Tutorials

Glossary and Acronyms (not all are explained here)
13/18V Vert/Hor polarization switching (Sat)
22 kHz High/Low Band switching (Sat)
64QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation with 64 states
ADC Analog-Digital Converter
ADPCM Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation
ADR Astra Digital Radio
ADSL Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line
AES Audio Engineering Society
AF Adaptation Field
AIT Application Information Table (used for MHP)
AM Amplitude Modulation
API Application Programming Interface
ARD Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten in Deutschland
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASI Asynchronous Serial Interface Standard DVB interface for Transport Stream
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode
ATSC Advanced Television Systems Committee
ATV Advanced TeleVision North American standard for Digital Broadcasting
BER Bit Error Ratio

Block (used for DCT) 8x8 pixels (JPEG, MPEG)

Bouquet Set of services provided by the same operator on a network. The bouquet is controlled by one single authority and sold as one single entity.
BAT Bouquet Association Table. Table describing a bouquet of programs offered by a broadcaster.
BTA Broadcasting Technology Association
CA Conditional Access
CCITT Comité Consultatif Internation Téléphonique et
Télégraphique (1993>ITU-T)
CENELEC Comité Européen de Normalisation ELECtrotechnique
C/I Carrier-to-Interference-Ratio (dB)

CAT Conditional Access Table (PID=0x1) Reference to scrambled programs.
CATV Community Antenna TV (sometimes thought to be Cable TeleVision). The distribution of multiple TV channels to subscribers via a cable network.
CEI/IEC Commission Electrotechnique Internationale / International Electrotechnical Commission
CEPT European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations
CSA Common Scrambling Algorithm
D/A Digital-Analog
DAT Digital Audio Tape
DAVIC Digital Audio Visual Council
DBS Direct Broadcasting Satellite
DSNG Digital Satellite News Gathering
DSR Digital Satellite Radio
DSS Digital Satellite System
DTG Digital TV Group
DTH Direct To Home Satellite digital broadcasting services
DTVB Digital TeleVision Broadcasting
DVB-MG DVB-Measurement Group
DVB-MS Digital Video Broadcasting-Microwave Satellite Based. Terrestrial broadcasting of TV signals to digital standard via microwave (f>10 GHz)
CIF Common Intermediate Format 360x288 @ 30 Hz
C/N or CNR Carrier-to-Noise-Ratio (dB)
COFDM Coded Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplex
CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check
DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting
DAC Digital-to-Analog Converter
DAPSK Differential Amplitude Phase Shift Keying
DCT Discrete Cosine Transformation Temporal to frequency transform (JPEG/MPEG)
DigiTAG Digital Terrestrial TV Action Group
Downlink Communication link satellite earth
DSM Digital Storage Media. Flag in PH. Provide the capability of trick modes (Fast Forward/Reverse)
DSM-CC Digital Storage Media Command and Control. ISO/IEC standard developed for the delivery of multimedia broadband services.
DTS Decoding Time Stamp
DTS Digital Theater Systems Digital Surround is an audio encoding format similar to Dolby Digital
DTT Digital Terrestrial Television
DVB-C Digital Video Broadcasting -Cable Broadcasting TV signals to a digital standard by cable. The RF spectrum in digital cable TV networks has a frequency range of (approx.) 46 MHz to 850 MHz.
DVB Digital Video Broadcasting. European consortium that has
standardized digital TV broadcasting.
DVB-MC Digital Video Broadcasting-Microwave Cable Based.Terrestrial broadcasting of TV signals to digital standard via microwave (f<10 GHz)
DVB-RCS Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel Satellite
DVB-S Digital Video Broadcasting -Satellite Broadcasting TV signals to digital standard via satellite.
DVB-SMATV Satellite Master Antenna TV
DVB-T /-T2 Digital Video Broadcasting -Terrestrial Terrestrial broadcasting of TV signals to digital standard.
E/N Energy per Bit/Noise in 1Hz Bandwidth
EBU European Broadcast Union (UER)
ECL Emitter Coupled Logic
EDTV Enhanced Definition TeleVision
EIT EIT for present and following eventsP/F
EPG Electronic Program Guide Broadcasting data structure that contains all the information describing the programs and their events.
ES Elementary Stream. Data stream for video, audio or data. Preliminary stage to PES.
ESCR Elementary Stream Clock Reference
ETR ETSI Technical Report
ETR 290 ETSI recommendation regarding measurement of MPEG-2/DVB TS
ETSI European Telecommunication Standard Institute
GIF Graphics Interchange Format
GigE Gigabit Ethernet
GOP Group Of Picture
HDTV High Definition TeleVision
HEX HEXadecimal (0x)
HFC Hybrid Fiber Coax Typical CaTV network infrastructure
HTML Hypertext Markup Language
IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IF Intermediate Frequency. Generally 70 MHz for transmission. (950 to 1250 from the LNB)
ECM Entitlement Control Message This control message transports a general key for Scrambling (Encryption).
EIT Event Information Table, TV guide or EPG.
EMM Entitlement Management Message This control message transports a personal key for Scrambling (Encryption).
FEC Forward Error Correction Error control bits added to useful data in the QAM/QPSK modulator (errors may be detected and correct ed). I, Q In phase and Quadrature signals (carrier digital modulation - phase and amplitude)
IRD Integrated Receiver Decoder. Receiver with MPEG-2 decoder (Set Top Box)
IRE Institute of Radio Engineers
IRT Institut für RundfunkTechnik
IS International Standard
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network
ISO International Standardization Organization
ITU International Telecommunications Union

