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I.C.E. SYSTEMS INC. INNOVATIVE CUSTOM ELECTRONICS I.C.E. SYSTEMS INC. INNOVATIVE CUSTOM ELECTRONICS I.C.E. SYSTEMS INC. INNOVATIVE CUSTOM ELECTRONICS

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HOME THEATER'S AV GLOSSARY

P

  • Passive: Not active. A passive crossover uses no external power and results in insertion loss. A passive speaker is one without internal amplification.
  • Passive Radiator:A radiating surface (usually similar to a conventional speaker cone) that is not electrically driven but shares the same air space in a sealed cabinet with an electrically driven loudspeaker. This arrangement is functionally similar to a loudspeaker with a vented (ported) cabinet, with the passive radiator serving the duties of the air in the port.
  • Parametric: Equalizer with adjust-able parameters, such as center frequency and bandwidth (Q), as well as amplitude.
  • PCM: See Pulse Code Modulation.
  • Phase: Time relationship between signals; it's all relative.
  • Piezo: A type of speaker driver that creates sound when a quartz crystal receives electrical energy.
  • Pixel: Contraction of picture element. The smallest element of data in a video image.
  • Plasma: Flat-panel display technology that ignites small pockets of gas to light phosphors.
  • Port: An aperture in a loudspeaker enclosure that helps extend the usable low-frequency output. A ported enclosure is also called vented or bass reflex.
  • Power Amp: See Amplifier.
  • Power Output: A measure, usually in watts, of how much energy is modulated by a component.
  • Preamplifier: A control and switching component that may include equalization functions. The preamp comes in the signal chain before the amplifiers.
  • Pre Outs: Connectors that provide a line-level output of the internal preamp or surround processor.
  • Pre Outs/Main Ins: Connectors on a receiver that provide an interruptible signal loop between the output of the internal preamp or surround processor portion of the receiver and the input of the amplifier portion of the receiver.
  • Pre/Pro: A combination preamp and surround processor.
  • Processors: Anything that processes an incoming signal in some way. Surround processors, for example, can decode a Dolby Digital signal to send to an amp so you can hear it.
  • Progressive Scanning: Each frame of a video image is scanned complete, from top to bottom, not interlaced. For example, 480p means that each image frame is made of 480 horizontal lines drawn vertically. Computer images are all progressively scanned. Requires more bandwidth (twice as much vertical information) and a faster horizontal scan frequency than interlaced images of the same resolution.
  • Projection System: Display that projects image onto a screen.
  • Pulse Code Modulation: (PCM) a way to convert sound or analog information to binary information (0s and 1s) by taking samples of the sound and record the resulting number as binary information. Used on all CDs, DVD-Audio, and just about every other digital audio format. It can sometimes be found on DVD-Video.
  • PVR: Personal Video Recorder. Marketing term for Video HDRs.