Definitions

Bittorrent

is the latest P2P (Peer 2 Peer) network. Bittorrent is not as fast as newsgroups for downloading but there are a larger variety of files available.

Tracker

A server that manages the BitTorrent file-transfer process

torrent

A pointer file that directs your computer to the file you want to download

Swarm

A group of computers simultaneously sending (uploading) or receiving (downloading) the same file

Seeder

A computer with a complete copy of a BitTorrent file and sharing that file with other computers.

Uploader

A computer that is sharing a file, this can be the complete file or just portions of an incomplete file.

Peers

computers like your own that are trying to get a file.

Leeches

People who download files but do not share files on their own computer with others.

 
Newsgroups

a collection of message boards covering every topic you can think of. Newsgroups can also carry files in the messages. These are called binary messages and allow the sharing of files from anywhere in the world.

 File Types

AVI

stands for Audio Video Interleave and is a common format for movies found on the Internet. Playable in almost any computer and compatible with many codecs. Movies in AVI format can't be played in a home DVD player. They must be converted to VCD, SVCD or DVD format. See members website.
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MPG

is similar to AVI, MPG or MPEG files are movie files. Most movies in MPG format are made to be played in a DVD player, so no conversion is necessary. For help on burning these files to CD or DVD see our Newsgroups and DVD Backup lessons on the member site.
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MP4

is a new file format and codec. It's the latest in video compression sometimes referred to as .H264. Some newer DVD players can play these files and they deliver the best in both audio and video quality.

 
Disk Images

are the contents of a CD or DVD stored in a file on your computer's hard disk. These files can be burned to CD or DVD for use. You can also load or mount these disk images to a virtual disk drive from your hard drive. This allows you to use the disk without actually making a physical disk. For more on this see the Virtual Drive weekly video lesson.

Examples of disk image file formats you will find on the Internet:

• bin/cue
• dat
• img
• iso
• ccd
• mds/mfs
• nrg
• pdi
• cdi

 RAR

files are data containers, they store one or several files in a compressed form. After you downloaded RAR file from the Internet, you need to unpack its contents in order to use it. For instruction on using RAR files, see Lesson 4 of the newsgroup lessons.

 
PAR files, short for parity,

use Reed-Solomon error correction codes to create redundant data. In the case of loss or corruption of data in the original data files, the data may be reconstructed from the PAR files. The goal of PAR files is to be able to allow data recovery without requiring excess redundancy. A great feature of PAR files is the versatility of the files. In many ways, PAR files are "chameleon" files with the ability to reconstruct any one of the missing files. Whether part 1 or part 71 is missing, as long as you have as many PAR files as missing files, the data can be reconstructed. For instruction on using PAR files, see Lesson 8 of the newsgroup lessons.

 
PAR2 files

are the new version of parity files which work in a similar way to regular version 1 PAR files. They are designed to allow the repair or completion of an incomplete or corrupt set of files. The advantage of PAR2 files is their ability to repair slightly corrupt or incomplete files with a minimum of data required for the PAR2 file. With PAR2 files you only need as much parity file as is missing in the file set. Where as with PAR version 1 files you had to use as much data as the whole complete file to fix a corrupt file. This sounds very complicated, but it's all done for you by the programs we show you how to use in Lesson 8 of the newsgroup lessons. Anyone can do it - so don't worry.

 Codecs

Codec

A codec is a small piece of software that is used to compress video and audio so it's smaller and easier to copy. In order to play or otherwise use a video/audio file on your computer you have to have the codec that was used to create it installed onto your computer.

 
DivX

is a premium-quality, MPEG-4 video compression technology. It allows you to create and watch videos with very high visual quality and relatively low file sizes. DivX makes it possible, for the first time, to effectively move high-quality video files over the Internet.

 
XviD

is an open source version of DivX (See above). Being open source, it is free and quality is very similar to DivX.

 
MP3

A digital audio compression algorithm that achieves a compression factor of about twelve while preserving sound quality. It does this by optimizing the compression according to the range of sound that people can actually hear.

 
Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC-3),

Dolby's best-known digital system is used to provide multichannel surround sound in cinemas from 35 mm film and in the home from laser discs, DVDs, computers, digital broadcast television, cable and satellite systems. It enables the transmission and storage of up to five full-range audio channels, plus a low-frequency effects channel (LFE).

 Movie Sources

TS or Telesync

means a copy which was shot in an empty cinema or from the projection booth with a professional camera, directly connected to the sound source.

 
TC or Telecine

means the movie is taken directly from the reel to digital format.

 
CAM or Camera

means the movie was recorded with a camcorder from inside the theater.

 
SCR or Screener

means it's a copy made from either VHS tape or from DVD disc which are sent to movie critics to review.

 Movie Formats

VCD

stands for 'Video Compact Disc' and basically it is a CD that contains moving pictures and sound. If you're familiar with regular audio/music CDs, then you will know what a VCD looks like. A VCD has the capacity to hold up to 74/80 minutes on 650MB/700MB CDs respectively of full-motion video along with quality stereo sound. VCDs use a compression standard called MPEG to store the video and audio. A VCD can be played on almost all standalone DVD Players and, of course, on all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive with the help of a software based decoder / player. For instruction in creating a DVD to VCD copy, see the DVD to VCD lessons on the members home page.

 
MVCD

stands for Mole VideoCD. A MVCD is the same as a VCD, see above, except it's made to fit an entire movie onto 1 standard CDR. Where as it takes 2 or 3 CDRs in VCD format to make a complete movie, MVCD compatibility with DVD players is suspect, it might work, or it might not.

 
DCVCD

is the same as MVCD, see above. It's just a different name.

 
SVCD

stands for "Super VideoCD". A SVCD is very similar to a VCD. It has the capacity to hold about 35-60 minutes on 74/80 min CDs of very good quality full-motion video along with up to 2 stereo audio tracks and also 4 selectable subtitles. A SVCD can be played on many standalone DVD Players and, of course, on all computers with a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive with the help of a software based decoder / player. For instruction in creating a DVD to SVCD copy, see the DVD to SVCD lessons on the members home page.

 
SKVCD

is a higher resolution SVCD, see above. SKVCD's video resolution is 704x480, where SVCD has a video resolution or 480x480. SKVCD's resolution puts it very close to DVD resolution which is 720x480. The audio on SKVCD's is also upgraded from standard SVCD which is in MPEG 1 format, to MPEG 2 format on SKVCD's. SKVCD compatibility with DVD players is suspect, it might work, or it might not.

 Blank Media Types

CD-R

A write-once version of CD-ROM. CD-Rs can hold about 700 megabytes of data. You can record computer data, VCD, SVCD and MP3s onto a CD-R disk. They are very durable and can be read by DVD player, regular CD players including home stereo, car, walkmen and computer drives.

 
DVDR

stands for Digital Video Disk Recordable. A recordable DVDR stores up to 2 hours of very good quality DVD-Video, including several audio tracks in formats like stereo, Dolby Digital or DTS and also advanced menu systems, subtitles and still pictures that can be played by many standalone DVD Players and most computer DVD-ROMs.

 
Blue-ray (BD)

is a new format developed by various electronic industry leaders to support High Defininition video for playback in the home. Blu-ray Disc can hold 25GB on a single layer which can be used to record over 2 hours of HDTV or more than 13 hours of standard-definition TV. There are also dual-layer versions of the discs that can hold 50GB.

 
HD-DVD

(for High Density Digital Versatile Disc) is another format for high definition video similar to Blue-ray as seen above. The capacity of a BD disk is 15GB on a single layer and 30GB on a dual layer disk, with talk of a 3 layer disk format that can hold 45GB of video in the future.