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[FAQs]
Alphabet soup
In the body of this article, you'll find expansions for about 80 of the most common acronyms we use in discussions about this issue. (The acronyms expanded include every acronym which appears in the BPDG's Draft Compliance and Robustness Rules, among others.)
Of course, this isn't enough to appreciate the context behind these acronyms. For example, knowing that PCMCIA stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association gives no clue that the Association in question published a standard for tiny removable cards used in laptops. Hearing that 8/VSB means "8-level vestigial side band" explains nothing about 8/VSB's role in digital television broadcasting (er, that's "DTB" for the initiated).
We hope to supplement this soon with a fuller glossary giving explanations, not just acronym expansions. In the meantime, here's hoping that the list below will provide some comfort to those swimming in the acronym soup.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments -- or other things you'd like to see defined or expanded.
- 4C
- 4 companies
- 5C
- 5 companies
- 8/VSB
- 8 level vestigial side band
- AC3
- audio code 3 (thanks to reader J. Perkins)
- ADC
- analog to digital convertor, analog to digital conversion
- AGP
- accelerated graphics port
- AHRA
- audio home recording act
- ASIC
- application-specific integrated circuit
- ATSC
- advanced television systems committee
- BF
- broadcast flag
- BPDG
- broadcast protection discussion group
- BW
- broadcast watermark
- CA
- conditional access
- CBDTPA
- consumer broadband and digital television promotion act
- CE
- consumer electronics
- CEA
- consumer electronics association
- CIG
- computer industry group
- CMI
- copyright management information
- CP
- copy protection, content protection
- CPRM
- content protection for recordable media
- CPTWG
- copy protection technical working group
- CRT
- cathode ray tube
- CSS
- content scramble system
- D-VHS
- digital VHS
- DAC
- digital to analog convertor, digital to analog conversion
- DMCA
- digital millennium copyright act
- DRM
- digital rights management
- DT
- digital terrestrial
- DTB
- digital terrestrial broadcasting, digital terrestrial broadcast
- DTCP
- digital transmission content protection
- DTLA
- digital transmission licensing administrator
- DTV
- digital television
- DVD
- digital versatile disc
- DVDCCA
- dvd copy control association
- DVI
- digital video interface
- ECM
- entitlement control message
- EEPROM
- electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
- EFF
- electronic frontier foundation
- EIT
- event information table
- EPN
- encryption plus non-assertion
- FCC
- federal communications commission
- FPGA
- field-programmable gate array
- HD
- high definition
- HDCP
- high-bandwidth digital content protection
- HDTV
- high-definition television
- HRRC
- home recording rights coalition
- IEC
- international electrotechnical commission
- IF
- intermediate frequency
- ISO
- international organization for standardization
- IP
- intellectual property
- IP
- internet protocol
- IT
- information technology
- LAN
- local-area network
- LMI
- license management incorporated
- MEI
- matsushita electrical industrial corporation
- MPAA
- motion picture association of america
- MPEG
- motion picture experts group
- NAB
- national association of broadcasters
- NCTA
- national cable and telecommunications association
- NTSC
- national television standards committee
- OOB
- out of band
- OTA
- over the air
- PAL
- phase alternating line
- PC
- personal computer
- PC
- printed circuit
- PCI
- peripheral component interconnect
- PCM
- pulse code modulation
- PCMCIA
- personal computer memory card international association
- PMT
- program map table
- POD
- point of deployment
- PSIP
- program and system information protocol
- PVR
- personal video recorder
- QAM
- quadrature amplitude modulation
- RC
- redistribution control [descriptor]
- RD
- redistribution descriptor
- RF
- radiofrequency
- SCMS
- serial copy management system
- SCR
- software-controlled radio
- SD
- standard definition
- SDR
- software-defined radio
- SI
- system information
- SPDIF
- sony/philips digital interface
- SSSCA
- security systems standards and certification act
- STB
- set-top box
- TPM
- technological protection measure
- TS
- transport stream
- TSP
- transport stream processor, transport stream processing
- TV
- television
- VCR
- videocassette recorder
- VHDL
- vhsic hardware descrption language
- VOD
- video on demand