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Glossary

4:3

Standard aspect ratio – also known as 1.33:1

16:9

Widescreen aspect ratio – also known as 1.78:1

AIFF

Audio Interchange File Format (sometimes known as Apple Interchange File Format) AIFF files are non-compressed, and contain the full frequency audio spectrum perfect for Audio CDs.

Anamorphic

or sometimes known as Full Height Anamorphic is a process used to store widescreen footage in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio. The height of the image does not change, but the width is 'squeezed' down, producing a distorted image. This distortion is corrected on playback by either 'stretching' the image back out, or vertically 'squeezing' the image and adding black bars to 'letterbox' the picture.

ARccOS

is Sony's structure protection system which is designed to prevent people 'ripping' your DVD using specialist software. This protection is added by re:fine to factory-ready masters. Due to the nature of the protection, certain authoring requirements must be fulfilled. There is a license fee involved in applying this protection.

Authoring

is the process of combining DVD video and menus to make a finished disc for duplication or replication

AVI

Audio Video Interleave, or AVI, is an audio/video Container Format first introduced by Microsoft. AVI can hold a number of audio and video CODECs, but some of the more common are MPEG and DV.

AVC

or Advanced Video Coding, is another designation for MPEG-4 Part 10 as used on Blu-ray titles.

BD+

is a component of the Blu-ray Disc Digital Rights Management system. Its intent was to prevent unauthorized copies of Blu-ray discs and the playback of Blu-ray media using unauthorized devices.

Blu-ray™

High definition optical disc format with more than five times the storage capacity of DVD. Blu-ray is named after the blue violet laser that is used to read and write the disc.

CD

(Compact Disc) The first kind of optical storage disc with a capacity of 700MB.

CD-ROM

Compact Disc, Read-Only Media, or CD-ROM is a disc that can be accessed by a computer. These can contain software, games and data.

CMYK

(Cyan Magenta, Yellow and Black) A colour model used in colour printing. We use CMYK colour referencing when printing offset litho discs and printed packaging such as card wallets and DVD inlays. CMYK is also known as full colour or four colour process printing.

CODEC

Short for Compression/Decompression, CODEC is a program that converts one format of digital media to another. Sound, artwork and video files are classic examples that use CODECs.

CSS

Content Scrambling System is a copy-protection system for replicated DVD video. Due to the way the disc is encoded, masters must be provided on DLT tape, rather than DVD-R

Digital Print

High quality, full colour printing process ideal for short runs due to the minimal set up costs. We use digital print for our fast turnaround print.

Duplication

(CD, DVD, Blu-ray) Duplication is the method of ‘burning‘ the data into the indigo dyed layer on the reverse of the disc. The process results in a bit for bit copy of the data and no data or quality is lost.

DV Cam / Mini-DV Cam

Digital video tape from which footage can be captured and encoded to MPEG2, the video standard for DVD

DVD

(Digital Versatile Disc.) Optical storage medium used for Standard definition video and data storage Capacity 4.7GB

DVD-R

recordable DVD. Capacity 4.7GB. Data can be recorded only once

DVD-RW

recordable DVD. Capacity 4.7GB. Data can be re-recorded over 1000 times

DVD-5

Manufactured (replicated) DVD, capacity 4.7GB

DVD-9

Dual layer manufactured DVD, this has a capacity of 8.5GB

EPS

Encapsulated Post Script is a graphics file format used by professional graphic designers and printers

FPS

Frames per second, or fps, is a term used when talking about motion video. 50i (50 interlaced fields = 25 frames) is the standard video field rate per second for PAL and SECAM television

Glass Master

A glass disc that is used as a master during replication for the stampers from which CDs and DVDs are eventually pressed. It is much larger than the final discs and is created in a sealed environment to ensure that it is free of contaminants.

H.264

is another designation for MPEG-4 Part 10 as used on Blu-ray titles.

IMG

is another ‘disc image’ format. See ISO.

ISO

An ISO image is an archive file or ‘disc image’ of an optical disc in a format defined by the international standardization organisation

ISRC

International Standard Recording Code, or ISRC, are codes that are used to uniquely identify sound and video recordings.

JPEG

Joint Photographic Expert Group, or JPEG, is a compression method for digital pictures. JPEG is best suited for photographs or realistic scenes with life-like variations of colour and tone. Line drawings and text formatting are best saved in TIFF format.

