Home Theater Lingo Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
2 min
Home Theater Lingo Quiz
Image: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

About This Quiz

HD, DVD, LCD. What do all of these acronyms stand for anyway? See if you're up on your home theater jargon in our home theater lingo quiz.
This media format succeeded the VHS tape as the most popular format for distributing movies, but what does its name stand for?
Data Vehicle Disc
Digital Video Disc
Digital Vocoder Disc
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The DVD, or Digital Video Disc, was the premiere optical medium for storing movies until the arrival of Blu-ray.

Advertisement

Speaking of VHS, the tape format was used for home video for years. But do you know what VHS means?
Video Home System
Video Housing Storage
Veritable HiRes Standard
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

VHS stands for Video Home System. And that's exactly what it was until DVDs took over in the late '90s.

Advertisement

Before VHS became standard, it battled with another tape format for dominance of the home video market. What was it called?
8-Track
Betamax
Compact disc
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Betamax lost to VHS despite being a higher-quality format; VHS was more readily available and cheaper.

Advertisement

Surround sound sure pumps out a lot of noise. How many channels of audio are there in Dolby Digital 7.1 Surround?
6
8
9
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Dolby 7.1 is comprised of eight sound channels -- seven for the surround audio and one channel for the subwoofer. That's what the .1 stands for.

Advertisement

How many subwoofers would there be in a 7.2 surround sound configuration?
2
5
7
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The .2 designates two subwoofers. That's twice as much bass as your average setup.

Advertisement

This sound certification is actually named after a movie written and directed by George Lucas before he made "Star Wars."
Dolby
Laserdisc
THX
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

George Lucas' first major film, "THX 1138," was the basis for the high-quality audio standard today known as THX.

Advertisement

Unlike DVD, Blu-ray isn't an acronym for anything. But do you know how it got its name?
Blu-ray uses a blue laser
Blue-ray was already copyrighted
The Blu-ray logo is a blue stingray
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Blu-ray is so-named due to the blue laser used to read the high-capacity Blu-ray discs.

Advertisement

Blu-ray beat out this video disc format to become the DVD's true successor. What was it called?
SDVD
HD-DVD
Laserdisc
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Blu-ray and HD-DVD were on the market side-by-side for a couple years, but eventually market support sided with Blu-ray.

Advertisement

The short-lived HD-DVD was primarily pushed by Toshiba and Microsoft. What did its name stand for?
High Definition DVD
Hyper Density DVD
High Delivery DVD
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The HD-DVD, aka the High Definition DVD, is now a format war loser much like Betamax.

Advertisement

Here's a classic format: Can you expand on the acronym CD?
Covalent drive
Compact drive
Compact disc
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The CD is the compact disc, of course.

Advertisement

802.11 is a technology standard involving the Internet. Do you know what it relates to?
3G
4G
Wi-Fi
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

802.11 is the standard used in wireless Internet, aka Wi-Fi. Today's wireless devices primarily use the 802.11g and 802.11n standards.

Advertisement

Today's high definition televisions come in two resolutions: 720p and 1080p. But what does that "p" stand for?
progressive
passive
pixels
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The "p" in 720p and 1080p stands for progressive, which means each line of the image is scanned progressively. Progressive displays are superior to interlaced displays, which resolve every other line of the image and take two passes to complete the picture.

Advertisement

Full HD is another term for this resolution.
720p
1080p
1600p
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

1080p. While display technology can easily exceed resolutions of 1920x1080 pixels (1080p), it was established as the premiere HD resolution for televisions.

Advertisement

Once the most popular interface for transferring video signals, this old analog standard will soon be phased out of the computer industry.
VGA
DVI
DisplayPort
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

VGA, or Video Graphics Array, is an outdated analog video standard now surpassed by superior digital options like DVI and HDMI.

Advertisement

HDMI is the current standard format for transferring high-definition signals between devices. But what does it mean?
High Density Media Interchangeable
High Definition Media Interface
Hard Design Multimedia Input
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

HDMI, or High Definition Media Interface, can transfer uncompressed HD video and audio.

Advertisement

Unlike this other popular digital high definition interface, HDMI can transfer both audio and video.
DVI
VGA
S-Video
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All three of these formats are video-only, but DVI is the only one that's digital, rather than analog. DVI is another popular interface for computer systems.

Advertisement

LCDs are the dominant displays in big-screen televisions. Do you know what an LCD is?
Laser Crystal Diode
Liquid Crystal Display
Light Crystal Diode
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

An LCD is a Liquid Crystal Display, which modulates light to display an image.

Advertisement

Some LCD displays are lit up by OLEDs. OLED LCDs -- what are those?
Organic Light-Emitting Diode
Ornamental Laser-Emitting Disc
Organic Light-Emulsion Device
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

OLEDs are organic light-emitting diodes that don't need backlighting, and thus can be used to create thinner displays with superior contrast.

Advertisement

You'll need either cable Internet or DSL to stream video to your home. But what does the latter high-speed Internet acronym stand for?
Device Service Linkup
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital Subscription Link
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

DSL, or a Digital Subscriber Line, is a broadband Internet service run to your home from an Internet Service Provider.

Advertisement

Cable and satellite boxes, as well as other media-playing home theater devices, are often called STBs, or:
Source Transfer Box
Source Terminal Box
Set Top Box
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

STB, or set-top box, is a general term used to describe a device that connects to a TV and provides some form of content.

Advertisement

You Got:
/20
iStockphoto/Thinkstock