DC restoration - Geek box term. Measurement of how well a television is able to maintain a consistent color of black regardless of the brightness of the rest of the image.

defeatable edge enhancement - Geek box term. Ability of a TV to not introduce any extra edge enhancement.

deinterlacer - See line-doubler/tripler/multiplier.

Digital Cable Ready - Official term for an HDTV that conforms to the plug-and-play digital cable TV standard using POD (point of deployment) access cards, also called CableCARDs. With cable systems that comply to the standard, users can plug the cable directly into an HDTV set, then enjoy HDTV and digital cable without having to use a separate set-top box. Sets with interactive functionality are labeled Interactive Digital Cable Ready.

digital comb filter - Device that separates the luminance and chrominance parts of a video signal in the digital domain, which provides enhanced color purity and reduced dot crawl over the analog variety. See comb filter

direct view - Any television not based on projection technology. Most often refers to standard CRT televisions, as opposed to rear- or front-projection TVs.

Divx - Digital Video Express. Defunct pay-per-view DVD feature that played back both standard and lower-cost DVDs; Divx-enhanced DVD players had to be connected to a phone line to track additional viewings of discs but was discontinued by its primary promoter, Circuit City, in June 1999. Divx is not to be confused with DivX video format.

DivX - MPEG-4-based compressed digital video format (or codec) used for Internet distribution of movies; often called the MP3 of video. DivX Networks is the name of the company that sells DivX content and is not to be confused with Circuit City's defunct Divx DVD format.

DLP - Digital light processing. A microdisplay technology invented by Texas Instruments, DLP is based on a digital micromirror device (DMD), a chip with millions of hinged, microscopic mirrors attached, each of which corresponds to a single pixel in the projected image. Red, green, and blue light filtered through a color wheel is directed alternately onto the DMD, which switches on and off up to 5,000 times a second. The reflected light is directed through a lens and onto a screen, creating an image. High-end HDTV projectors use a three-chip solution, with separate DMDs for green, red, and blue, and forego the color wheel. More info

Dolby Digital - Six-channel digital audio standard that is part of the U.S. digital television standard; also called AC-3 or Digital 5.1. The channels consist of front left, front right, front center, surround or rear left, surround or rear right, and a separate subwoofer (the .1). More info

downconvert - In DTV, the conversion from a higher-resolution input signal number to a lower one. For example, some DTV receivers can be set to downconvert an HDTV 1080i signal to a standard 480i signal that any TV can display.

DRM - Digital Rights Management. General term that describes a variety of technical and/or legislative efforts for securing and protecting different forms of digital content for the benefit of copyright holders.

DTCP - Digital Transmission Copy Protection. HDTV copy-protection scheme more commonly called 5C.

DTLA - Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator. The licensing organization for the 5C DTCP HDTV copy-protection technology.

DTV - Digital television. Generic term that refers to all digital television formats, including high-definition television (HDTV) and standard-definition television (SDTV).

D-VHS - Digital-VHS. Version of VHS (Video Home System) videocassette standard capable of recording HDTV via a FireWire connection; D-VHS decks are made by JVC and Mitsubishi.

DVI - Digital visual interface. Omnidirectional digital connectivity standard that conveys an uncompressed digital signal from a digital source, such as an ATSC tuner, to a display. HDCP copy protection is often used in conjunction with the DVI connection. DVI connections do not carry audio. More info

DVR - Digital video recorder. A television recorder such as Replay and TiVo that uses a hard drive, an EPG, and internal processing to drastically simplify programmed recording and playback of recorded programs. A DVR vastly increases recording time compared to VCRs or DVD-recording decks; often enables smart programming, in which the device records an entire series or programming defined by keywords, genre, or personnel; and offers pause control over "live" broadcasts. Also called personal video recorder (PVR) or hard disk video recorder.