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AC-3
Audio Codec 3 - the original, non-trademarked and more technical name for Dolby Digital, a flexible audio codec supporting mono, stereo, and commonly 5.1 surround audio.
Active Video
The part of the video that contains picture information. Most of the active video is visible on the display. Anything outside the Active Video area consists of the "blanking", which exists in both horizontal and vertical.
Aspect Ratio
The width of a TV screen relative to its height. Conventional TVs are 4:3 (in other words, the screen is almost square); widescreen models are 16:9 (the screen is almost twice as wide as it is high).
A/V Inputs (composite)
These are the standard jacks used to hook up standard definition audio and video components to each other. Input jacks allow the signals to be received from other components; having many inputs is helpful for future system expansion needs. Audio signals using these jacks are transmitted faithfully but video signals mix colour and black & white signals together. For video, composite jacks provide high picture sharpness but are not as good as S-video jacks or Component jacks.
AVC
Advanced Video Codec - an early name for the h.264 video codec, commonly used on handheld devices such as iPod, Playstation portable and mobile phones.
Analog Audio
An electrical signal that directly represents sound. Compare this to digital audio which can be an electrical signal, but is an indirect representation of sound. See also Digital audio.
A/D (Analogue to Digital) Conversion
Before we can store or view an analogue signal in a digital device (for example, a DVD Recorder), it must first be turned into a digital signal. This is done in an A/D converter. Compression into a digital format is also often done at this time.
Anamorphic Video
16:9 picture data compressed into a 4:3 signal. Commonly used on DVD. If you view an anamorphic 16:9 picture on a 4:3 TV set, the picture will be tall and thin.
AV Output
Audio and video output connection
AV input
Audio and video input connection