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The Ultimate Audio-Visual Glossary

By November 21, 2023March 13th, 2024Home Theater, Technology

Setting up a home theater can be daunting if you don’t have a lot of experience working with audio-visual equipment. You’ll need to plan out your space and hook everything up, but before that, you’ll have to shop for all of the fixtures and furnishings, from speakers and cables to home theater seats. When you’re buying electronics, you may encounter some unfamiliar terms, especially since technology is always evolving. Familiarizing yourself with some of the things you might see in product descriptions can help you to better understand your options and needs.

4k-resolution

4K Resolution: A display resolution with around 4,000 horizontal pixels. This is also known as “ultra HD.”

Acoustic Treatment: Modifications made to the theater space to control how sound is reflected throughout the room, which may include sound-dampening panels or curtains

Aspect Ratio: The ratio of a screen’s width to its height. Modern TVs and computer monitors have a 16:9 aspect ratio, while older TVs had a 4:3 aspect ratio.

AV Receiver: A device that receives and processes audio and video signals from different sources and sends them to the speakers and the TV or projector

Bluetooth: A standard for transmitting data wirelessly over short distances

Decibel: The unit of measurement for the loudness of sounds

Digital Audio Converter: A device that can convert digital audio signals into analog signals

Digital-audio-converter

Dolby Atmos: Technology created by Dolby that makes sound more immersive and realistic

Equalizer: A device that balances the frequencies in an audio signal to improve sound quality or compensate for the room’s acoustics

Fiber-Optic: Technology that transmits data through glass fibers using pulses of light

Gain: The amount of amplification applied to an audio or video signal

HDMI: High-Definition Multimedia Interface, the most common standard for transmitting audio and video signals between devices

HDR: High dynamic range. The dynamic range of a display is the amount of contrast it has, so a high dynamic range means that a display has better contrast and can show more detailed images.

LCD: Liquid crystal display. This is the most common technology used in the screens of electronic devices.

tv-shopping

LED: Light-emitting diode. Many TVs and computer screens use LEDs as their light source.

Local Dimming: Technology that dims the LEDs in parts of a screen where the image being shown is darker, which improves contrast

Lumen: The unit of measurement for amounts of visible light emitted

Mini LED: A type of display that uses smaller LEDs than a traditional LED display, which allows for more precise local dimming and greater contrast

OLED: Organic light-emitting diode. With this technology, each pixel can be dimmed separately, creating the highest amount of contrast possible and the most vivid images.

Optical Audio: The transmission of sound through fiber optics, which eliminates the possibility of electrical interference

Projector: A device that projects video onto a screen

Projector

Refresh Rate: The speed at which a screen can display images. The higher the refresh rate is, the smoother the motion in a video will look.

Smart TV: A TV with built-in Internet capabilities, allowing you to use apps and stream videos directly on the TV

Soundbar: A short, wide device containing multiple speakers that is placed below or above the screen

Subwoofer: A speaker designed to clearly transmit low frequencies, boosting the bass of your audio system

Surround Sound: An audio setup designed to immerse the listener in sound from all directions

Throw Distance: The distance between a projector and the screen you’re projecting onto

Universal Remote: A remote control that can operate multiple devices

Wi-Fi Audio Streaming: Wireless technology that allows for better-quality audio transmission than a Bluetooth connection

audio-streaming