Terminology Home Page

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z &

A

AAC — Abbreviation of Advanced Audio Coding. A standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bitrates.

AAC-LD — Abbreviation of AAC Low Delay. An audio compression standard designed to combine the advantages of perceptual audio coding with the low delay necessary for two-way communication. It is closely derived from the MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standard.

AAC Low Delay — Abbreviated as AAC-LD. An audio compression standard designed to combine the advantages of perceptual audio coding with the low delay necessary for two-way communication. It is closely derived from the MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) standard.

ABR — Abbreviation of Adaptive Bitrate. Adaptive bitrate streaming is when the system detects fluctuations in the end-users bandwidth and automatically changes the bitrate so the video can continue without buffering.

ABR Cascade — The set of outputs that make up adaptive bitrate groups.

Absolute Domain Name — Absolute domain name, sometimes also referred to as a fully-qualified domain name. A domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS).

Active Backup — Only one NIC slave in the bond is active at a time. A different slave becomes active only when the active slave fails. This mode provides fault tolerance.

Active Load Balancing — Abbreviated as ALB. The receive load balancing is achieved by Archive Resolution Protocol (ARP) negotiation. The bonding driver intercepts the ARP replies sent by the server on their way out and overwrites the source hardware address with the unique hardware address of one of the slaves in the bond such that different clients use different hardware addresses for the server.

Adaptive Bitrate — Abbreviated as ABR. Adaptive bitrate streaming is when the system detects fluctuations in the end-users bandwidth and automatically changes the bitrate so the video can continue without buffering.

Advanced Audio Coding — Abbreviated as AAC. A standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, Advanced Audio Coding generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bitrates.

Advanced Encryption Standard — Abbreviated as AES. A specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards.

Advanced Video Coding — Abbreviated as AVC. A standard for video compression, used for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video.

AES — Abbreviation of Advanced Encryption Standard. A specification for the encryption of electronic data established by the U.S. National Institute of Standards.

ALB — Abbreviation of Active Load Balancing. The receive load balancing is achieved by Archive Resolution Protocol (ARP) negotiation. The bonding driver intercepts the ARP replies sent by the server on their way out and overwrites the source hardware address with the unique hardware address of one of the slaves in the bond such that different clients use different hardware addresses for the server.

ARQ — Automatic repeat request is an error-control method for data transmission. If the sender does not receive an acknowledgment before the timeout, it re-transmits the packet until the sender receives an acknowledgment or exceeds a predefined number of retransmissions.

Aspect Ratio — The proportion of width to height.

Audio Bitrate — The number of bits used per unit of time to represent an audio stream. Measured in kilobits per second (kbps).

Audio Gain — Measure of the ability of a circuit (often an amplifier) to increase the power or amplitude of a signal from the input to the output, by adding energy to the signal converted from some power supply. Measured in decibels (dB).

Auto-Negotiation — Auto-Negotiation is used to detect the presence of a connection to another device. These "connection present" pulses are sent by Ethernet devices when they are not sending or receiving any frames.

AVC — Abbreviation of Advanced Video Coding. Also known as H.264. A standard for video compression used for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video.

B

Baseband Video — Baseband is a signal that is transmitted without any shift in the range of frequencies of the signal. The video is sent point-to-point, such as the video output of a VCR to the video input of a monitor.

Baseline Profile — Targeted at light applications such as video conferencing or playback on mobile devices with limited processing power.

Bash — A Unix shell and command processor that typically runs in a text window, where the user types commands that cause actions.

B-Frame — Contains difference information from the preceding and following I- or P-Frame within a Group of Pictures (GOP).

Bitrate — The number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time (e.g. kbit/s, kbps, Mbps, Gbps).

Blade — Constituents of a server architecture that houses multiple server modules in a single chassis, blades are widely used in data centers to save space and improve system management. Each blade has its own CPU, RAM and storage.

Bonding — Combines several NICs into a single link to achieve high-availability, load-balancing, maximum throughput, or a combination thereof. Once bonded, two NICs appear to be the same physical device and have the same MAC address. aka NIC teaming.

C

CA — A certificate authority or certification authority (CA) is an entity that issues digital certificates, which certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate.

CABAC — Abbreviation of Context-based Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding. More advanced and gives a better bit-rate-to-quality economy at the cost of higher processing power. For higher-quality applications such as large-format web video.

CAVLC — Abbreviation of Context-based Adaptive Variable Length Coding. A form of entropy coding used in AVC video encoding. An inherently lossless compression technique.

CBR — Abbreviation of Constant Bit Rate. The encoder/transcoder generates a constant number of bits over a period of time.

CDN — Abbreviation of Content Delivery Network. A large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers in the Internet. The goal of a CDN is to serve content.

Certificate Authority — A certificate authority or certification authority (CA) is an entity that issues digital certificates, which certifies the ownership of a public key by the named subject of the certificate.

