Definition of DVD terms
DVD player is very popular audiovisual product due to
its high quality pictures and sound. However, each disc
has its own features and symbols to indicate its
features. For example: DTS audio effect is different
from stereo audio effect. To understand these special
features and symbols, it is helpful to purchase the
suitable DVD discs. Following are some definitions of
DVD terms:
Subtitles
This is the appearance of the dialogue at the bottom of
the screen which is prerecorded on some DVD discs.
Multi Angle
Recorded onto some DVD discs are scenes which have
been simultaneously shot from a number of different
angles (the same scene is shot from the front, from the
left side, from the fight side, etc.). With such discs, the
ANGLE button can be used to view the scene from
different angles.
Aspect ratio
Depending on the type of television you have, you may
want to adjust the screen setting (also called the aspect
ratio).
16:9 (Widescreen)—Choose this option if
your DVD player is connected to a widescreen TV, the
images on the screen might appear distorted due to
vertical compression. If you play a disc recorded in 4:3
format on a widescreen TV, the left and right side of the
screen appears black.
4:3 PS (Pan and Scan)—Choose this
option if you want the movie to fill the entire screen of
your TV. This might mean that parts of the picture (the
left and right edge ) won’t be seen.
4:3 LB (Letterbox)—Choose this option
if you want to see movies in their original aspect ratio
(height-to-width ratio). You’ll see the entire frame of the
movie, but it takes up a smaller portion of the screen
vertically. The movie might appear with black bars at
the top and bottom of the screen.
Multi Audio language
The audio soundtrack can be heard in up to 8
languages. (The number of audio sound languages
depends on the software.)
Region code
DVD discs contain Regional Codes which can be used
to prevent the playback of certain discs depending upon
the geographical area it is played in. The various
studios and home video companies lobbied to make
sure this coding system was a required part of the
current DVD standards, because they wish to control
how their DVD titles are exported to other countries.
(For example, while a recent film may already have
played theatrically in the United States and been
released to the home video market, that same film may
not yet have opened in some European or Asian
countries.) In most instances, discs manufactured in
one region will usually only play on players that were
manufactured in that same region - this means that
discs bought or imported from Japan will not play on
U.S. players, and vice versa. However, the regional
coding system is entirely optional, and discs without
Regional Codes will play on any player in any country.
The disc’s region code must match your DVD player’s
region code to playback.
Region 1 - The U.S., U.S. territories and Canada
Region 2 - Europe, Japan, the Middle East, Egypt,
South Africa, Greenland
Region 3 - Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia,
Hong Kong
Region 4 - Mexico, South America, Central America,
Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands, Caribbean
Region 5 - Russia, Eastern Europe, India, most of
Africa, North Korea, Mongolia
Region 6 – The mainland of China
Dolby digital
“Dolby” and the double-D symbols are trademarks of
Dolby Laboratories. The disc bearing these symbols
contains the Dolby sound effect, but does not mean to
contain the digital surround sound effect. In addition, if
there is a symbol with LPCM words on the disc, it
means the disc contains the super high quality sound
LPCM effect.
