OK, can someone give a newbie a little jargon tutorial? I'm trying to figure out all of therms that are being thrown about.... Anamorphic, 16x9, the differences between DTS, AC-3, THX, etc.

Help? Thanks!

"Anamorphic" and "16x9 enhancement", when used in conjunction with DVDs, mean the same thing. Basically, a DVD image is the same shape as your TV screen, 4:3, or four units wide and three units high. Now, as you may know, widescreen videos only use a portion of the screen, leaving the top and bottom blank. What many discs do is "stretch" the image vertically, resulting in 33% higher resolution. 16x9 TVs (HDTV shape) will take that image and stretch it horizontally. You get a sharper image with fewer NTSC "artifacts" (where close sharp lines as as tweed jackets, striped shirts, car grilles, tend to "blur" or "shimmer" because the NTSC system doesn't have the resolution to resolve it). The minimum widescreen ratio for anamorphic enhancement is 1.78:1. Most theatrical movies are 1.85:1 or 2.35:1.

But when you play that on your normal TV the image would be all wrong - people would be tall and skinny. So, DVD players will either throw away every fourth line of data, or in the case of Sony players, take four lines of data and make three new ones. However, a few new TVs - such as the new XBR Sony Wega's - can actually detect an anamorphic picture and put it back into the proper shape. And since the TV can physically reproduce much higher resolution than the NTSC system can handle, you get a MUCH sharper image on a "regular" shaped TV.

As for sound: DTS and AC-3 (commonly known as Dolby Digital) are merely sound encoding systems. DTS is very uncompressed and takes a lot of room to store; Dolby Digital takes less room but suffers ever so slightly. Currently Dolby Digital is the common format. They are not compatible with each other, and are owned by seperate competing companies (in theaters you'll also find SDDS, which may make it's way to home cinema soon). At this point you're probably wise to buy equipment that can handle both.

THX is not actually a particular audio or video technology but rather a set of sound standards and enhancement processes for the reproduction of movie soundtracks so they are exactly as the director intended them to be. You'll find the term used a lot in theaters, which are supposed to be ideally calibrated for audio playback. This involves THX-certified equipment and speakers which are themselves tested by Lucas' company to ensure they meet the THX standards.

You can also buy THX-certified home equipment and speakers. One of the more common THX processes is "re-eq", which is supposed to remote the "brightness" from movie soundtracks. I would recommend a THX receiver (if you can afford the extra money) but would skip on THX speakers.

VHS, LD and DVD movies that have been THX'd (especially remastered older ones) are run though a process that can clean up and enhance older audio & video stock so that it looks even better than it did brand new.

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