CIDR Notation — Compact representation of an IP address and its associated routing prefix. The notation is constructed from an IP address, a slash ('/') character, and a decimal number. The number is the count of leading 1 bits in the subnet mask. Larger values here indicate smaller networks. The maximum size of the network is given by the number of addresses that are possible with the remaining, least-significant bits below the prefix.

CIFS — Abbreviation of Common Internet File System. Also known as Server Message Block, operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used for providing shared access to files, printers, and serial ports and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network.

CLI — Abbreviation of Command Line Interface. A means of interaction with a computer program where the user (or client) enter lines of text to issue commands to the program.

Closed Captioning — Abbreviated as CC. The act or process of including text as the transcription of the audio portion to a digital video stream or program. Closed Captions is the actual text that appears on the screen during closed captioning.

Cloud Encoder — An encoder that does not include any video capture cards. A cloud encoder requires the use of a source encoder streaming input.

Codec — A device or computer program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. A codec is a particular technology or method used to compress an electronic signal, such as a video or audio recording.

Color Space — Defines colors as a function of the absolute reference frame, color spaces, along with device profiling, to allow reproducible representations of color, in both analogue and digital representations.

Command Line Interface — Abbreviated as CLI. A means of interaction with a computer program where the user (or client) enter lines of text to issue commands to the program.

Common Internet File System — Abbreviated as CIFS. Also known as Server Message Block, operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used for providing shared access to files, printers, and serial ports and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network.

Composite Video — An analog video transmission (without audio) that carries standard definition video typically at 480i or 576i resolution.

Connection Speed — The performance of an Internet connection based on the number of bytes per second that data travels from the user's device to the Internet (upload) or from the Internet to the user's device (download).

Constant Bit Rate — Abbreviated as CBR. The encoder/transcoder generates a constant number of bits over a period of time.

Content Delivery Network — Abbreviated as CDN. A large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers in the Internet. The goal of a CDN is to serve content.

Context-based Adaptive Binary Arithmetic Coding — Abbreviated as CABAC. More advanced and gives a better bit-rate-to-quality economy at the cost of higher processing power. For higher-quality applications such as large-format web video.

Context-based Adaptive Variable Length Coding — Abbreviated as CAVLC. A form of entropy coding used in AVC video encoding. An inherently lossless compression technique.

Cooperative Research and Development Agreement — Abbreviated as CRADA. A written agreement between a private company and a government agency to work together on a project.

CRADA — Abbreviation of Cooperative Research and Development Agreement. A written agreement between a private company and a government agency to work together on a project.

cURL — Command line tool for getting and sending files using the URL syntax.

D

DASH — Abbreviation of Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP. An adaptive bitrate streaming technique that enables high quality streaming of media content over the Internet delivered from conventional HTTP web servers.

DEB — The extension of the Debian Software Package format and the most often used name for such binary packages.

Deprovisioning — The act of removing access from and freeing up resources reserved by end users and their file transfer workflows. Rapid removal of access upon termination or end of contract is key to any organization.

DHCP — Abbreviation of Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A standardized network protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for dynamically assigning network configuration parameters, such as IP addresses.

Digital Rights Management — Abbreviated as DRM. Various access control technologies that are used to restrict usage of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works.

Directory Rollover — For HLS Akamai HD network distribution. When enabled, it limits the number of .ts segments to 2000 before rolling over to a new directory.

DisplayPort — A digital display interface developed by the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA). The interface is primarily used to connect a video source to a display device such as a computer monitor, though it can also be used to carry audio, USB, and other forms of data.

DNS Caching — Streamlines record lookup, as it is quicker to check cache than to perform a DNS record lookup.

DNS Propagation — The time it takes to update the cache with new DNS changes.

DNS Server — Abbreviation of Domain Name System server. The most important function of DNS servers is the translation (resolution) of human-memorable domain names and hostnames into the corresponding numeric Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

DNS TTL — Represents the time it takes to cache a record. Having a lower TTL can help ensure that you are receiving the most recent updates in a given timeframe.

Domain Name System Server — The most important function of DNS servers is the translation (resolution) of human-memorable domain names and hostnames into the corresponding numeric Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

Downlink — A connection from data communications equipment towards data terminal equipment.

Downstream Connection — A connection from data communications equipment towards data terminal equipment.

DRM — Abbreviation of Digital Rights Management. Various access control technologies that are used to restrict usage of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works.

Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP — Abbreviated as DASH. An adaptive bitrate streaming technique that enables high quality streaming of media content over the Internet delivered from conventional HTTP web servers.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol — Abbreviated as DHCP. A standardized network protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for dynamically assigning network configuration parameters, such as IP addresses.

E

Edge Device — A device that provides an entry point into enterprise or service provider core networks. Examples include routers, routing switches, and video encoders and decoders.

Edge Node — A computer that acts as an end-user portal for communication with other nodes in cluster computing. Edge nodes are sometimes called gateway nodes.

Endpoint — A URI that points to a function or operation provided by the API, e.g., /apis/demos.

Error Correction — Refers to the automatic correction of errors that arise from the incorrect transmission of digital data.

