TV jargon buster Jargon explained J – Z
LCD TV Type of flat panel where light shines on to liquid crystal cells on screen that let varying amounts of colour through to create a picture.
LED TV Ultra-slim LED TVs are the very latest flat panel technology to hit the high street. LED TVs are basically LCD sets with one crucial difference – the handful of backlight lamps that illuminate the screen have been replaced by hundreds of smaller and more energy-efficient LEDs (light emitting diodes).
LCD TVs offer the widest number of screen size options
Light sensor If selected, an ambient light sensor will automatically adjust the brightness of the TV's backlight, according to how dark or light the room is. In dark conditions, the most efficient sensors can dramatically reduce a television's power consumption – slashing a typical 100 watt reading for a 32-inch TV screen in half.
Plasma TVs don’t feature backlights but can still have ambient light sensors. The sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of each gas cell that makes up a plasma display picture.
Multiplex A group of digital TV channels grouped together for broadcast. A multiplex can also carry radio and interactive TV content.
Native resolution The number of pixels or lines displayed on the screen (width x height). The highest screen resolution commonly available is 1920x1080. This is desirable for HDTV but doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get the best picture for standard TV broadcasts or DVDs.
OLED TVs An organic light emitting diode (OLED) TV is made up of a layer of organic semiconductor material. sandwiched between two electrodes. Unlike regular LCD or LED TVs, OLED displays have no backlight, meaning they're even thinner and can display deeper black levels than rival technologies.
OLED TVs are seen by many as the natural successor to LCD technology, though the emergence of LCD Tvs with LED backlighting seems to have stalled the rise of OLED.
Phono sockets Dedicated red and white sockets to allow you to connect your TV to a stereo amplifier – useful if its built-in speakers aren't that good.
Picture enhancement features Be wary of these digital effects, designed to make pictures sharper and movement smoother. Our tests show they sometimes degrade picture quality.
Picture-in-picture (PiP) Picture-in-picture displays a small image of another channel or DVD in the corner of the screen while you watch the main image.
Plasma TV Type of flat panel TV where tiny gas cells emit ultraviolet light that strikes red, green and blue spots on screen to make a picture. To find the best plasma TVs check our independent expert reviews.
PVRs make recording TV easy
PVR A programmable video recorder is a digital television hard-disk recorder. You programme it using an onscreen display of TV listings, which makes it much easier to use than a VCR or DVD recorder. For the best PVRs check our independent expert reviews.
Resume The resume function means the DVD player will start the disc where you stopped it (instead of at the beginning each time). Models with multi-disc resume remember where to start playing the disc even after you’ve removed it and reinserted it.
RF Input Connects to your aerial and allows the broadcast signal to be received by your tuner.
RGB This is a high-standard analogue video signal that splits the red, green and blue components to give the best picture. The best Scart sockets carry an RGB signal.
S-video input If you're short of Scart inputs, s-video can provide an alternative. S-video signals are split into colour and brightness but are slightly inferior to Scart RGB. It’s usually used to plug other AV equipment, such as camcorders and games consoles, directly into your TV.
Scart plugs
Scart All-purpose 21 pin socket to connect equipment such as DVD players and VCRs to your TV. Most TVs now come with at least two Scart sockets. If you need more, you can buy a Scart switching box for £10 or so to expand your TV's capacity. For the best picture, look for Scarts that support the high-standard RGB signal. This splits the video signal into its red, blue and green components to give an improved picture.
Two Scart sockets give you more versatility. The first connects to the TV and carries the higher-quality RGB signal and widescreen switching information that tells your TV when to switch between conventional and widescreen formats. The second Scart socket links to your recorder (video or DVD) – ideally this should carry RGB too, though often it doesn’t.
Surround sound To listen to surround sound you'll need to connect your AV system to a home cinema surround-sound decoder (Dolby Digital 5.1 etc), amplifier and speakers.
Many of the latest TVs, a few digital boxes and all DVD players can be connected, via either digital coaxial or optical outputs, to a home-cinema system, so you can experience 'cinema-like' surround sound.
Virtually all DVDs have surround-sound tracks on them and both Sky satellite and Virgin cable services broadcast some programmes in surround. Freeview is not broadcast in surround sound but the digital connection to an external amplifier and speakers will still deliver a stereo effect, just like a normal hi-fi.
Some DVD players have a built-in Dolby Digital surround-sound decoder, but you'll still need additional surround-sound amplifiers and speakers to get the home cinema experience, so there isn't really any advantage over using an external decoder.
UHF modulator If your TV doesn't have a Scart input (Scart isn't usually available on older models), you'll need a set-top box with a UHF modulator, which connects to the TV's aerial socket.
UHF loopthrough None of the Freeview set-top boxes we’ve tested let you watch one digital programme while recording another on your analogue DVD recorder. However, if you opt for a box with a UHF loopthrough, you can record a digital programme while watching an ordinary analogue channel (or vice versa), with minimal disruption to your TV and DVDr connections.
USB ports and memory card slots Many of the latest LCD and plasma TVs are equipped with memory card slots that let you plug the card from your digital camera directly into the TV. More common are USB ports for connecting USB memory sticks or digital equipment to your television.
Either way, the picture quality is typically excellent and many manufacturers, such as Sony, design their TVs to look like picture frames. As an added bonus, the USB option sometimes allows playback of video files and MP3 music files via your TV's speakers.
VGA A VGA input lets you connect your PC to the TV – effectively turning your TV into a PC monitor. Digital DVI and HDMI sockets can provide an alternative, if your PC has a digital output.
Video on demand (VOD) VOD services let you to either 'stream' TV, allowing viewing in real time, or 'download' to a set-top box before viewing starts.
Video input If you're short of Scart inputs, composite video can provide an alternative. Composite video (usually a yellow phono socket) is the lowest-quality video connection. It’s usually used to plug other AV equipment, such as camcorders and games consoles, directly into your TV
