Super VHS. Improved resolution version of VHS that stores luma and chroma in separate signals.

A video transmission standard that uses a 4 pin mini-DIN connector to send video information on two signal wires called luminance(brightness, Y) and chrominance(color, C). S-Video is also referred to as Y/C. Considered a higher quality video source than composite video.

Sony/Philips Digital InterFace. A transport protocol related to AES/EBU for sending PCM digital audio signals between devices. Uses either 75-Ohm coaxial cable or fiber-optic cable.

Super Audio Compact Disc. Sony and Philips designed audio format competing with DVD-Audio with audiophile performance characteristics. Offers up to 6 channels using the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) format as opposed to CD’s PCM. Requires an SACD player.

The speed at which data representations of an analog signal are duplicated. The higher the number, the better the quality. Another quality aspect is the granularity of the scale used for representation where 16 bits allows 65536 discrete levels and 24 bits allows about 17 million.

Secondary Audio Programs. SAP is a feature that allows a broadcast to contain additional audio information such as another language or perhaps weather information.

Saturation is a measure of color intensity. In the absence of saturation the color hue is a shade of grey. A highly saturated hue has a vivid, intense color, while a less saturated hue appears more muted and grey.

The line drawing speed of a display, usually given in kHz. A standard definition TV has a scan rate of 15.75 kHz which when you divide by 525 scan lines, gives a horizontal refresh rate of 30 fps or Hz.

As it applies to projectors, gain is the measurement of a projection screen’s light reflectance with unity gain being one. A high gain screen will reflect more light along a narrower path than lower gain screen. Screen gains under one use a gray screen to absorb ambient light to help maintain contrast ratios.

A 12V connection from a projector to an electric screen which tells the screen to deploy when the projector is turned on and roll up when the projector is turned off.

An image distortion caused by digital imagers with a low fill rate. Looks like the picture is seen through a screen door with thin vertical and horizontal black lines and is commonly noticeable on lower resolution LCD displays. An LCD display fitted with a microlens array helps reduce this problem.

Standard Definition TeleVision. A class of digital television (DTV) that refers to the 480i format. 480i is an interlaced video format that produces a full frame of 480 lines of video in two successive fields. The first field includes the odd lines and the second field includes the even lines. Sometimes used to refer to regular television.

Sequential Couleur avec Mémoire. A television standard closely related to PAL but with a different method of sending color information. Runs at 625 horizontal lines of resolution updating 25 frames a second. Used in France and Russia as well as other countries. Many eastern European countries are starting to phase out SECAM in favor of PAL.

A feature of speakers and cables where a metal layer is added to contain and protect a signal from creating or receiving electromagnetic interference.

A lens designed to project the largest possible image from a short distance. Most front projection systems use a short throw lens and are required for rear projection where the depth behind the screen is limited.

Super High Pressure. A type of projector lamp.

The ratio of noise to signal measured in dB. The higher the number, the better.

A signal distortion where one part of a signal arrives at a different time than another and causes color fringes to the sides of an object.

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. A U.S. based Trade organization that develops standards and practices for the movie and television industries. Started in 1916.

A particular system’s ability to reproduce sound so that it seems to be coming from a particular location. Same as imaging.

Speaker wire U-shaped connection type which attaches to an amplifier or speaker via screw or 5-way binding post. Also used in older TV antennas to attach to a television using screws.

Sony/Philips Digital Interface. SPDIF is a unidirectional digital audio interface for connecting audio equipment.

Sound Pressure Level. Commonly used to describe a speaker’s efficiency at one watt at 1 meter distance. The actual amount of sound output using dB. There are various weightings used such as A, B or C which reflect the human ear’s sensitivity at different sound levels. A-weighting is used for levels up to 55dB SPL, B-weighting from 55dB SPL to 85dB SPL and C-weighting for 85dB SPL up. A quiet office is 40dB SPL and a rock concert is 110dB SPL.Â

Also known as a guillotine connection. Speaker cable connection where a spring-loaded piece of metal is pressed against bare wire.

sRGB stands for standard Red, Green, and Blue, and is a standard for rendering color evenly across a variety of platforms.

Set-Top Box. A device used to receive and decode a DTV signal and deliver it to a television monitor. Other types of STBs are used to convert and decode video and audio for analog cable, digital cable and satellite services.

A visual artifact of trailing colors behind an on-screen object or across a screen.Â

On a flat-panel display, one of the primary color picture elements of which 3 make up a full color capable pixel.

SVGA is a display resolution measuring 800 pixels horizontally by 600 pixels verically giving a total display resolution of 480,000 individual pixels. SVGA has a 4:3 aspect ratio.

SXGA is a display resolution measuring 1280 pixels horizontally by 1024 pixels vertically giving a total display resolution of 1,310,720 individual pixels. SXGA has a 5:4 aspect ratio.