New Media AV - Demystifying Jargon: Acronyms Explained

Demystifying Jargon: Acronyms Explained If you aren't in the know it can be easy to feel lost and bemused by the sheer number of acronyms representing the myriad of products available today. They may be a cute time-saving device, but this only applies if you know what they are, or what you are looking for!

Hopefully coming to this page will help put together the missing pieces and fill in the banks for any product acronymns that currently make you scratch your head.

We aim for this to be an organic list that grows in a way that best helps you out, so please feel free to request or even suggest new acronyms to be added here. Simply scroll to the bottom of the page, fill in your request or suggestion and click submit.

	Acronym	Explanation

A	AE	Adobe After Effects (AE) is a digital motion graphics and compositing software published by Adobe Systems. It can be used in film and video post-production.
	ATAPI	Advanced Technology Attachment Packet Interface (ATAPI) is a standard interface for connecting storage devices such as hard disks and CD-ROM drives inside personal computers.
	AV	Simply stands for AV.

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C	CMB	Combustion (Cmb) is used for motion graphics, compositing and visual effects. The software is commonly likened to Adobe's After Effects.

D	DVB/DVB-T	DVB, short for Digital Video Broadcasting, is a suite of internationally accepted open standards for digital television. DVB systems distribute data using a variety of approaches, including by terrestial television (DVD-TV).
	DVD	DVD (also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" and "Digital Video Disc") is a popular optical disc storage media format for data storage. Its main uses are for movies, software, and data archiving. Most DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs but store more than 6 time the data.
	DVI	The Digital Visual Interface (DVI) is a video interface standard designed to maximize the visual quality of digital display devices such as flat panel LCD computer displays and digital projectors. It was developed by an industry consortium, the Digital Display Working Group (DDWG). It is designed for carrying uncompressed digital video data to a display. It is partially compatible with the High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) standatd in digital mode (DVI-D).

E	EDU	Abbreviation for Education and refers to education/academic versions of software.

F	FCP	Final Cut Pro (FDP) is a professional non-linear editing system developed by Apple Inc. that has found popularity amongst independent filmmakers and Hollywood film editors alike. The program has an ability to edit many digital formats including SD, HDV, HD, Panasonic P2, Sony XDCAM, 2K, 4K and IMAX formats. The system is only currently available for Mac OS X version 10.4.9 or later.
	FW	FireWire (FW) is Apple Inc.'s brand name for the IEEE 1394 interface (although the 1394 standard also defines a backplane interface). It is also known as i.Link (Sony's name). It is a personal computer (and digital audio/digital video) serial bus interface standard, offering high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data services. FireWire has replaced Parallel SCSI in many application, due to lower implementation costs and a simplified, more adaptable cabling system. IEEE 1394 has been adopted as the High Definition Audio-Video.

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H	HD	High-definition (HD) video generally refers to any video system of higher image resolution than standard-definition (SD) video, most commonly at display resolutions of 1280x720 (720p) or 1920x1080 (1080i or 1080p).
	HDMI	The High-Definition Multimedia (HDMI) is a licensable audio/visual connector interface for transmitting uncompressed, encrypted digital streams, HDMI connects DRM-enforcing digital audio/visual sources, such as a set-top box, a Blu-ray disc player, a PC running Windows Vista, a video game console, or an AV receive, to a compatible digital audio device and/or video monitor, such as a digital television (DVT).

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M	MP3	MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is an audio encoding format. It uses a lossy compression algorithm that is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording, yet still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners.

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P	PCI	Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI Standard: specifies a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. These devices can take any one of the following forms: An integrated circuit fitted onto the motherboard itself, called a planer device in the PCI specification; An expansion card that fits into a socket.
	PCIE	PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) Express, officially abbreviated as PCI-E or PCIe, is a computer expansion card interface format. PCIe is based around serial links called lanes. PCIe slots come in a variety of sizes referred to by the maximum lane count they support. A larger card will not fit in a smaller slot but a smaller card can be used in a larger slot.
	PCIX	PCI-X (Peripheral Component Interconnect Extended) is a computer bus and expansion card to standard designed to supersede PCI. It is essentially a faster version of PCI, running at twice the speed, and is otherwise similar in physical implementation and basic design. It has itself been replaced in modern designs by the similar sounding PCI Express, which features a very different logical design.
	PCMCIA	PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. It is now more commonly referred to as a PC Card and is the form factor of a peripheral interface designed for computers. It was originally for memory expansion, but the existence of a usable general standard for notebook peripherals led to many kinds of devices being made available in this form. Typical devices include network cards, modems and hard disks. The original use, for memory-expansion cards, is no longer common.
	PP	Adobe Premiere Pro (PP), formerly known as Adobe Premiere, is a real-time, timeline based video editing software application. It is part of the Adobe Creative Suite, a suite of graphic design, video editing, and web development applications made by Adobe Systems. Premiere Pro has many hardware and software partners, and is included as an OEM package with high-end video editing cards, such as the Matrox RT.X2.

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R	RTAS	Real-Time AudioSuite (RTAS) is a format of audio plug-ins developed by Digidesign for their Pro Tools TDM, Pro Tools LE, and Pro Tools M-Powered systems. RTA plug-ins uses the processing power of the host computer.

S	SATA	Serial ATA (SATA) is a computer bus primarily designed for transfer of data between a computer and storage devices (like hard disks or optical drives). The main benefits are thinner cables that let air cooling work more efficiently, faster transfers, ability to remove devices while operating (hot swapping), and more reliable operation with tighter data integrity checks.
	SCSI	Small Computer System Interface (SCSI); commonly pronounced as "scuzzy": is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices. The SCSI standards define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces. SCSI is most commonly used for hard disks and tape drives, but it can connect a wide range of other devices, including scanners and optical devices (CD, DVD, etc).

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U	USB	Univeral Serial Bus (USB) is a serial bus standard to interface devices. A major component in the legacy-free PC, USB was designed to allow peripherals to be a connected using a single standardised interface socket, to improve plug-and-play capabilities by allowing devices to be connected and disconnected without rebooting the computer.

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