A

AA: Proprietary file format of audiobook provider Audible.com

AAC: See “Advanced Audio Coding”

Advanced Audio Coding (AAC): A file format that offers better compression and sound quality than MP3; high licensing costs have prevented this format from becoming widely adopted

Advanced Systems Format (ASF): Microsoft’s proprietary format for streaming media

AIFF: See “Audio Interchange File Format”

Analog: Data stored as a continual wave in or on the media it is recorded to

ASF: See “Advanced Systems Format”

Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF): The default sound format of Macintosh computers

Auxiliary input: An input on stereo equipment that allows you to connect a non-permanent sound source, such as an MP3 player

Audio Video Interleave (AVI): A multimedia file format created by Microsoft that can contain both audio and video

AVI: See “Audio Video Interleave”

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B

Bitrate: A measurement of the average amount of data processed over time; higher bitrates yield better quality but take up more room

Bluetooth: Short-range wireless technology that allows devices to communicate with each other

Bootleg: Unauthorized copy of an audio or video recording

Burn: To record data onto optical media such as a CD-R or DVD-R; shop for blank CD-Rs or DVD-Rs

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C

Capacity: The amount of room an MP3 player has to store audio, video, and data; it’s typically measured in gigabytes or megabytes

Cassette adapter: A device that passes an audio signal from an MP3 player to a car stereo system via a cassette deck; shop for blank cassette player adapters

CBR: See “Constant Bit Rate”

CDDB: See “Compact Disc Database”

CD-R: See “Compact Disc Recordable”

CD-RW: See “Compact Disc Rewriteable”

Codec: A program or method that can encode or decode digital data; MP3 and WMV are both examples of codecs

Compact Disc Database (CDDB): An online database that allows software applications to find CD information over the Internet

Compact Disc Recordable (CD-R): A compact disc that can be written onto once by a CD burner; shop for blank CD-Rs

Constant Bit Rate (CBR): An encoding process that uses the same bitrate for the entire file

Compact Disc Rewriteable (CD-RW): A compact disc that can be written onto and erased multiple times by a CD burner; shop for blank CD-RWs

Compression: A method for shrinking the size of data; it can be lossy or lossless

Converter: A software program that can change one file format into another

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D

DAC: See “Digital-to-Analog Converter”

Decode: The process of restoring a file format to its original form, typically referring to the conversion of an MP3 to WAV format

Digital: A system that stores information in binary (1 or 0) format

Digital Rights Management (DRM): An encoding process that restricts use of digital media and prevents it from being illegally distributed. Many MP3 players are incompatible with various forms of DRM. Music from the Amazon MP3 store is completely free of DRM.

Digital Video Recorder (DVR): A digital device used to electronically record television programming

Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC): A device that converts a digital signal into an analog one

DivX: A video codec popular because of its ability to highly compress video and still retain high quality

Dock: A device that connects an MP3 player to a power source and/or to a computer; shop for blank docking stations

Download: The process of receiving a file from another computer

DRM: See “Digital Rights Management”

DVR: See “Digital Video Recorder”

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E

Encode: The process of converting digital media into a new format

Equalizer: A tool that can alter the frequencies of music, allowing users to customize their sound

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F

FLAC: See “Free Lossless Audio Codec”

Flash memory: A form of digital storage that stores data on solid-state microchips; it cannot skip when used for audio or video storage because it has no moving parts

Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC): A popular file format for lossless audio compression

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G

GB: See “Gigabyte”

GIF: See “Graphics Interchange Format”

Gigabyte (GB): A measurement of computer memory storage that equals 1,024 megabytes

Graphics Interchange Format (GIF): An older lossless image format that remains popular

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H

H.264: A video codec that provides high quality at relatively low bitrates; also known as MPEG-4 AVC

Hard drive: A type of digital storage that keeps data on spinning magnetic discs. Hard drives still have the highest capacity of all MP3 player storage types, but they are subject to damage due to their small moving parts; shop for blank hard-drive-based MP3 players

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I

ID3: A small piece of data in MP3 files that identifies artist, title, album name, and other information

iPod: Apple’s brand of portable media players. The current line includes the iPod classic, iPod touch, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and iPhone; shop for all iPods or read through the iPod Help Guide for more information

iTunes: Apple’s media player application that serves as the interface between iPod devices and digital media located on a computer; additionally, it can connect to the iTunes store and download music, videos, and more

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J

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG or JPEG): A very popular image file format named after the committee that created it

JPG (JPEG): See “Joint Photographic Experts Group”

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K

KBPS: See “Kilobytes per second”

Kilobytes per second (KBPS): A measurement describing the number of kilobytes processed per second; bitrate can be measured in KBPS

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L

LCD: See “Liquid Crystal Display”

Line-level input: An input found on electronic devices used to receive sound information; line level has higher signal strength than microphone level

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): A thin, flat display device; many MP3 players incorporate LCD screens of various types

Lossless: A codec that provides compression while retaining all of the original data

