A projection screen type that has connections on all sides of the screen material, which pull it taut in order to have a flat screen surface.

Thin Film Transistor. A type of LCD display where each pixel is controlled by one to four transistors. TFT screens are sometimes called active matrix LCDs.

Total Harmonic Distortion. Expressed as a percentage, it is the measurement of distortion caused by an electronic component related to the harmonics it generates relative to a fundamental frequency.

Tom Holman's eXperiment. A certification for audio equipment and installation done to a standard set by THX Ltd., a company owned by George Lucas. Usually geared towards audio playback for video and cinema.

THX certification for speakers, receivers and DVD players designed for small to medium sized home theaters and non-dedicated rooms of around 2000 cubic feet and performing to a specified standard.

THX certification specifically for receivers to a specified standard.

Certification program for speakers, receivers, amplifiers and interconnects that are not room size dependent and performing to a specified standard.

THX certification for speakers, receivers, controllers, DVD players for dedicated home theaters of about 3000 cubic feet which perform to a specified standard.

Television control that varies the color bias of an incoming video signal. Control needed due to color variations in the NTSC signal caused by atmospheric conditions. Does not exist on PAL and SECAM televisions and adjustment should be unnecessary with directly linked video sources.

Transition-Minimized Differential Signalling. A serial digital transfer protocol for sending information to a flat panel display. Also known as PanelLink. Used in DVI, HDMI, DFP and VESA Plug and Display (P&D) as the standard used to send digital pictures. TMDS is just one of the signals sent via DVI or Plug and Display.

Toshiba designed fiber-optic cable connection that quite often uses the SPDIF transfer protocol. There are several variations. Transfers data using light instead of electricity.

Replicated versions of an object that slowly fade as the object moves across the screen.

A device that takes one kind of energy and changes it into another. Seating vibrators that take their signals from an LFE channel (.1) are called transducers.

The analog measurement of image fidelity, it is the number of resolvable vertical lines divided by the aspect ratio. A VHS tape is typically rated at 240 lines where the live feed of a broadcast camera can be as high as 800 lines. It is not the same as pixel resolution.

A small speaker designed for high frequency reproduction.