Note: Throughout the course, glossary items are highlighted in GREEN with a link to the definition.

Glossary Sample

Digital Light Processing (DLP) – a technology that generates images by reflecting light off a digital micro mirror device (DMD) containing hundreds of thousands of tiny mirrors, then through a color wheel and a lens and onto the screen. Higher resolution projectors have more mirrors in their DMD, and reflect a greater amount of light for brighter images.

Plasma Display - a type of flat-panel display, approximately three to five inches thick, that works by sandwiching a neon/xenon gas mixture between two seated glass plates with parallel electrodes deposited on their surfaces. The plates are sealed so that the electrodes form right angles, creating pixels. When a voltage pulse passes between two electrodes, the gas breaks down and produces weakly ionized plaxma that emits UV radiation. The UV radiation activates color phosphors and visible light is emitted from each pixel.

High Definition Television (HDTV) - any one of a variety of video formats offering higher resolution than NTSC, PAL and SECAM broadcast standards. Current formats generally range in resolution from 655 to 1,125 scan lines, with an aspect ratio of 16 to 9, and bandwidth of 30 to 50 MHz. HDTV provides a much sharper picture even if the image is several feet wide. HDTVs require HDTV format signals to display in high definition, standard television signals are shown in their normal resolution.