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Macrovision -
The name of the company that creates electronic
intellectual property protection.
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Masking
- Under
ordinary conditions, the process by which the threshold
of hearing of one sound is raised by the presence of
another. In both digital video and digital audio, a
technique that allows a system to delete superfluous
(inaudible or invisible) artifacts from a data stream by
means of data reduction or data compression, enabling
the system to transmit or store wide-bandwidth
information within a much smaller bandwidth. Four
notable uses of masking involve Dolby Digital Surround
Sound, MPEG video, DCC cassettes, and the MiniDisc.
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Matrix
Decoding -
(Matrix channel). Extracting one or more channels of
sound from exiting channels of sound. An example is how
stereo left and right channels of sound carry the
information used for the center and rear channels in a
Dolby pro-logic surround system. The alternative to a
matrix channel is a discreet channel which is not made
up of sounds from another existing channel.
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Maximum
Power Rating
- The
maximum wattage that an audio component can
deliver/handle as a brief burst. Most reputable
manufacturers will provide both an RMS (continuous) and
Max power rating. Typically, the given value for the
maximum power rating is twice to three times that of
RMS.
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Megachanger -
CD or DVD player with massive disc storage capacity,
holding 50 or more discs.
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MHz
- Abbreviation for Megahertz, or 1 million Hz.
·
Microphone - A
device that turns soundwaves into electrical signals,
the very opposite of a loudspeaker.
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Midbass
- The name given to the audible range of medium low
frequencies. Generally around 50 to 100hz is considered
midbass.
·
Middle
Highs - The
name given to the medium high range of audible
frequencies. Generally considered to be around 2.6-5kHz.
·
Midrange
- The name given to the middle range of audible
frequencies around 200-3000Hz. Also the name given to
the speaker responsible for reproducing this range in a
speaker system.
·
Minidisc
- (MD). A digital audio format created by Sony. Small
plastic discs containing compressed digital audio
information. Despite lukewarm consumer response to the
MD format in North America, the Minidisc has seen
tremendous popularity in Japan.
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Mini-plug
-
Eighth-inch connector (jack and plug) used primarily for
headphone or speaker connections in personal
electronics.
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Monaural
- (Mono) A
single channel recording and sound reproduction method.
Single speaker TV sets are said to be mono.
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MOSFET
- Abbreviation for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field
Effect Transistor. A field effect transistor that is
controlled by voltage instead of current. Used in some
power amplifiers for high power and efficiency.
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MP3
- (Also see WMA). A popular format of compressed audio.
These compressed audio files are small therefore easily
transmitted across the Internet. Creation of MP3s from
source material is referred to as "ripping". Many CDs
today contain copy protection in an effort to foil those
that would rip their discs to MP3.
·
MPAA
- Abbreviation for Motion Picture Association of
America. The body that governs the film rating system.
Most movies are made to fit into one category of the
MPAA's rating system depending on the relative age of
its target audience.
·
MPEG
- Abbreviation for Moving Pictures Experts Group. The
group that develops the compression for audio and video
used on DVDs. The current technical standard for MPEG
is 2, or MPEG2 commonly used in DVDs today.
·
Muddy
- A qualitative term used for bass reproduction that is
muffled or unable to quickly change from very low to
medium low frequencies as the soundtrack demands.
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Multisource -
System with multiple sources. Can also be used to
describe a receiver that can provide multiple different
sources into different rooms.
·
Multiroom -
System that provides audio or video to multiple areas.
Usually with only one source.
·
Multizone -
System that provides different sources into multiple
areas simultaneously. |
