A website that goes along with my Deviantart.
It is, and will probably always be, a work in progress.
NOTE: The site is currently undergoing image compression, so for now some images might be missing while I pull them down & compress them for re-upload. Some images may also have temporary text IE: (Number).Jpg
TECH TERMS
-_-_-_-_-_-
​
Some explanations of technical terminology you might see on reviews here on the site.
​
REGION CODING: This is a system in place by movie studios to restrict which areas a DVD or Blu-Ray can be watched. DVD has 9 region codes, while Blu-Ray has a more simplified 3. When a DVD or Blu-Ray is played in a player that doesn't match the corresponding code, you'll get an error message and cannot play the disc. Some discs can be region coded 0, which means they have no restrictions as to where they can be played. (This is more common with Blu-Rays than DVDs.)
​​
DISC SIZES: DVD's and Blu-Rays can come in several variants, listed below. The number listed beside the disc abbreviation is the approximate amount of Gigabytes the disc can hold.
​​
DVD-5 = Single-Layer, Single Side
DVD-9 = Dual Layer, Single Side
DVD-10 = Single-Layer, Dual Side
DVD-18 Dual-Layer, Dual Side
​
BD-25 = Single-Layer
BD-50 = Dual-Layer
*BD-66 = Triple-Layer
*BD-100 = Quadruple-Layer
​
*Thee disc are reserved exclusively for UHD Blu-Ray discs.
​
DVD-R: These are discs that are not pressed by a studio in mass, but rather burned on blank discs. This practice is typically used for on demand purchases.
​
AUDIO
-_-_-_-
​
DOLBY DIGITAL: The standard audio compression codec used on DVD. It's known by several names such as AC-3, Dolby Digital, or even simply Dolby. DVD audio can support various audio channels, with a maximum of six discrete. DVD, typically, requires at least one Dolby Digital audio track be present on ALL discs. While Blu-Ray can play other formats, Dolby Digital audio is typically included just in case it's all that can be played back. (Unless specifically mentioned, most audio tracks listed in the, "TECH SPECS," section of my reviews are Dolby Digital tracks, as they're the most common!)
​
DOLBY SURROUND: Sometimes a surround sound track is encoded as 2.0 with extra embedded information. Certain equipment can decode this extra data and create surround sound audio mixes.
​
DTS: This is another audio codec used on DVDs & Blu-Rays. DTS stands for Digital Theater Sound. It's less compressed and can sound superior to Dolby Digital. DTS tracks use up more space on the disc due to using higher bitrates, which is why most DVD's don't use it in favor of the standard, and space saving, Dolby Digital codec.
​
DTS-HD MA: This is a codec used on Blu-Ray and is an uncompressed audio mix. The MA stands for Master Audio, this means that a studio can included a bit-by-bit copy of their master audio! The advantage of this type of codec is that it can compress the space that the audio takes up, without discarding audio data itself. It's made up of a core DTS track and an HD data extension.
​
DOLBY TRUE-HD: This codec is basically the same as DTS-HD MA. It saves space by reducing the amount of space the audio takes up, but without discarding data. Unlike DTS-HD MA, which has a built in core track ensuring compatibility, TrueHD does not; meaning an AC-3 track must be included with it.
​
L/PCM: This is an, uncompressed audio format found on Blu-Ray, and to a much lesser extent DVD. LPCM stands for Linear Pulse Code Modulation which is a raw audio format, which means no compression or encoding is done to the audio. Most companies don't use LPCM audio, as it takes up so much space, especially on DVDs which have very limited space.
​
VIDEO
-_-_-_-
​
FRAME-RATE: FPS, Frames-Per-Second, or Frame-Rate, are terms that refer to how many frames are being displayed during a single second of video. Frame-rate can vary wildly based on different sources and formats!
​
INTERLACING: This is a way of displaying a frame by splinting the image into alternating fields, rather than displaying the whole image at once, which is known as Progressive scan. Much like frame-rate, whether a video is interlaced or progressive can vary wildly between formats/sources.
​
NTSC / PAL: These are video standards based on different regions of the world, however, they are different than region coding.
RESOLUTION: This is a term used to tell the exact pixel count that makes up each axis of a video.
​
MPEG-2: This is the standard DVD video compression codec, but is the least efficient of the codecs featured on list! It requires rather high bit-rates to achieve smooth looking video without noticeable compression artifacts, because of this, it also takes up much more space than other codecs. While DVD can only use MPEG-2 video, Blu-Ray can use a variety of codecs. This codec was popular when Blu-Rays were new, most studios no longer use this codec due to it's inefficiency.
​
AVC: MPEG-4 or AVC, which stands for Advanced Video Codec, is a compression codec used on most Blu-Rays. Video can be compressed with lower bit-rates than MPEG-2 while producing much less compression noise, because of this it's the preferred coded used for the majority of Blu-Ray discs.
​
VC-1: This is another codec, that is very similar to AVC, which also is used to compress video while minimizing compression artifacts. While the codec isn't especially better or worse than AVC, most studios simply prefer AVC, so it's rarely used anymore.
​
ASPECT RATIO: The aspect ratio is this shape in which a video is displayed. The two most common aspect ratios are 4x3 and 16x9.