AV History

The record was made with Plastic and two types of records were made:
EP (Extended play) 45RPM and LP (Long play) 33RPM. EP record played two songs of 5 min on one side and LP records played many songs for half an hour, on one side.

A Safire or Diamond needle runs in the groves in the record to create sound.

Clock Radio - 1985

From the year 1984. Sold for $600. The first of the slim line E-Z Betamax VCRS.

Striped down with no special features :
- 3-day, 1-event programming
- Wireless remote function
- Analog counter with reset
- Records in both Beta II and III speeds
- 14 button tuner
- Front audio/video inputs
- Clock display. Improved SL-2400. Dark Brown in color. These units were flying off the selves back then, simple and cheaper models.


Betamax (left) - VHS (Right)

VHS

All to common...


Cleaning Tape

Portable CD player

Multichoice DSTV DSD-660 satelite decoder - 2002

Sony Home Theatre System - DAV-DZ30 - Nov 2010

Rich and clear sound is set free from your iPod/iPhone/iPad by this stylish Philips DC291/12 docking station. Play and charge your device at the same time, or use the set as an alarm clock to wake up to your favorite music or radio station.

- 10W RMS total output power
- Digital tuning with preset stations for extra convenience
- Neodymium speaker driver for rich and clear sound
- Play and charge your iPod/iPhone/iPad
- MP3 Link for portable music playback
- Auto clock synchronization with iPod/iPhone/iPad when docked
- Dock your iPod/iPhone, even in its case
- Weekday/ weekend alarm setting to complement your lifestyle
- Wake up to your iPod/iPhone/iPad music or radio tunes
- Gentle wake for a pleasant wake up experience
- Brushed Aluminum cabinet for quality look and feel

Play Your Music Through Your Home Stereo—Wirelessly
Now you can play your music through your home stereo or stand-alone speakers—wirelessly. You’ll get stereo sound and the ability to control your playlist directly from your device from the comfort of your couch.

The Wireless Bluetooth Music Receiver connects simply to your stereo and pairs wirelessly with your Bleutooth phone or music player via Bluetooth v2.1 for reliable, high-quality sound.

- Features Bluetooth v2.1 with EDR for superior wireless performance
- Transmits up to 33 feet away
- Remembers up to six paired devices
- Cables included: 3.5mm-to-RCA & 3.5mm-to-3.5mm
- Compatible with all devices enabled with A2DP stereo Bluetooth.

Astrum RAGA BT BK Wireless Bluetooth Headset - February 2014

Features :
- Wireless Bluetooth headphone
- Volume and MP3 controls inbuilt
- White magnate for powerful bass
- Soft rubber headrest with nano earphone
- Inbuilt li-polymer rechargeable battery
- Inbuilt hidden Mic for skype / mobile call

Specifications :
- Interface : Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR
- Support : HSP, HFP, A2DP, AVRCP
- Play Time : Up to 5 hours continous
- Range : Up to 10meters on class II
- Sensitivity : 123dB +-3dB
- Frequency : 20Hz – 20KHz
- Speaker Rated Power : 15mW
- Cycle Life : 450 Times

Functions :
- Power Switch
- Volume
- Previous/Next Track
- Mic

Multichoice HD PVR 2P Satelite Decoder - October 2014

The TV-Link Eye allows me to remotely change channel on the DSTV PVR by sending the signal to the decoder along the RF cable. Splitters and Amplifiers must allow 2 way trafic (DC Pass) and TV-Link is turned "ON" on the decoder. SB5F allows 2 way traffic if jumper on bottom of SB5F is set.

Receive audio via Bluetooth on audio devices.
Built in mic for hands-free calling.

Bluetooth Version :

Airplane Headphone Socket Adapter Plug (Double Female 3.5mm Mono Jack Socket To Single Female 3.5mm Stereo Jack Socket)

Skullcandy Sesh - True Wireless Earbuds - July 2020

Video and Audio Connector Types

RF : The Belling-Lee connector or IEC 169-2 connector, known colloquially as TV aerial plug, TV antenna connector or simply an antenna plug, is the traditional RF connector for European TV sets and FM / DAB-radio receivers that connects them to a terrestrial VHF/UHF roof antenna, antenna amplifier, or CATV network via a coaxial cable. It is the oldest coaxial connector still commonly used in consumer devices.


RCA : An RCA connector, sometimes called a phono connector or cinch connector, is a type of electrical connector commonly used to carry analogue audio and video signals.


