.my file - A .my file is the way metadata was stored for use with myHTPC, it was in the form of files.
AIFF - Audio Interchange File Format, this is a common uncompressed audio format for Macintosh computers.
APE - This the file format used by Monkey's Audio. This is a well regarded high quality lossless compressor.
ASIO - Audio Stream In/Out, this a direct from sound hardware low latency method of sending sounds, it bypasses the Windows sound mixer for perfect sound reproduction.
AVI - Audio Video Interleave, this is the generic formatting for Microsoft Video for Windows files. AVI files can have different compressors that are the actual format, for example DivX files are AVI compliant.
BMP - This is the standard bit-mapped graphics format for Windows computers.
Codec - Short for compressor/ de-compressor: this is the technology to execute an algorithm to compress or decompress video or audio.
DivX - This is an MPEG4 compliant codec from DivXNetworks, Inc. It currently has the highest level of compression with creating a significant quality loss. DivX was originally a hack on the Microsoft MPEG4 codec, its' success lead to a total overhaul to be a legal and fully MPEG4 compliant product. [see also Codec. MPEG]
DVD - Digital Versatile Disc, this newer relative of the Compact Disc can hold 4.7GB or more, it is commonly used for storing video in MPEG2 format with a Dolby Digital sound track.
EXIF - Exchangeable Image File, this is a standard for storing information about a photograph such as date and time the photograph was taken or the brand of camera, this information is stored inside a JPEG file.
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format, this is a format originally pioneered by the now defunct dial-up internet access and online bulletin board service provider CompuServe. It is a compressed image format but it is limited to 256 colors.
Icecast - This is an open source alternative to and is compatible with Shoutcast streaming audio servers. [see also Shoutcast]
ID3 - This is a special section of an MP3 file that contains information about the title, artist, genre, and more. This provides much more information than just the file name could provide. [see also MP3, Metadata]
JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group, this is a widely used compressed image format. The files can also use the file ending in .jpg rather than .jpeg
Jump target - This is a special setting for menu items in Meedio, this allows a key combination or remote button to jump directly to a menu item.
Lossless - This refers to a codec that compresses only what it can, it will not actually cut out data. It reduces the size of music without affecting the quality, as the compressed signal is identical to the original. This results in large file sizes compared to an MP3 but still a large savings compared to the raw digital music file. In contrast a lossy format uses formulas based on a mathematical model of human hearing to calculate what humans can not hear well and discards the data in those frequencies.
Media Library - This is the home to all information on media files in Meedio. It stores the metadata. [see also Tag, Metadata]
Metadata - This is literally data about data. Metadata describes useful information about a file, for example: date, time, author, running time, artist, director, etc. An ID3 tag is an example of metadata. [see also ID3]
Module - A Module is program code that allows Meedio to manage the display of various types of media and data. Modules are the building blocks to the Meedio menu.
MP3 - This is a very popular format of compressed audio file. [see also ID3]
MPEG -The Moving Picture Experts Group, created a family of video compression standards. These common formats include MPEG1, MPEG2 (used for DVDs), and MPEG4 (DivX and others are based around this standard). Typically when a person uses the term "MPEG" with no number afterwards he or she is referring to MPEG1.
Ogg Vorbis - This is a newer compressed audio format that is open source and typically has better compression-to-audio quality than MP3s. The files typically end with .ogg.
Overscan - The adjustment of a TV set so that all four edges of the video frame are slightly outside the screen. Today's TV sets don't suffer from picture shrinkage as much but overscan still occurs and too much of it is now regarded as a quality control deficiency. Still, TV producers keep important material away from the edges of the video frame, and many video cameras have marked in their viewfinders a "safe area". Sometimes the electronics in the TV set are deficient (rounded off horizontal and/or vertical sweep sawtooth waveforms) that the extreme edges of the picture are "squished" and overscan is deliberately used to hide this distorted material outside the screen borders.[see also Underscan]
PNG - Portable Network Graphics, a high quality bit-mapped graphics format that is an approved image format of the World Wide Web Consortium.
Plugin - This is a piece of code that adds a service or feature to the framework of Meedio. Plugins come in four different types: [see also Module]
Resource file - Resource files contain all the pieces that the screens and templates use, things like the colors used, text format and images used throughout the screens. [see also Theme, Screen file, Template]
Screen file (.screen) - Screen files are used for any module or plugin to display all kinds of information to the user. Screen files can show menus, text, images, file browsers, keyboards, and other controls. [see also Resource file, Template, Theme]
Shoutcast - This uses the well known Winamp media player program to distribute streaming audio across the internet. [see also Icecast]
Tag - A tag is an element of metadata, it has a name and a value. It "tags" a file with information, much like an animal is tagged to be tracked in the wild. [see also Media Library]
Tag Mask - This is a way for the Media Library to extract metadata from file names. With a tag mask, a person would choose parts of a file name that contain useful information such as track number, artist, and title. These "masked" parts are then considered to be useful metadata and are cataloged in the Media Library.
Template - Template files are used so that screens can have a common layout throughout each of the modules. By changing the attributes of the template files, the look and functionality of any screen files that use the templates will have the new look and layout to them. [see also Resource file, Screen file, Theme]
Theme - A theme is a group of images, sounds, templates, screens, resources, and layouts that provide a new look for Meedio. [see also Resource file, Screen file, Template]
Underscan - Condition when the picture size is adjusted so that strips of unused screen area are along all borders. Computer users sometimes leave their monitors adjusted this way to guarantee that material such as the "start button" in the lower corner of the Windows screen does not disappear beyond the edge. Also on some TV sets the edges of the picture suffer distortion when extended all the way to the picture tube edge. [see also Overscan]
WAV - This is the standard windows sound file format, it is typically uncompressed or only very lightly compressed, because of this WAV files are typically used for short sound clips.
WMA - Windows Media Audio, this is a rather popular compressed audio file format made by Microsoft, it tends to have better sound at higher compression ratios than MP3s.
WMV - Windows Media Video, this refers to Microsoft's family of video codecs. WMV version 7 and newer use a proprietary variation on the MPEG4 standard. [see also Codec, MPEG]