F

Failover — Switching to a redundant or standby computer server, system, hardware component or network upon the failure or abnormal termination of the previously active application, server, system, hardware component or network.

FEC — Abbreviation of Forward Error Correction. A technique used for controlling errors in data transmission over unreliable or noisy communication channels.

Field Unit — A device or appliance in the field, or located remotely (e.g., outside the studio). Note: Can have the connotation of being a military unit destined to be fielded in tactical operations.

File Transfer Protocol — Abbreviated as FTP. Standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

Firewall — A network security system that monitors and control the incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules.

Forward Error Correction — Abbreviated as FEC. A technique used for controlling errors in data transmission over unreliable or noisy communication channels.

FQDN — Abbreviation of Fully-qualified domain name. Sometimes also referred to as an absolute domain name. A domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS).

Frame Rate — The video frame rate per second. The number of still images that are displayed in a given time interval to provide the illusion that the images are moving. A typical frame rate is 24 frames/second. (PAL uses 25fps while NTSC uses 29.97).

FTP — Abbreviation of File Transfer Protocol. Standard network protocol used for the transfer of computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

Fully-Qualified Domain Name — Abbreviated as FQDN. Sometimes also referred to as an absolute domain name. A domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS).

G

Garbage Timing — Refers to the scheduled execution of a background maintenance task to clean up old messages and alerts.

Gateway — A network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different protocols.

Globally Unique Identifier — Abbreviated as GUID. A 128-bit integer number that identifies resources. The format is a defined sequence of 32 hex digits grouped into chunks of 8-4-4-4-12.

GOP — Abbreviation of Group of Pictures. Specifies the order in which intra- and inter-frames are arranged.

Group of Pictures — Abbreviated as GOP. Specifies the order in which intra- and inter-frames are arranged.

GUID — Abbreviation of Globally Unique Identifier. A 128-bit integer number that identifies resources. The format is a defined sequence of 32 hex digits grouped into chunks of 8-4-4-4-12.

H

H.264 — Also known as Advanced Video Coding (AVC). A standard for video compression used for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video.

H.265 — Also known as High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and MPEG- H Part 2. HEVC is a draft video compression standard, currently under development as a successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding).

HDCP — Abbreviation of High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. A form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections.

HDS — Abbreviation of HTTP Dynamic Streaming. The process of efficiently delivering streaming video to users by dynamically switching among different streams of varying quality and size during playback.

HE-AAC — Abbreviation of High Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding. An audio coding format for lossy data compression of digital audio defined as an MPEG-4 Audio profile in ISO/IEC 14496-3.

HEVC — Abbreviation of High Efficiency Video Coding. Also known as H.265 and MPEG- H Part 2. HEVC is a draft video compression standard, currently under development as a successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding).

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection — Abbreviated as HDCP. A form of digital copy protection developed by Intel Corporation to prevent copying of digital audio and video content as it travels across connections.

High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding — Abbreviated as HE-AAC. An audio coding format for lossy data compression of digital audio defined as an MPEG-4 Audio profile in ISO/IEC 14496-3.

High-Efficiency Video Coding — Abbreviated as HEVC. Also known as H.265 and MPEG- H Part 2. HEVC is a draft video compression standard, currently under development as a successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding).

High Profile — Most efficient of the top three profiles. Packs more quality into a given bitrate. Hardest to process. Originally intended for high- definition applications such as Blu-Ray, however becoming popular for web-video applications due to the increase in processing power.

HLS — HTTP Live Streaming. An HTTP-based media streaming communications protocol implemented by Apple Inc. as part of its QuickTime, Safari, OS X, and iOS software.

Hostname — Label that is assigned to a device on a network and identifies that device in electronic communication, such as on the Web.

HTTP — Hypertext Transfer Protocol. Application protocol for distributed information systems. It is the foundation for communication on the World Wide Web.

HTTP Dynamic Streaming — Abbreviated as HDS. The process of efficiently delivering streaming video to users by dynamically switching among different streams of varying quality and size during playback.

HTTP Live Streaming — Abbreviated as HLS. An HTTP-based media streaming communications protocol implemented by Apple, Inc. as part of its QuickTime, Safari, OS X, and iOS software.

HTTPS — Abbreviation of HTTP Secure. Adaptation of HTTP for secure communication over a network and is widely used on the Internet.

I

IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation — Creates aggregation groups that share the same speed and duplex settings. Utilize all slave network interfaces in the active aggregator group according to the 802.3ad specification. This mode is similar to XOR Sequential mode and supports the same balancing policies. The link is set up dynamically between two LACP-supporting peers.

I-Frame — Intra-Coded Picture, usually referred to as a reference frame. An I-Frame contains the full image of the picture (that is, it is not a delta).

IGMPv3 — Abbreviation of Internet Group Management Protocol, Version 3. IGMPv3 adds support for source-specific multicast (SSM), which is a method of delivering multicast packets in which the only packets that are delivered to a receiver are those originating from a specific source address requested by the receiver. By so limiting the source, SSM reduces demands on the network and improves security.