Composite video :  (1 channel) is an analog video transmission (no audio) that carries standard definition video (720) typically at 480i or 576i resolution. Uses an RCA connector

SCART : The signals carried by SCART include both composite and RGB (with composite synchronisation) video, stereo audio input/output, S-Video and digital signalling. 720 at 480i or 576i resolution.


S-Video : (2 channel), Separate Video, commonly known as S-Video, Super-Video and Y/C, is a signaling standard for standard definition video, typically 480i or 576i. By separating the black-and-white and coloring signals, it achieves better image quality than composite video, but has lower color resolution than component video.


Component video : Three cables, each with RCA plugs at both ends, are often used to carry YPbPr analog component video
YPbPr is a color space used in video electronics and the video signal is split into component channels. Like composite, component-video cables do not carry audio and are often paired with audio cables. 1920 × 1080 @ 60


HDMI : HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface for transferring uncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audio data from a HDMI-compliant source device to a compatible computer monitor, video projector, digital television, or digital audio device. HDMI is a digital replacement for existing analog video standards.


LNB : A low-noise block downconverter (or LNB) is the receiving device mounted on satellite dishes used for satellite TV reception, which collects the radio waves from the dish. The LNB gets its power from the receiver or set-top box inside the house.
F-Connector : Coaxial RF connector commonly used for "over the air" satellite television and cable modems, usually with RG-6/U cable.


Phone connector (3.5mm Stereo)
A phone connector is a common family of connector typically used for analog signals, primarily audio. It is cylindrical in shape, typically with two, three or four contacts. Three-contact versions are known as TRS connectors, where T stands for "tip", R stands for "ring" and S stands for "sleeve". Similarly, two- and four-contact versions are called TS and TRRS connectors respectively.
It is also termed an audio jack, phone jack, phone plug, and jack plug. Specific models are termed stereo plug, mini-stereo, mini jack, headphone jack, microphone jack, tiny telephone connector, bantam plug.
Sizes : Outside diameter of the "sleeve" conductor is 6.3mm (1/4"). The "mini" connector is 3.5mm (1/8") and "sub-mini" connector is 2.5mm.

2.5mm, 3.5mm and 1/4" (6.3mm) Stereo Jacks

XLR Connector

The XLR connector is found primarly on Profesional Audio, video and stage lighting equipment. The connectors can have between 3 and 7 pins.
These are commonly associated with balanced audio interconnections. A smaller version, the Mini XLR Connector is used on smaller equipment.

Three-pin (XLR3) : By far the most common style, and are an industry standard for balanced audio signals.
Four-pin (XLR4) : Used in a variety of applications. They are the standard connector for intercom headsets, such as systems made by ClearCom and Telex.
Five-pin (XLR5) : The standard for DMX512 digital lighting control.
Six-pin (XLR6) : Used for dual channel intercom systems and stage lighting control applications. Another common use is professional stereo headset with balanced microphone.
Seven-pin (XLR7) : Used to connect some valve (tube) condenser microphones to their power supplies.

TOSLINK Digital Audio Fibre Optical Cable

S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) is a type of digital audio interconnect used in consumer audio equipment to output audio over reasonably short distances. The signal is transmitted over either a coaxial cable with RCA connectors or a fibre optic cable with TOSLINK connectors. SPDIF is the protocol/encoding and Optical or Coaxial cable is the hardware used to transport the Audio data stream.

S/PDIF can carry two channels of uncompressed PCM audio or compressed 5.1/7.1 surround sound (such as DTS audio codec). It cannot support lossless formats (such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio) which require greater bandwidth like that available with HDMI or DisplayPort.

Video Resolutions

It all started with IBM and CGA
The color graphics technology was first developed by IBM. CGA was first, followed by EGA and VGA - color graphics adapter, enhanced graphics adapter, video graphics array.
Regardless of the capability of your monitor, you would still have to choose from one of the few options available through your graphics card's drivers


"Resolution" is technically the number of pixels per unit of area, rather than the total number of pixels. In this article, we are using the term as it is commonly understood, rather than the absolutely technologically correct usage.
Since the beginning, the resolution has been described (accurately or not) by the number of pixels arranged horizontally and vertically on a monitor. For example, 640 x 480 = 307200 pixels.
The choices available were determined by the capability of the video card, and they differed from manufacturer to manufacturer.


Interlaced and Progressive screen resolutions :

You may have seen the screen resolution described as something like 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The letters tell you how the picture is "painted" on the monitor. A "p" stands for progressive, and an "i" stands for interlaced.