Ku-Band 10.7-18 GHz (Satellite)
LDTV Low Definition TeleVision
LMDS Local Multipoint Distribution System
LNB Low Noise Block. Also called LNC (Low noise converter).
LTW Legal Time Window offset

Macroblock (used for motion estimation) 16x16 pixels (JPEG, MPEG)
MCPC Multiple Channels Per Carrier
MFN Multiple Frequency Network (DVB-T)
MHP Multimedia Home Platform
MIP Megaframe Initialization Packet Used by DVB-T to synchronize the transmitters
MMDS Microwave Multichannel/Multipoint Distribution System
MP@ML Main Profile at Main Level
MPTS Mutliple Program Transport Stream. MPEG-2 TS containing several programs that have been multiplexed.
JPEG Joint Photographic Experts Group An ISO video compression standard for storage and transmission of a variety of still graphics image formats
LED Light Emitting Diode
LVDS Low Voltage Differential Signaling. A balanced interface with a low signal voltage swing (about 300 mV).
MHEG Multimedia&Hypermedia information coding Expert Group. Provides standards for the coded representation of multimedia hypermedia information objects that are interchanged among applications and services using a variety of media
MPE Multi Protocol Encapsulation. Process using DVB table structures for the Data transmission.
MPEG Moving/Motion Picture Experts Group An ISO motion video/audio compression standard providing both lossy and lossless compression.
Multiplex or Mux: To sequentially incorporate several data streams into a single data stream in such a manner that each may later be recovered intact.
MVDS Multipoint Video Distribution System
NAB National Association of Broadcasters
NIT Network Information Table Information about orbit, transponder etc.
NVoD Near Video on Demand Same TV program broadcasted simultaneously with a few minutes of starting time difference
OFDM Orthognal Frequency Division Multiplexing
ONID Original Network ID
OPCR Original Program Clock Reference Assists in the reconstruction of a SPTS from another Transport Stream.
OpenTV Application Program for EPG (TPS/ARD/ZDF)
OSI Open Systems Interconnection
PAL Phase Alternating Line Color TV System (Europe and 50 Hz countries)
PAT Program Association Table (PID=0) List of all the programs contained in TS Multiplex with reference to the PID of the PMT
PES Packetized Elementary Stream Video and audio data packets and ancillary data of undefined length.
PH PES Header
PID Packet Identification Identification of programs/services in the transport stream
PLL Phase Lock Loop
PRBS Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence
PS Program Stream
P-STD Program System Target Decoder
PSI Program Specific Information MPEG-2 Data transmitted in TS for the de-multiplexer in the receiver (PAT/PMT/CAT)
PTS Presentation Time Stamp Time stamp for vision and sound, transmitted at least every 0.7 s. Integrated into PES.
NTSC National TV Standard Committee Color TV System (USA and 60 Hz countries)
PMT Program Map Table Reference to packets with PCR, Name of programs, copyright, reference of the data streams with PIDs etc. Belonging to the relevant program.
PCR Program Clock Reference Reference for the 27-MHz clock regeneration. Transmitted at least every 0.1 s.
STB Set Top Box. Digital TV receiver (IRD)
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation Type of modulation for digital signals used in CaTV transmission(DVB-C). Amplitude and phase of a carrier are modulated in order to carry information.
QCIF Quarter Common Intermediate Format 180x144@15 Hz (Video telephony)
QEF Quasi Error-Free
QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying. Tpye of modulation for digital signals used in satellite transmission (DVB-S).
RGB Red, Green, Blue
RLC Run Length Coding Data compression method exploiting repetition
RS Reed-Solomon. Protection Code 16-byte long error control code added by the modulators to every 188 byte Transport Packets in a TS.
RST Running Status Table
SAS Subscriber Authorization System CA/SMS
SCPC Single Channel Per Carrier
SDI Serial Digital Interface
SDT Service Description Table
SDTV Standard Definition TeleVision
SER Symbol Error Rate
SFN Single Frequency Network (DVB-T)
SI Service Information. All the DVB data required by the receiver to demultiplex and decode the variety of programs in the TS.
SIF Source Intermediate Format 360x288@25 Hz or 360x240@30 Hz (MPEG-1)
S-MATV, SMATV Satellite Master Antenna TV
SMPTE Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers
SMS Subscriber Management System. In CA: storage for customer data
SNG Satellite News Gathering. Retransmission of events using mobile equipment and satellite transmission (e.g. sports)
SNR or S/N Signal-to-Noise Ratio
SPI Synchronous Parallel Interface. Standard DVB interface forTS.
SPTS Single Program Transport Stream TS that contains one unique program.
Statistical Multiplexer A device which combines a number of time-varying bit streams into a single bit stream for transmission.
ST Stuffing Table
SECAM Séquentiel Couleur à Mémoire Color TV System (France, Eastern European countries)