Litho Disc Printing

The most commonly used process for printing large volumes of four colour . As the ink is not being pushed through a screen, it can be used to print to a higher resolution, making the printing of fine detail or light areas possible.

Macrovision ACP

ACP or Analogue Copy Protection by Macrovision is a system to prevent people copying your DVD by either by recording to VHS or to DVD via a DVD Recorder. There is a license fee involved in applying this protection, which is adding during the Authoring stage.

Macrovision Ripguard

Ripguard is a structure protection system which is designed to prevent people 'ripping' your DVD using specialist software. This protection is added by us to factory-ready masters. Due to the nature of the protection, certain authoring requirements must be fulfilled. There is a license fee involved in applying this protection.

mpeg-1

MPEG-1 is a standard for compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s without excessive quality loss, making Video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) possible.

mpeg-2

MPEG2 is the compression format used for DVD

mp3

MP3 is a compression format for audio files, has become the standard audio compression for portable music players. The compression algorithm greatly reduces files size by only keeping parts of the audio that can be perceived.

mpeg 4

MPEG-4 is a collection of methods defining compression of audio and visual (AV) digital data. Uses of MPEG-4 include compression of AV data for web (streaming media) and CDdistribution, voice (telephone, videophone) and broadcast television applications.

NRG

is the extension given to disc images created using Nero. See Iso & Img.

NTSC

National Television System Committee, or NTSC, is the format for video in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and selected countries in South America. The video dimensions and frame rate differ from PAL which is the European standard.

Pantone™ Matching System

The industry-standard colour matching system for spot colours as defined by Pantone Inc. This is the most common way of defining the colour of company logos and other corporate branding. It is also a good way of standardising colour over several components.

PAL

Phase Alternating Line, or PAL, is the video format for a large number of countries including the United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, China and Australasia. The video dimensions are generally 720 x 576 and the frame rate (FPS) for PAL video is 25 frames per second and is based on the AC power from the outlets. This rate stems from the electrical systems in these countries which is 50Hz, so for 2 cycles of electricity, one frame is drawn, with an upper and lower field.

Patronus

is a structure protection system, developed by Fortium, which is designed to prevent people 'ripping' your DVD using specialist software. This protection is added by re:fine and is designed to protect duplicated DVD-Rs. There is a license fee involved in applying this protection.

PDF

Portable Document Format A file format created by adobe systems for document exchange.

Rasterised

Rasterisation is the computer-aided process of turning vector artwork into pixelated artwork. Once rasterised, the artwork has a resolution, usually measured in dots-per-inch (DPI)

Region Code

Region Codes are digital meta information that is encoded to commercial DVD Video discs to restrict where in the world the disc can be played back.

Replication

The manufacturing process used in optical disc production is known as replication. The process involves the creation of a glass master from the original data. From this a nickel stamper is created. A polycarbonate is then injection-moulded to the image of the stamper. These are then metallised and lacquered to form the finished disc. Being a mass-production process, it is particularly suitable for larger volumes of discs. Each disc is created from the same stamper ensuring that all the discs are identical, reducing any risk of error or non-compatibility.

RGB

RGB stands for Red, Green, Blue and is an additive colour model used by monitors, digital cameras and scanners. RGB images are ideal for on-screen use but should be converted to CMYK before printing.

SecuROM Protection

The most effective copy protection system for CD-ROM and DVD-ROM. Made by Sony, it requires an executable file to protect. When someone attempts to copy the disc, the SecuROM corrupts the executable file, rendering the disc ineffective.

Silk Screen Disc Printing

A printing process that works by pushing inks through a fine mesh that has been stretched over a frame using a squeegee. When the process was initially developed, the mesh was made from silk, hence the the process is also know as silk screen. This method is ideal for printing blocks of colour and less suitable for fine detail. Silkscreen print can be Pantone matched.

Spot Colour

A colour that is printed using a single ink, rather than four-colour process. These can include metallic or fluorescent colours.

TIFF

Tagged Image File Format, or TIFF, is a graphic format originally created by Adobe. TIFF files can either be compressed or uncompressed, thus having larger files than JPEGs.

Vector

Vector graphics are made using mathematical equations to draw computer graphics and art using points, lines and curves. Vector graphics are infinitely scalable without distortion or pixelation which isn't the case with rasterised graphics.

WAV

WAV (or WAVE) is short for Waveform Audio Format, is an industry standard format for high-quality, uncompressed audio. Although Audio CDs don't use WAV files for tracks, this is the prefered audio format for CD creation.