Interlaced and refresh rate:

The interlaced scan is a holdover from television and early CRT monitors. The monitor or TV screen has lines of pixels arranged horizontally across it. The lines were relatively easy to see if you got up close to an older monitor or TV, but nowadays the pixels on the screen are so small that they are hard to see even with magnification. The monitor's electronics "paint" each screen line by line, too quickly for the eye to see. An interlaced display paints all the odd lines first, then all the even lines. Since the screen is being painted in alternate lines, flicker has always been a problem with interlaced scans. Manufacturers have tried to overcome this problem in various ways. The most common way is to increase the number of times an entire screen is painted in a second, which is called the refresh rate. The most common refresh rate was 60 times per second, which is acceptable for most people, but it could be pushed a bit higher to get rid of the flicker that some people still perceived.

Progressive and frame rate:

As people moved away from the older CRT displays, the terminology changed from refresh rate to frame rate, because of the difference in the way an LED monitor works. The frame rate is the speed with which the monitor displays each separate frame of data. The most recent versions of Windows set the framerate at 60 Hertz or 60 cycles per second, and LED screens do not flicker. Moreover, the system changed from interlaced scan to progressive scan because the new digital displays are so much faster. In a progressive scan, the lines are painted on the screen in sequence rather than first the odd lines and then the even lines. If you want to translate, 1080p, for example, is used for displays that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of vertical resolution and a progressive scan.

Display resolution numbers :

When high-definition TVs became the norm, manufacturers developed a shorthand to explain their display resolution. The most common numbers you see are 720p, 1080p, 1140p or 4K. Moreover, these shorthand numbers are sometimes used to describe computer monitors as well, even though in general a monitor is capable of a higher definition display than a TV. The number always refers to the number of horizontal lines on the display.

Here's how the shorthand translates:

720p = 1280 x 720 - is usually known as HD or "HD Ready" resolution
1080p = 1920 x 1080 - is usually known as FHD or "Full HD" resolution
1440p = 2560 x 1440 - is commonly known as QHD or Quad HD resolution, and it is typically seen on gaming monitors and on high-end smartphones. 1440p is four times the resolution of 720p HD or "HD ready." To make things even more confusing, many premium smartphones feature a so-called 2960x1440 Quad HD+ resolution, which still fits into 1440p.
4K or 2160p = 3840 x 2160 - is commonly known as 4K, UHD or Ultra HD resolution. It is a huge display resolution, and it is found on premium TVs and computer monitors. 2160p is called 4K because the width is close to 4000 pixels. In other words, it offers four times the pixels of 1080p FHD or "Full HD."
8K or 4320p = 7680 x 4320 - is known as 8K and it offers 16 times more pixels than the regular 1080p FHD or "Full HD" resolution.


Aspect ratio (16:9 vs 4:3) :

Aspect Ratio was initially used in motion pictures, indicating how wide the picture was in relation to its height. Movies were initially in 4:3 aspect ratio, and this carried over into television and early computer displays. Motion picture aspect ratio changed much more quickly to a wider screen, which meant that, when movies were shown on TV, they had to be cropped or the image had to be manipulated in other ways to fit the TV screen.


As display technology improved, TV and monitor manufacturers began to move toward widescreen displays as well. Originally "widescreen" referred to anything wider than the typical 4:3 display, but it quickly came to mean a 16:10 ratio and later 16:9. Nowadays, nearly all computer monitors and TVs are only available in widescreen, and TV broadcasts and web pages have adapted to match.

Until 2010, 16:10 was the most popular aspect ratio for widescreen computer displays. However, with the rise in popularity of high definition televisions, which were using high definition resolutions such as 720p and 1080p and made these terms synonyms with high-definition, 16:9 has become the high-definition standard aspect ratio.

Depending on the aspect ratio of your display, you can use only resolutions that are specific to its width and height. Some of the most common resolutions that can be used for each aspect ratio are the following:

4:3 aspect ratio resolutions: 640×480, 800×600, 960×720, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×1080, 1600×1200, 1856×1392, 1920×1440, and 2048×1536.
16:10 aspect ratio resolutions: 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, and 2560×1600.
16:9 aspect ratio resolutions: 1024×576, 1152×648, 1280×720 (HD), 1366×768, 1600×900, 1920×1080 (FHD), 2560×1440 (QHD), 3840×2160 (4K), and 7680 x 4320 (8K).