General Standards:
ETR 162: Allocation of Service Information codes for DVB systems
ETR 211: Guidelines on implementation and usage of service information
TR 101 290: Measurement guidelines for DVB systems
ISO/IEC 3818-1...4 and 6: Information Technology - Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information: Part 1: Systems (ITU-T H.222.0), Part 2: Video (Rec. ITU-T H.262), Part 3: Audio: Audio for surround sound: Layer: L1, L2 (DVB, DAB, DVD), L3 (Mp3): MPEG-2
AAC (Advanced Audio Coder): Surround Sound (Digital AM), Part 4: Conformance test, Part 6: Extension for DSM-CC
MPEG-1 (ISO/IEC 11172-3): Audio for mono and stereo sounds
Dolby Digital AC3 (Audio Code N 3): For stereo surround
ISO/IEC 13818-9: Information Technology - MHEG standard
ISO/IEC 14496: Information Technology (MPEG-4). Very low bit rate audio-visual coding
ISO 15938: Multimedia content description interface (MPEG-7)
EN 101 192: DVB specification for data broadcasting
TR 101 202: Implementation Guidelines for Data Broadcasting
TS 101 812: DVB Multimedia Home Platform (MHP) Specification
DVB A010: Interfaces (ASI/SPI) for CATV/SMATV Headends and Similar Professional Equipment
ETS 300 421: DVB-S, channel coding and modulation for 11/12 GHz satellite services
ETS 300 429: DVB-C, channel coding and modulation for cable systems
ETS 300 744: DVB-T, Digital Terrestrial Transmission Systems
ETS 300 743: DVB subtitling system
TS 101 191: DVB mega-frame for Single Frequency Network (SFN) synchronization
ETS 300 468: Specification for Service Information (SI) in DVB systems
ETS 300 472: Specification for conveying ITU-R System B Teletex in DVB bit streams
ETS 300 473: DVB Satellite Master Antenna Television (SMATV) distribution systems
ETS 300 802: DVB Network independent protocols for interactive services
EN 101 790: DVB-RCS; Interaction channel for satellite distribution systems
TR 101 790: Guidelines for the use of EN 301 790
EN 301 958: DVB-RCT; Interaction channel for DTT incorporating Multiple Access OFDM
ES 200 800: DVB-RCC; Interaction channel for Cable TV distribution systems (CATV)
ETR 154: DVP implementation guidelines for the use os MPEG-2 Systems, Video and Audio in satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasting applications
SECA, Société Europ. de CA
TV TeleVision
TDT Time and Date Table
TH Transport Stream Header
TIFF Tagged Image File Format
TM Technical Module (DVB-Project)
TOT Time Offset Table
Transponder Trans(mitter) and (res)ponder. Equipment inside the satellite receiving and re-sending information.
Transport Packet 188 byte packets organized in a TS.
TS Transport Stream. Packet stream contains PES and PSI belonging to one or several programs.
TS Header Transport Stream Header. The first 4 bytes of each
TS packet contain the data (PID) required for the demultiplexer in addition to the sync byte (0x47). These bytes are not encoded.
T-STD Transport Stream System Target Decoder
Uplink Communication link earth satellite
UTC Universal Time Code
UER Union Européenne de Radio-Télévision EBU
UHF Ultra High Frequency, 470 to 862 MHz
UIT Union Internationale des Télécommunications (ITU)
VBI Vertical Blanking Interval
VBV Video Buffer Verifier (MPEG-2 Video)
VCO Voltage Controlled Oscillator
VDSL Very high bit rate Digital Subscriber Line
VHF Very High Frequency, 47 to 300 MHz
VHS Video Home System
VLC Variable Length Coding. Data compression method (Huffmann)
VoD Video on Demand
VPS Video Programming System. Transport of recording control commands via a dedicated television line.

Some Conditional Access Vendor Names:
Irdeto
BetaCrypt
Mediaguard
Viacces
Cryptoworks
Nagra

NDS Videoguard
Conax

Cryptoworks
MediaCipher
Panaccess

Verimatrix