IMAG — Abbreviation of Image Magnification. Used in the audiovisual production industry referring to large-scale theatrical or concert video projection to enable audience members seated at great distance from the stage to see details of the performer's body language and facial expressions that could not be seen with the unaided eye.

Image Magnification — Abbreviated as IMAG. Used in the audiovisual production industry referring to large-scale theatrical or concert video projection to enable audience members seated at great distance from the stage to see details of the performer's body language and facial expressions that could not be seen with the unaided eye.

Ingest — The process of obtaining and importing data for immediate use or storage in a database.

Intercom — A feature that allows 2-way communication between on-premise and remote users (e.g., StreamHub users and users of a field unit).

Interlace — Interlacing video is a technique for doubling the perceived frame rate of a video display without consuming extra bandwidth.

Interpolation — Filling in frames between the keyframes. Generates intermediate frames between two images to give the appearance that the first image evolves smoothly into the second.

Intra-Coded Picture — I-Frame, usually referred to as a reference frame, contains the full image of the picture (that is, it is not a delta).

IP Address — Abbreviation of Internet Protocol address. A numerical label assigned to each device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.

IPTV — Abbreviation of Internet Protocol television. The delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks.

ISO-639-2 — ISO 639-2:1998, "Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code" lists three-letter codes for the representation of the names of languages.

J

JavaScript Object Notation — Abbreviated as JSON. An open-standard format that uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs.

JITC — Abbreviation of Joint Interoperability Test Command. Conducts testing of national security systems and information technology systems hardware, and software. Services include developmental, conformance, interoperability, operational, and validation testing.

JITC Motion Imagery Tool — Abbreviated as JMIT. Ensures that motion imagery systems conform to the JITC standards.

Jitter — Deviation from true periodicity of a presumably periodic signal. Can cause a display monitor to flicker, affect the performance of processors, introduce clicks or other undesired effects in audio signals and cause loss of transmitted data between network devices.

JMIT — Abbreviation of JITC Motion Imagery Tool. Ensures that motion imagery systems conform to the JITC standards.

Joint Interoperability Test Command — Abbreviated as JITC. Conducts testing of national security systems and information technology systems hardware, and software. Services include developmental, conformance, interoperability, operational, and validation testing.

JSON — Abbreviation of JavaScript Object Notation. An open-standard format that uses human-readable text to transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs.

K

Key Frame — Full frames directly derived from the original source without the use of references to other frames within the video.

Key Length Value — Abbreviated as KLV. Refers to metadata packets. A data encoding standard, often used to embed information in video feeds. Items are encoded into Key-Length-Value triplets, where key identifies the data, length specifies the data's length, and value is the data itself.

KLV — Abbreviation of Key Length Value. Refers to metadata packets. A data encoding standard, often used to embed information in video feeds. Items are encoded into Key-Length-Value triplets, where key identifies the data, length specifies the data's length, and value is the data itself.

L

Latency — The time it takes for a bit of data to travel across a network from one communication endpoint to another. Many factors can affect the latency of a network.

LATM — Abbreviation of Low Overhead Audio Transport Multiplex. An interleaved multiple stream version of a LOAS.

LiveGuest — A Haivision feature that empowers professional broadcasters to invite remote guests to join a live video call directly integrated with their production system. 

Load Balancing — Improves the distribution of workloads across multiple computing resources. Aims to optimize resource use, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid overload of any single resource.

LOAS — Abbreviation of Low Overhead Audio Stream. A self-synchronizing format that encapsulates not only AAC, but any MPEG-4 audio compression scheme such as Twin VQ and ALS.

Lossless Compression — Decompression process which results in a file identical to the original.

Lossy Compression — Process by which the data is reduced in such a manner that it takes significantly less space than lossless compression alone, simply by discarding some, possibly most of the original data. The trick is to discard in such a way that the missing information will not be obvious.

Low Overhead Audio Stream — Abbreviated as LOAS. A self-synchronizing format that encapsulates not only AAC, but any MPEG-4 audio compression scheme such as Twin VQ and ALS.

Low Overhead Audio Transport Multiplex — Abbreviated as LATM. An interleaved multiple stream version of a LOAS.

M

MAC Address — Abbreviation of Media Access Control address. A unique identifier assigned to a network interface card, usually assigned by the network card manufacturer.

Main Profile — More capabilities than Baseline, better efficiency than baseline, but comes at the cost of a relatively higher CPU overhead. Usually used in medium-quality web video applications.

Maximum Transmission Unit — Abbreviated as MTU. Specifies the maximum allowed size of IP packets for the encoded or transcoded stream.

MBR — Abbreviation of Multi-Bitrate. Multi-bitrate streaming is when the same stream is available with different bitrates for the user.

Media Access Control Address — Abbreviated as MAC address. A unique identifier assigned to a network interface card, usually assigned by the network card manufacturer.

Metadata — Data that provides information about other data.

MKCOL — WebDAV HTTP extension verb for creating collections/directories.

