
256 Colors & User Friendly GUI for Easy Control
The Fastest Booting & Scan Speed
Highly Speedy Channel Changing Time.
S/W Downloading with Serial Port / USB 2.0 Port
Digital Audio Output
Parental Lock Function using Master PIN Code
6000 Channel Programmable
100 Satellite Programmable
Background Graphic Display for Radio Program Channels
Easy-to-use User Interface
Various Aspect Ratio with4:3, Letter Box, Full Screen & 16:9
Highly Speedy Channel Changing Time : Less than 1 Sec.
Channel Sorting by FTA, CAS, Satellite, Alphabetic Order & Network
8 Favorite Channel List Group Programmable
Highly Speedy Channel Changing Time : Less than 1 Sec.
Close Caption Supported
Multi-Picture Flame Screen Available
14, 9,16 Flame Screen & Thumbnail View Selectable
Zoom In-Out Function for Watching Screen
Automatic NTSC / PAL Detection and Simple Video Converter (NTSC <->
***** PAL) In On-Screen Display Menu
Useful RCU Key-Functions for Channel Find, Edit and Signal Strength Display
1 Year Manufacture Warranty. Made in KOREA



Dual Tuner
These machines have two tuners within the same receiver to operate independently of one another. The main use for this feature is the capability to record a live program while watching another live program simultaneously or to record two programs at the same time while watching a previously recorded one. Some dual-tuner DVRs also have the ability to operate two separate television sets at the same time.

Sat Scan/Blind Scan
Sat Scan = Scanning Predetermined Transponders. It scans all transponders in your list for that satelite.

Blind Scan = Scanning the Sat for available Transponders. If you have not reset factory settings you only need to do this once. This will scan the sat and update any transponders in your list if they were not included but are found to have signal. The process is a lot longer then your regular Sat Scan because it's actually performing two scans. One for TP's and the other for Channels.

Time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to at a time more convenient to the consumer. Typically, this refers to TV programming but can also refer to radio shows via pod casts.

Trick Modes such as pausing live TV, instant replay of interesting scenes, chasing playback where a recording can be viewed before it has been completed and skipping advertising.

MPEG-2 is widely used as the format of digital television signals that are broadcast by terrestial (over-the-air), cable, and direct broadcast sattelite TV systems. It also specifies the format of movies and other programs that are distributed on DVD and similar disks. As such, TV stations, TV receivers, DVD players, and other equipment are often designed to this standard.

DVB-S is the original Digital Video Broadcasting forward error coding and modulation standard for satellite television and dates from 1995. It is used via satellites serving every continent of the world. DVB-S is used in both MCPC and SCPC modes for broadcast network feeds, as well as for direct broadcast satellite services like Sky Digital (UK) via Astra in Europe, Dish Network and Globecast in the U.S. and bevbevbevbev TV in Canada. The transport stream delivered by DVB-S is mandated as MPEG-2. This technology using 11/12 GHz Frequency band.

DDR SDRAM (double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory) is a class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. It achieves nearly twice the bandwidth of the preceding [single data rate] SDRAM by double pumping (transferring data on the rising and falling edges of the clock signal) without increasing the clock frequency.
With data being transferred 64 bits at a time, DDR SDRAM gives a transfer rate of (memory bus clock rate) × 2 (for dual rate) × 64 (number of bits transferred) / 8 (number of bits/byte). Thus with a bus frequency of 100*MHz, DDR SDRAM gives a maximum transfer rate of 1600 MB/s.

EEPROM (also written E2PROM and pronounced e-e-prom or simply e-squared), which stands for Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory, is a type non-volatile memory used in computers and other electronic devices to store small amounts of data that must be saved when power is removed, e.g., calibration tables or device configuration.
When larger amounts of static data are to be stored (such as in USB flash drives) a specific type of EEPROM such as flash memory is more economical than traditional EEPROM devices.

YPBPR is a color space used in video electronics, in particular in reference to component video cables. YPBPR is the analog version of the YCbCr color space; the two are numerically equivalent, but YPBPR is designed for use in analog systems whereas YCBCR is intended for digital video.
Y carries luma (brightness) information.
PB carries the difference between blue and luma (B - Y).
PR carries the difference between red and luma (R - Y).

Aspect Ratio
The aspect ratio of an image is its width divided by height. Standard definition has an aspect ratio of 4:3 and displays video in "full screen," while high definition has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and displays images in "widescreen."

NTSC/PAL
There are three main standards in use around the world, PAL (Phase Alternating Line), NTSC (National Television System Committee) and SECAM (Séquentiel Couleur à Mémoire—Sequential Color with Memory).
The system used in North America is NTSC. Western Europe, Australia, and Eastern South America use PAL. Eastern Europe used SECAM, but switched to PAL after the change of the political regimes there. France still uses SECAM. Generally, a device (such as a television) can only read or display video encoded to a standard which the device is designed to support; otherwise, the source must be converted (such as when European programs are broadcast in North America or vice versa).

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