Lossy: A codec that discards some of the original data to provide compression

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M

M4A: A popular video file format

MB: See “Megabyte”

Megabyte (MB): A measurement of computer memory storage that equals 1,024 bytes; a typical song encoded in MP3 format can range from 3 MB to 7 MB in size

Memory card: A form of solid-state storage for electronic devices; major types include Compact Flash (CF), Secure Digital (SD), and Memory Stick

Microphone-level input: An input found on electronic devices used to receive sound information; microphone level has lower signal strength than line-level in put and requires amplification

Mono: Single-channel sound reproduction that has no signal separation

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA): A trade association that represents movie studios

Moving Pictures Expert Group, Standard One, Audio Layer 3 (MP3):The standard codec for digital audio players

MP3: See “Moving Pictures Expert Group, Standard One, Audio Layer 3″

MP3 player: A device that can play MP3 audio files; shop for all MP3 players or read through the MP3 Player Help Guide for more information

MP4: An audio file format closely related to M4A

MPAA: See “Motion Picture Association of America”

MPEG-4: An overarching compression standard for audio and video data; DivX, H.264, and various Quicktime versions all use parts of MPEG-4

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N

Normalize: A process that sets the volume for multiple tracks to the same level

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O

OGG Vorbis: A popular free audio codec

OLED: See “Organic Light-Emitting Diode”

Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED): A screen technology used in many MP3 players that are capable of displaying video; they use significantly less power than LCD screens

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P

P2P: See “Peer-to-Peer”

Peer-to-Peer (P2P): A distributed file transfer system where each participant uploads and downloads data to each other

Pixel: The smallest piece of information in an image file; screen resolution is measured in pixels

Playlist: A customized selection of songs

PlaysForSure: A certification given by Microsoft to MP3 players that ensures they are compatible with a variety of file formats and DRM schemes

Plugin: An optional program that adds functionality to a larger program or system

Portable Media Player (PMP): A portable device that can play a variety of audio and video formats; synonymous with PVP

Portable Video Player (PVP): A portable device that can play a variety of audio and video formats; synonymous with PMP

PMP: See “Portable Media Player”

Proprietary format: A file format owned and controlled by a company that limits its use by other companies

Psychoacoustics: The study of the human perception of sound; audio codecs use psychoacoustic principles to achieve smaller file sizes

PVP: See “Portable Video Player”

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Q

QuickTime: Apple’s proprietary video codec; iPod devices are the only PMPs that can play QuickTime files

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R

RA: See “Real Audio”

Real Audio (RA): A streaming audio file format created by RealNetworks

Real Media (RM): A streaming video file format created by RealNetworks

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA): A trade association that represents major American record labels

Resolution: The number of pixels displayed on a screen; typically, more is better

RIAA: See “Recording Industry Association of America”

Ripping: The process of recording CD audio to a computer, usually in MP3 format

RM: See “Real Media”

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S

Sample rate: The number of data points per second used to convert an analog signal into a digital one; audio CDs and most MP3s are sampled at 44,100 Hz

Shuffle: The act of setting a media player to randomly play tracks from a playlist; the iPod shuffle is Apple’s smallest MP3 player

Solid state: Electronic devices that do not contain moving parts

Sound artifacts: Unwanted audio material that is the result of high compression

Stereo: Dual-channel sound reproduction that simulates how humans naturally hear

Streaming: The act of transferring parts of a media file while simultaneously playing it; this is different from downloading, because the media file is not permanently saved

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T

TFT-LCD: See “Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display”

Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD): A type of LCD screen technology that offers improved image and color quality; it is used in televisions and PMPs

Thumbnail: A copy of an image file that has been reduced in size to allow for easy browsing

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U

Universal Serial Bus (USB): A standard connection for electronic devices; it can transmit data and electrical power at the same time

Upload: The process of transferring a file from your computer to another

USB: See “Universal Serial Bus”

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V

Variable Bit Rate (VBR): An encoding process that allows the bitrate to vary over the course of a file; this allows for a lower bitrate during less complex parts and can result in lower file sizes

VBR: See “Variable Bit Rate”

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W

Wi-Fi: The trade name for wireless communications technology that allows modern electronics to communicate with each other; typically, Wi-Fi-enabled devices can be used to connect to the Internet

WAV: See “Waveform Audio Format”

Waveform Audio Format (WAV): The default audio format for Windows-based computers; it is uncompressed and requires a relatively large amount of disk space

Windows Media Audio (WMA): A proprietary audio data compression format created by Microsoft

Windows Media Player (WMP): The default media player for Windows-based computers; its default file formats are WMA, WMV, and ASF

Windows Media Video (WMV): A proprietary video data compression format created by Microsoft

WMP: See “Windows Media Player”

WMA: See “Windows Media Audio”, a proprietary audio data compression format created by Microsoft

WMV: See “Windows Media Video”

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Z

Zune: Microsoft’s brand of portable media players; shop for all Zunes or read through the Zune Help Guide for more information

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