MOOV Atom — A self-contained data unit that contains information about the video file; such as, timescale, duration, display characteristics of the movie, etc. Also known as the movie atom.

Movie Atom — A self-contained data unit that contains information about the video file; such as, timescale, duration, display characteristics of the movie, etc. Also known as the MOOV Atom.

MP3 — Abbreviation of MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III. An audio coding format for digital audio.

MPEG — Abbreviation of Moving Picture Experts Group. A group of authorities that set standards for audio and video compression and transmission.

MPEG-H Part 2 — Also known as High Efficiency Video Coding and H.265. HEVC is a draft video compression standard, currently under development as a successor to H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding).

MPEG Transport Stream — Abbreviated as MTS or TS. A standard format for transmission and storage of audio, video, and Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) data. It is used in broadcast systems such as DVB, ATSC, and IPTV.

MPEG TS — Abbreviation of MPEG Transport Stream (MTS or TS). A standard format for transmission and storage of audio, video, and Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) data. It is used in broadcast systems such as DVB, ATSC, and IPTV.

MTS — Abbreviation of MPEG Transport Stream. A standard format for transmission and storage of audio, video, and Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) data. It is used in broadcast systems such as DVB, ATSC, and IPTV.

MTU — Abbreviation of Maximum Transmission Unit. Specifies the maximum allowed size of IP packets for the encoded or transcoded stream.

Multi-Bitrate — Abbreviated as MBR. Multi-bitrate streaming is when the same stream is available with different bitrates for the user.

Multicast — Group communication where information is addressed to a group of destination computers simultaneously.

Multicast Address — A logical identifier for a group of hosts in a computer network that are available to process datagrams or frames intended to be multicast for a designated network service.

Multi-Tenant — A cloud computing architecture that allows customers to share computing resources in a public or private cloud. Within the cloud infrastructure, each tenant's data is inaccessible to all other tenants, and can only be reached with the cloud provider's permissions.

N

NDI — Abbreviation of Network Device Interface. A software specification that enables high-definition video to be delivered, received, and communicated over a computer network in a low-latency, high-quality manner. The specification allows for frame accurate switching, making it suitable for use in live production environments.

NDPP — Abbreviation of Network Device Protection Profile. U.S. Government Approved Protection Profile.

Network Adaptive Encoding — Detects changes in the available bandwidth and adjusts the video bitrate accordingly. This negotiation assures optimal stream delivery.

Network Device Protection Profile — Abbreviated as NDPP. U.S. Government Approved Protection Profile.

Network Interface Card — Abbreviated as NIC. A computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.

Network Time Protocol — Abbreviated as NTP. A networking protocol for clock synchronization between computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks.

NIC — Abbreviation of Network interface card or network interface controller. A computer hardware component that connects a computer to a computer network.

nslookup — Abbreviation of name server lookup. A network administration command-line tool available for many computer operating systems for querying the Domain Name System (DNS) to obtain domain name or IP address mapping or for any other specific DNS record.

NTP — Abbreviation of Network Time Protocol. A networking protocol for clock synchronization between computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks.

O

onCaptionInfo — Used for closed captioning in the Flash environment. The captions are embedded in the onCaptionInfo metadata.

onCuePoint — Used for closed captioning in the Flash environment. This handler triggers actions when the video reaches a specific cue point, which lets you synchronize other actions in your application with video playback events.

onMetaData — Used for closed captioning in the Flash environment. Establishes a listener to respond when Flash Player receives descriptive information embedded in the video being played.

onTextData — Used for closed captioning in the Flash environment. Establishes a listener to respond when Flash Player receives text data embedded in a media file that is playing.

Opportunistic TLS — An opportunistic encryption mechanism which offers a way to upgrade a plain text connection to an encrypted (TLS or SSL) connection instead of using a separate port for encrypted communication. Several protocols use a command named "STARTTLS" for this purpose.

P

Packet — Formatted unit of data carried by a packet-switched network. When data is formatted into packets, packet switching is possible and the bandwidth of the communication can be better shared among users than with circuit switching.

Packet Identifier — Abbreviated as PID. Identifies each table or elementary stream in an MPEG transport stream.

Payload — Sometimes referred to as the actual or body data. It is the cargo of a data transmission, or the part of the transmitted data which is the fundamental purpose of the transmission.

P-Frame — Abbreviation of Predicted picture frame. A video compression picture type that can use data from previous frames to decompress.

PID — Abbreviation of Packet Identifier. Identifies each table or elementary stream in an MPEG transport stream.

Pillarboxing — Also known as reversed letterboxing, is the display of an image within a wider image frame by adding lateral mattes (i.e., vertical bars at the sides).

Ping — Software utility used to test the reachability of a host on a network.

PIP — Abbreviation of Private Internet Protocol. Refers to connectivity into a private extranet network which by its design emulates the functioning of the Internet.

Playlist — A list of video or audio files that can be played back on a media player sequentially or in random order.

PMT — Abbreviation of Program Map Table. A collection of PIDs available in a transport stream.

