AV Glossary
| Analogue | A method of transmitting information by a continuous but varying signal. |
| Aspect Ratio | The format (height vs width) for how a presentation is shown on a screen, the two most common being 16:9 and 4:3 |
| AV | Audio visual |
| Bandwidth | A measurement of the ability of an electronic communications device or system to send and receive information |
| Boundary mike | A microphone that relies on reflected sound from a surrounding surface. |
| Bridge (MCU) | A device used for connecting more than two participants in a video conference. |
| Cardioid mike | Heart-shaped region where some microphones will be most sensitive to sound predominately from the front of the microphone diaphragm and reject sound coming from the sides and rear. |
| Cat5 | An abbreviation of Category 5, network cable, the designation for 100-ohm unshielded twisted-pair cables and associated connecting hardware whose characteristics are specified for data transmission up to 100 Mb/s. |
| Cat6 | An abbreviation of Category 6, network cable, cable standard for Gigabit Ethernet and other interconnect that is backward compatible with Category 5 cable, Cat-5e and Cat-3. Cat-6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise. |
| Cloud | In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer's hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet. |
| Codec | An acronym for coder/decoder. An electronic device that converts analog signals, such as video and audio signals, into digital form and compresses them to conserve bandwidth on a transmission path. Common name for a video conference unit |
| Condenser Mike | Also called a capacitor microphone, it transduces sound into electricity using electrostatic principles. |
| Confidence Monitor | A video monitor that most often duplicates what’s on the projection screen. It’s for the convenience of the presenter, and it gives the presenter the “confidence” to not turn and look at the projection screen; instead the presenter can glance down at the confidence monitor and know the presentation is properly shown. |
| Digital | A method of transmitting information by discrete, non-continuous impulses (ones and zeroes). |
| DLP | A projection system that has technology based on the Digital Micromirror Device (DMD). It uses thousands of microscopic mirrors on a chip focused through an optical system to display images on screen. |
| Dongle | An adapter used to convert one type of signal to another; for example MiniDisplay port to HDMI |
| DP | Display Port |
| DVI | Digital Video Interface - see also DVI-A,DVI-I and DVI-D |
| EDID | Extended Display Identification Data |
| Far End | The room(s) to which you are connected in a video conference |
| HDCP | High Bandwidth Digital Content Protection |
| HDMI | High Definition Multimedia Interface |
| Lumen | A measure of the light quantity emitted from a constant light source across one square meter. |
| Matrix Switcher | An electronic device with multiple inputs and outputs, the matrix allows any input to be connected to any one, several, or all of the outputs. |
| Multipoint | Videoconferencing that links many sites to a common gateway service allowing all sites to see, hear, and interact at the same time; requires a bridge or bridging service. |
| PoE | Power over Ethernet |
| Point-to-point | Conferencing where two sites are directly linked |
| Resolution | Refers to the sharpness and clarity of an image and relates to the number of pixels, frame rate and codec capability |
| RGBHV | Refers to a high bandwidth video signal with separate conductors for the red signal, green signal, blue signal, horizontal sync and vertical sync. |
| TV | A device used to display video/images and play sound - Plasma, LCD or LED |
| UTP | Unshielded twisted pair cable typically used for data transfer, contains multiple 2-conductor pairs twisted at regular intervals, employing no external shielding. |
| VAVS | Videoconferencing and Audio Visual Services |
| Webinar | An online interactive meeting or seminar. The audience is typically smaller than a webcast and contributes to the discussion via polling, Q&A, or other collaborative means. |
| Zoom | Cloud based virtual video conference system. |
