AV GLOSSARY

1] The footlambert is a unit for measuring:
a. color temperature
b. picture brightness
c. men's shoe sizes

2] Encryption is:
a. the process of writing data to a hard disk
b. the patina of greasy gunk that collects around a remote control's most frequently used buttons
c. scrambling data for purposes of copy-protection

3] What parts of a video picture does a brightness control most affect?
a. the highlights
b. the lowlights
c. the middle grays

4] What is the difference between a letterboxed and an anamorphic display?
a. Both are widescreen, but anamorphic uses more horizontal scan lines.
b. Anamorphic video has an aspect ratio of 4:3, while letterboxed video is widescreen.
c. Both are widescreen, but letterboxing has black horizontal bars; anamorphic doesn't.

5] In film postproduction, a matte shot is:
a. an optical effect in which an image is added to a previously unexposed area of the picture
b. a close-up of a small rug
c. a low-gloss picture

6] What does DLP stand for?
a. Dispersed Laminar Phenomenon
b. Digital Light Processing
c. Direct-to-LP recording

7] Most video remote controls transmit by means of:
a. radio waves
b. heat waves
c. tidal waves

8] In a flat-screen plasma display, light is created by:
a. an edge-lit backlight
b. glowing gases
c. glowing phosphors

9] What is crushing?
a. compressing a speaker wire in a compression connector to minimize electrical resistance
b. loss of details in picture highlights
c. video picture distortion due to an incorrect aspect-ratio setting

10] In DVD production, what process is used to convert a widescreen film to a 4:3 aspect ratio?
a. telecine scanning
b. aspect-ratio compression
c. panning&scanning

11] What three basic colors are used to produce a video image?
a. red, green, blue
b. cyan, magenta, yellow
c. chartreuse, mint, grenadine

12] THX surround-sound processors use decorrelation to:
a. match the sound of the surround channels to that of the front stereo speakers
b. add spaciousness to the monophonic surround signal
c. compress the dynamic range of very loud soundtracks

13] The range of TV broadcast-spectrum frequencies occupied by a single transmission channel is called its:
a. wavelength
b. selectivity
c. bandwidth

14] A component video signal is one that:
a. carries data from one video component in a system to another
b. carries brightness and color information through separate paths
c. carries all the signal information through a single path

15] What is 8-VSB?
a. Steven Spielberg's license number
b. the standard signal-modulation system used for terrestrial (over land) digital broadcasting
c. an obsolete audio-cassette format

16] A capacitor is a passive device that:
a. passes along DC but blocks AC
b. passes along low-frequency AC more easily than high-frequency AC
c. passes along AC but blocks DC

17] In film presentation, intelligibility is:
a. the reproduction of subtle sonic details
b. the ability to easily hear and understand actors' speech
c. the mental aptitude of a character in a film

18] Cable television signals are:
a. always analog
b. sometimes digital, sometimes analog
c. always digital

19] A lenticular screen:
a. uses surface ridges to optimize its viewing angle
b. functions as a projection lens
c. works best during the weeks before Easter

20] The data-storage format of a hard-disk recorder is:
a. laser-optical
b. solid-state
c. magnetic

21] A Trinitron is:
a. a proprietary in-line picture-tube designed by Sony
b. a positively charged electron
c. a union of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost

22] In terrestrial (over land) digital TV reception, the device that picks up the broadcast signals is called a(n):
a. downlead
b. demodulator
c. antenna

23] In an analog amplifier, clipping is:
a. compression of dynamic range
b. the lopping-off of the tops of signal peaks
c. the rounding-off of sharp corners in the signal

24] What is phase-change technology?
a. compensation for the adverse effects of an equalizer
b. an epistemological approach to studies of the moon
c. reflection changes that allow for the recording and re-recording of CD-RW discs

25] In film production, pull focus is:
a. adjustment of a picture's sharpness
b. refocusing the lens, during a shot, on an object closer to the camera
c. the single-minded abuse of power for personal gain

26] An RPT is:
a. a Rectified Power Transformer
b. a Rear-Projection Television set
c. the e-mail abbreviation for Repeat Previous Transmittal

27] Why are most subwoofers big?
a. to move lots of air
b. to add weight to the low end
c. to maximize bass transfer into the floor

28] What is LEDE?
a. a brand name of expensive interconnects
b. a request for help from a dance partner
c. Live End/Dead End: an acoustical treatment believed by some to create the ideal listening room

29] On a film shoot, a dolly is:
a. a mannequin used for stop-action animation
b. a lacy table napkin
c. a wheeled platform on which a camera can be easily moved

30] The latency of an electronic device is:
a. its signal bandwidth
b. the time it takes for an input signal to pass through it
c. its sensitivity to low-level information

31] Doubling the distance between a projector and its screen reduces picture brightness by:
a. 25%
b. 50%
c. 75%

32] According to the American Film Institute, the greatest movie of all time is:
a. The Valley of the Dolls
b. Finding Nemo
c. Citizen Kane

33] The correct superimposition of a picture's red, blue, and green elements is called:
a. convergence
b. simulance
c. chroma alignment

34] Digital cinema is:
a. shooting a film in digital video
b. using digital processing during any stage of film production
c. the distribution and theatrical presentation of commercial films in digital form

35] On a video display, gray-scale tracking is:
a. automatic control of brightness and contrast to minimize random variations
b. maintenance of middle grays at the correct 6500-kelvin color temperature
c. rendition of all brightness levels at the same color of gray, regardless of color temperature

36] The color cyan is:
a. greenish blue
b. orange-yellow
c. reddish blue

37] The term ultrasonic means:
a. too soft to be heard by the human ear
b. too high in frequency to be heard by the human ear
c. faster than the speed of sound traveling through air

38] When there is no center channel, a sound that seems to come from between a stereo pair of speakers is called a:
a. phantom image
b. virtual image
c. floating image

39] A scaler is:
a. a projection lens with a zoom function
b. a circuit that changes the aspect ratio of a display
c. a scan-line multiplier

40] In film production, a camera shot taken from a moving platform is called a:
a. lock-step shot
b. tracking shot
c. pan shot

41] Seamless branching is:
a. a way of organizing a DVD player's menus for easy navigation
b. glitch-free skipping from one part of a DVD program to another
c. the splitting of a composite video signal into its component parts

42] Most commercial movies are shot on and shown in film of this width:
a. 35mm
b. 70mm
c. 125mm

43] In a CRT video display, dynamic convergence is:
a. convergence controlled by the scan waveform
b. convergence controlled by permanent magnets
c. convergence controlled by the user

44] A video monitor is:
a. an image display device that has only video inputs
b. any device with a built-in video display screen
c. a surveillance camera

45] In analog-to-digital conversion, the production of spurious sum-and-difference tones is called:
a. aliasing
b. accretion
c. multiplexing

46] In audio, panning is:
a. using an accent microphone to prevent an instrument from being drowned out by others
b. using channel balance to position a monophonic sound between two loudspeakers
c. giving a bad review to a performance

47] In film production, low-key lighting is scene illumination that is:
a. subdued, with dark grays and deep shadows
b. bright and cheery
c. darkly colored, with earth tones and other muted hues

48] The video compression system used for a DVD's picture is called:
a. Dolby Digital
b. Meridian Lossless Packing
c. MPEG-2

49] In audio recording, an accent microphone is one that:
a. makes an instrument stand out from other instruments
b. is used to record actors with regional dialects
c. calls attention to itself

50] A home-theater system is:
a. a big-screen video display
b. any home-video display accompanied by surround sound
c. any AV system used routinely for viewing movies at home