Poster Image — A reduced-size version of a picture or video, used to help in recognizing and organizing them. Sometimes referred to as the thumbnail.

Program Guide — A menu-based system that provides the users of a media application with continuously updated menus displaying scheduling information for current and upcoming programming.

Program Map Table — Abbreviated as PMT. A collection of PIDs available in a transport stream.

Property Expression — In computing, strings of text or an instruction to execute something that will return a value.

Provisioning — In general, provisioning means providing or making something available. In telecommunications terminology, provisioning means providing a product or service, such as wiring or bandwidth.

PSIP — Abbreviation of Program and System Information Protocol. It is used in broadcast systems such as DVB, ATSC, and IPTV.

PuTTY — A free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console and network file transfer application. It supports several network protocols, including SCP, SSH, Telnet, rlogin, and raw socket connection.

Q

Quick Sync Video — Intel's brand for its dedicated video encoding and decoding hardware core.

R

Real-Time Messaging Protocol — Abbreviated as RTMP. A protocol for streaming audio, video and data over the Internet, used primarily between an Adobe Flash player and a server.

Real-time Transport Protocol — Abbreviated as RTP. A network protocol for delivering video and audio over IP networks.

Reference Input — The reference input lets you adjust the timing of the video outputs of your hardware. This is commonly used in large broadcast facilities where the video output needs to be accurately timed.

Remote Procedure Call — Abbreviated as RPC. In distributed computing, when a computer program causes a procedure (subroutine) to execute in another address space (commonly on another computer on a shared network), which is coded as if it were a normal (local) procedure call, without the programmer explicitly coding the details for the remote interaction.

REST — Abbreviation for Representational state transfer. A style of software architectural that was created to guide the design and development of the architecture for the World Wide Web. REST defines a set of constraints for how the architecture of a distributed, Internet-scale hypermedia system, such as the Web, should behave.

Reversed Letterboxing — Also known as Pillarboxing, the display of an image within a wider image frame by adding lateral mattes (i.e., vertical bars at the sides).

Round Robin Sequential — Transmits packets in first available network interface (NIC) slave through the last. This mode provides load balancing and fault tolerance.

RPC — Abbreviation of Remote Procedure Call. In distributed computing, when a computer program causes a procedure (subroutine) to execute in another address space (commonly on another computer on a shared network), which is coded as if it were a normal (local) procedure call, without the programmer explicitly coding the details for the remote interaction.

RTMP — Abbreviation of Real Time Messaging Protocol. A protocol for streaming audio, video and data over the Internet, used primarily between an Adobe Flash player and a server.

RTP — Abbreviation of Real-time Transport Protocol. A network protocol for delivering video and audio over IP networks.

S

Sampling — The reduction of a continuous time-signal to a discrete-time signal.

Scalable Video Coding — Abbreviated as SVC. An extension of the video compression standard H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.

SCTE-35 — ANSI/SCTE 35 2013 is a joint ANSI/Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers standard that describes the inline insertion of cue tones in MPEG-TS streams. The full standard name is "Digital Program Insertion Cueing Message for Cable."

SCTE-67 — Recommended practice for Digital Program Insertion for Cable. In particular, the SCTE-67 document makes recommendations on how to maintain proper time synchronization between servers and splicers. These recommendations include the time synchronization method used between servers and splicers; methods for configuring splicer controlled Ad Insertion Systems; and methods for monitoring the proper timing of Cue Messages.

SCTE-104 — ANSI/SCTE104 2012 is a joint ANSI/Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers standard that defines the Communications API between an Automation System and the associated Compression System that will insert SCTE 35 private sections into the outgoing Transport Stream.

Secure Reliable Transport — Abbreviated as SRT. A video streaming technology that brings the best quality live video over the worst networks. It accounts for packet loss, jitter, and fluctuating bandwidth, maintaining the integrity and quality of your video. With SRT, you can keep your streams secure and easily traverse firewalls. SRT is included with all Haivision streaming solutions.

Secure Shell — Secure Shell (SSH). A cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network.

Secure Sockets Layer — Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Like its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), a cryptographic protocol that provides communications security over a computer network.

Security Target — Security Target (ST). An ST defines information assurance security and functional requirements for the given information system product, which is called the Target of Evaluation (TOE). An ST is a complete and rigorous description of a security problem in terms of TOE description, threats, assumptions, security objectives, security functional requirements (SFRs), security assurance requirements (SARs), and rationales. The SARs are typically given as a number 1 through 7 called Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL), indicating the depth and rigor of the security evaluation, usually in the form of supporting documentation and testing, that the product meets the SFRs.

Server Message Block — Server Message Block, also known as Common Internet File System (CIFS), operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used for providing shared access to files, printers, and serial ports and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network.

Server Set Identifier — Abbreviated as SSID. The primary name associated with an 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN).

Service Principal — An application within Azure Active Directory, which is authorized to access resources or resource group in Azure.

Simple Object Access Protocol — Abbreviated as SOAP. A protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services in computer networks.

