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To find a term in the glossary, click the letter of the alphabet that is the first letter in the term you want to look up.
You can also read glossary terms within the text of Help by clicking the underlined glossary term links. After you click a glossary link, the glossary term and definition appear in a pop-up window. To close the window, click anywhere on the screen.
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The file name extension of a profile.
The file name extension of a configuration file used by Windows Media Encoding Script.
The file name extension of an audio file in Windows Media Format. The audio content of the file is encoded with the Windows Media Audio codec.
The file name extension for a Windows Media Encoder session file.
The file name extension of a video file in Windows Media Format.
A Windows Media metafile that gives a player the information needed to receive content. Announcement files contain Extensible Markup Language (XML) scripts.
The ratio of the width of an image to its height.
A multimedia file format for storing sound and moving pictures in RIFF format.
See definition for: Audio Video Interleaved (AVI)
A network's capacity for transferring an amount of data in a given time.
The number of bits transferred per second.
Text that accompanies images or videos, either as a supplemental description or a transcript of spoken words.
See definition for: constant bit rate (CBR)
An abbreviation for compressor/decompressor. Software or hardware used to compress and decompress digital media.
A process for removing redundant data from a digital media file or stream to reduce its size or the bandwidth used.
A text file used by Windows Media Encoding Script that specifies the content to be encoded and the command-line options to be invoked.
A characteristic of a data stream in which the bit rate remains nearly uniform for the duration of the stream.
See also: variable bit rate (VBR)
Audio, video, images, text, or any other information that is contained in a digital media file or stream.
To combine the interlaced fields in a video frame so that, during playback, the lines of the video frame are painted sequentially.
See also: interlace
A video frame that contains only the changes from the previous frame. In contrast, a key frame contains all the data necessary to construct that frame.
The difference (in decibels) between the quietest and loudest sounds in a single piece of audio content.
To convert audio and video content to a specified digital format.
The number of video frames displayed per second. Higher frame rates generally produce smoother movement in the picture.
A part of the file structure that contains information required by an application to decompress and render the content. The header in a protected file also contains information required to get a license.
See definition for: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394
A high-speed serial bus standard that provides enhanced computer connectivity for a wide range of devices, including consumer electronics audio/video (A/V) appliances, storage peripherals, other computers, and portable devices.
A type of streaming that detects network conditions and adjusts the properties of a video or audio stream to maximize quality.
To display a video frame in two fields. One field contains the even lines of the frame, the other field contains the odd lines. During playback, the lines in one field are displayed first, then the lines in the second field are displayed.
A revised version of the Internet Protocol (IP) designed to address growth on the Internet. Improvements include a 128 bit IP address size, expanded routing capabilities, and support for authentication and privacy.
The process that removes the frames that were added when 24-fps film was converted to 30-fps video.
See definition for: Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
A video frame containing all the data needed to construct an image without reference to previous frames.
See also: delta frame
The delay that occurs while data is processed or delivered.
A video display format in which black bars appear above and below the video image while it is played. The letterbox format maintains the original aspect ratio of an image when it is displayed in a window with a different aspect ratio.
Data attached to protected content that describes how the content can be used.
To repeat a stream continuously.
A process for compressing data in which information is arranged in a more concise form and restored to its original state upon decompression.
A process for compressing data in which information deemed unnecessary is removed and cannot be recovered upon decompression. Typically used with audio and visual data in which a slight degradation of quality is acceptable.
A text string that is associated with a designated time in Windows Media-based content. Markers often denote convenient points to begin playback, such as the start of a new scene.
See definition for: multiple bit rate (MBR)
Data about data. Title, subject, author, and size are examples of a file's metadata.
A content delivery method in which a single stream is transmitted from a media server to multiple clients. The clients have no connection with the server. Instead, the server sends a single copy of the stream across the network to multicast-enabled routers, which replicate the data. Clients can then receive the stream by monitoring a specific multicast IP address and port.
An audio reproduction system that processes several, typically more than two, channels of sound. For example, 5.1 multichannel audio refers to a surround sound system in which there are five primary channels and a subwoofer channel.