SMB — Server Message Block, also known as Common Internet File System (CIFS), operates as an application-layer network protocol mainly used for providing shared access to files, printers, and serial ports and miscellaneous communications between nodes on a network.

SMTP — Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. Standard protocol for email transmission.

SOAP — Abbreviation for Simple Object Access Protocol. A protocol specification for exchanging structured information in the implementation of web services in computer networks.

SRT — Abbreviation of Secure Reliable Transport. A video streaming technology that brings the best quality live video over the worst networks. It accounts for packet loss, jitter, and fluctuating bandwidth, maintaining the integrity and quality of your video. With SRT, you can keep your streams secure and easily traverse firewalls. SRT is included with all Haivision streaming solutions.

SRT extension — SubRip text files. File format used to store subtitles. Side car files that contains closed captioning data for a video file with a corresponding file name.

SSH — Secure Shell (SSH). A cryptographic network protocol for operating network services securely over an unsecured network.

SSID — Abbreviation of service set identifier. The primary name associated with an 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN).

SSL — Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). Like its successor, Transport Layer Security (TLS), a cryptographic protocol that provides communications security over a computer network.

ST — Security Target (ST). An ST defines information assurance security and functional requirements for the given information system product, which is called the Target of Evaluation (TOE). An ST is a complete and rigorous description of a security problem in terms of TOE description, threats, assumptions, security objectives, security functional requirements (SFRs), security assurance requirements (SARs), and rationales. The SARs are typically given as a number 1 through 7 called Evaluation Assurance Level (EAL), indicating the depth and rigor of the security evaluation, usually in the form of supporting documentation and testing, that the product meets the SFRs.

Stream ID — Information that can be used to identify any given SRT stream. It is composed of a unique Resource Name and User Name, which also make up the Stream Publishing ID. To successfully tune into an SRT stream using the Stream ID feature, the Stream ID elements (Resource Name and User Name) specified in the decoder must match those from the corresponding encoder.

Streaming — Mulitmedia constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a provider.

Stream Publishing ID — The elements of the Stream ID (Resource Name and User Name) are combined to form a unique string (with up to 512 characters) known as the Stream Publishing ID. Encoders and decoders use this string to distinguish between packets of different streams on the same SRT connection.

Subnet Mask — The bitmask that when applied by a bitwise AND operation to any IP address in the network, yields the routing prefix. Subnet masks are also expressed in dot-decimal notation like an address. For example, 255.255.255.0 is the network mask for the 192.168.1.0/24 prefix.

SVC — Abbreviation of Scalable Video Coding. An extension of the video compression standard H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.

T

Target of Evaluation — Abbreviated as TOE. The product or system that is the subject of the evaluation.

TCP/IP — Abbreviation of Transmission Control Protocol. One of the main protocols of the Internet protocol suite that originated in the initial network implementation in which it complemented the Internet Protocol (IP).

Telemetry — The collection of measurements or other data at remote or inaccessible points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment for monitoring.

Timecode — A sequence of numeric codes generated at regular intervals by a timing synchronization system.

Time-to-Live — Abbreviated as TTL for stream packets. Specifies the number of router hops the stream packet is allowed to travel/pass before it must be discarded.

TLB — Abbreviation of Transmit Load Balancing. The outgoing traffic is distributed according to the current load and queue on each slave interface. Incoming traffic is received by one currently designated slave network interface. If this receiving slave fails, another slave takes over the MAC address of the failed receiving slave.

TLS — Abbreviation of Transport Layer Security. Like its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a cryptographic protocol that provides communications security over a computer network.

TOE — Abbreviation of Target of Evaluation. The product or system that is the subject of the evaluation.

ToS — Abbreviation of Type of Service. Specifies the desired quality of service (QoS). This value is assigned to the Type of Service field of the IP Header for the outgoing streams.

Transceiver — In the context of video streaming, a transceiver is a device or server (e.g., StreamHub) that is capable of performing one or more operations (e.g. decode, reroute, transcode) on a stream received from a source.

Transcode-Multiplexing — Abbreviated as Transmux. A process that changes the format of a video or audio file while keeping some or all of the streams of the original file. It converts to another format without changing the file's contents.

Transcoding — The direct digital-to-digital data conversion of one encoding to another.

Transmission Control Protocol — Abbreviated as TCP or TCP/IP. One of the main protocols of the Internet protocol suite that originated in the initial network implementation in which it complemented the Internet Protocol (IP).

Transmit Load Balancing — Abbreviated as TLB. The outgoing traffic is distributed according to the current load and queue on each slave interface. Incoming traffic is received by one currently designated slave network interface. If this receiving slave fails, another slave takes over the MAC address of the failed receiving slave.

Transmitter — Also referred to a "field unit", a transmitter (e.g. Air/Pro/Rack series) is a device capable of encoding a video input and sending it to a transceiver over WiFi or cellular networks.

Transmux — Abbreviation of Transcode-Multiplexing. A process that changes the format of a video or audio file while keeping some or all of the streams of the original file. It converts to another format without changing the file's contents.

Transport Layer Security — Abbreviated as TLS. Like its predecessor, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), a cryptographic protocol that provides communications security over a computer network.

Transport Stream segments — Abbreviated as TS segments. A delivery format for audio-video.

TS segments — Abbreviation of Transport Stream segments. A delivery format for audio-video.

TTL — Abbreviation of Time-to-Live for stream packets. Specifies the number of router hops the stream packet is allowed to travel/pass before it must be discarded.

Type of Service — Abbreviated as ToS. Specifies the desired quality of service (QoS). This value is assigned to the Type of Service field of the IP Header for the outgoing streams.

U

UDP — Abbreviation of User Datagram Protocol. One of the core members of the Internet protocol suite. With UDP, computers can send messages (datagrams) to other hosts on the IP network

Unicast — A one-to-one transmission from one point in the network to another point.

Uniform Resource Identifier — Abbreviated as URI. The Web naming/addressing technology that uses short strings to identify resources.

Uniform Resource Locator — Abbreviated as URL. A reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

Universally Unique Identifier — Abbreviated as UUID. A 128-bit integer number that identifies resources. The format is a defined sequence of 32 hex digits grouped into chunks of 8-4-4-4-12.

Uplink — A connection from data communications equipment toward the network core. Also known as an upstream connection.

Upsert — To insert a row into a database table if it does not already exist, or update it if it does.

Upstream Connection — A connection from data communications equipment toward the network core. Also known as an uplink.

URI — Abbreviation for Uniform Resource Identifier. The Web naming/addressing technology that uses short strings to identify resources.

URL — Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator. A reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifier (URI).

User Datagram Protocol — Abbreviated as UDP. One of the core members of the Internet protocol suite. With UDP, computers can send messages (datagrams) to other hosts on the IP network.

User Provisioning — User provisioning helps organizations more quickly, cheaply, reliably, and securely manage information about users on multiple systems and applications.

UUID — Abbreviation of Universally Unique Identifier. A 128-bit integer number that identifies resources. The format is a defined sequence of 32 hex digits grouped into chunks of 8-4-4-4-12.

V

Variable Bit Rate — Abbreviated as VBR. Streams that vary the amount of output data per time segment. VBR allows a higher bitrate to be allocated to the more complex segments of media streams while less space is allocated to less complex segments.

VBR — Abbreviation of Variable Bit Rate. Streams that vary the amount of output data per time segment. VBR allows a higher bitrate to be allocated to the more complex segments of media streams while less space is allocated to less complex segments.

VESA — Abbreviation of Video Electronics Standards Association. A technical standards organization for computer display standards.

Video Bitrate — The number of bits used per unit of time to represent a video stream, typically measured in kilobits per second (kbps) or Megabits per second (Mbps).

Video Electronics Standards Association — Abbreviated as VESA. A technical standards organization for computer display standards.

Video on Demand — Abbreviated as VoD. An interactive technology that allows users to select and view programming in real time or download programs and view them later.

Video Return — Video Return enables field crews to see current program feeds and/or receive tele-prompting information during live sessions.

Virtual Private Network — Abbreviated as VPN. Extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network.

VoD — Abbreviation of Video on Demand. An interactive technology that allows users to select and view programming in real time or download programs and view them later.

VPN — Abbreviation of Virtual Private Network. Extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network.

W

WAV — Waveform Audio File Format (called WAV for its filename extension). A Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs.

Waveform Audio File Format — Waveform Audio File Format (called WAV for its filename extension). A Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs.

WebVTT — Abbreviation of Web Video Text Tracks. A standard for displaying timed text in connection with the HTML5 <track> element.

Wirecast — A live video streaming production tool by Telestream. It allows users to create live or on-demand broadcasts for the web.

X

XML — Extensible Markup Language. Defines a set of rules for encoding documents that is both human-readable and machine-readable.

XML entity — An XML opening and closing tag in combination with its payload.

XML tag — A named XML entity, for example, <demo/>.

XOR Sequential — Transmits based on XOR formula. (Source MAC address is XOR'd with destination MAC address). This mode selects the same NIC slave for each destination MAC address and provides load balancing and fault tolerance.

Y

YCBCR — YCBCR or Y'CBCR. A family of color spaces used as a part of the color image pipeline in video and digital photography systems.

Z

&

4K — 4K resolution refers to a horizontal screen display resolution in the order of 4,000 pixels. There are several different 4K resolutions in the fields of digital television and digital cinematography. In television and consumer media, 3840×2160 (4K UHD Flat Cropped) is the dominant 4K standard. In the movie projection industry, 4096×2160 (SMPTE ST 2036-1 or DCI 4K full frame) is the dominant 4K standard.

2160p — Applied to any format with a height of 2160 pixels, but it is most commonly used in reference to the 4K UHDTV resolution of 3840×2160 due to its association with the well-known 720p and 1080p HDTV formats. Although 3840×2160 is both a 4K resolution and a 2160p resolution, these terms cannot always be used interchangeably, since not all 4K resolutions are 2160 pixels tall, and not all 2160p resolutions are ~4000 pixels wide.