A characteristic of a data stream in which the same content is encoded at several different bit rates in order to optimize content delivery.
The dominant television standard in the United States and Japan. NTSC delivers 30 interlaced frames per second at 525 lines of resolution.
See definition for: National Television Standards Committee (NTSC)
An encoding method in which content is analyzed and compressed in the same pass through the encoder.
See also: two-pass encoding
See definition for: Phase Alternating Line (PAL)
See definition for: pulse code modulation (PCM)
The dominant television standard in Europe and China. PAL delivers 25 interlaced frames per second at 625 lines of resolution.
The size and arrangement of pixel color components. The format is specified by the total number of bits used per pixel and the number of bits used to store the red, green, blue, and alpha components of the color of the pixel.
To extend the amount of encoded video by a specified number of frames.
To capture or play a number of video frames or a portion of audio data before encoding or rendering begins, in order to allow the source device to stabilize. Also used as a noun to describe the portion of the data to be prerolled.
A group of settings that match content type and bit rate with appropriate audio and video codecs.
A tool provided with Windows Media Encoder that creates and edits the encoding profiles.
See also: profile
An organized memory location that translates a client request for content into the physical path on the server hosting the content. A publishing point essentially acts as a redirector.
To deliver data to a client only upon client request.
A technique for digitizing audio into an uncompressed format by assigning a value to the amplitude of the signal at fixed intervals.
To deliver data to a client without a client request for the data.
A color model that describes color information in terms of the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) intensities that make up the color.
The process of measuring the amplitude of an analog signal at regular intervals for the purpose of converting the signal into a digital format.
The frequency of sampling. The higher the sampling rate (that is, the more samples taken per unit of time), the more closely the digitized result resembles the original.
Named data that is associated with a designated time in Windows Media-based content. The data can be used by players to perform a specific action such as displaying a Web page.
Audio and video content that can be captured and encoded from devices installed on your computer or from a file.
Digital media that is in the process of being delivered in a continuous flow across a network.
Information about the properties of a stream, such as the codecs used, frame rate, and frame size. A player uses stream format information to decode a stream.
A file used by a player to decode a multicast stream.
See also: stream format
The film-to-video conversion system that adds frames to video to compensate for the differences in frame rates between film and video.
A digital signal applied to a stream. The signal assigns a number to every frame of video, representing hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.
An encoding method in which content is analyzed in one pass through the encoder, after which compression is applied in the second pass. See also one-pass encoding.
See definition for: User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
See definition for: Universal Naming Convention (UNC)
A method used by media servers for providing content to connected clients in which each client receives a discrete stream. No other client has access to that stream.
The full name of a resource on a network. It conforms to the \\servername\sharename syntax, where servername is the name of the server and sharename is the name of the shared resource. UNC names of directories or files can also include the directory path under the share name, with the following syntax: \\servername\sharename\directory\filename.
A connectionless transport protocol in the TCP/IP protocol stack that is used in cases where some packet loss is acceptable, for example, with digital media streams.
A characteristic of a data stream in which the bit rate fluctuates, depending upon the complexity of the data.
See definition for: variable bit rate (VBR)
A codec used to compress and decompress audio streams.
A file containing audio, video, or script data that is stored in Windows Media Format. Depending on their content and purpose, Windows Media files use a variety of file name extensions, such as: .wma, .wme, .wms, .wmv, .wmx, .wmz, or .wvx.
The format used by Microsoft Windows Media Technologies (or a third-party product that incorporates a licensed Windows Media technology) to author, store, edit, distribute, stream, or play timeline-based content.
In Windows Media Technologies, a file that provides information about Windows Media files and their presentation. File name extensions for Windows Media metafiles include .asx, .wax, .wvx, .wmx, and .nsc.
A codec used to compress and decompress sequences of screen images.
A codec used to compress and decompress video streams.
A color model that describes color information in terms of its brightness (luminance, or Y), and color (chrominance, or U and V).