Glossary

DV (Digital Video) has spawned a few variations, including DVCAM (Sony) and DVCPRO (Panasonic). Consumers know DV in its smaller format MiniDV.
DV uses intraframe compression; that is, compression within each frame rather than between consecutive frames. This makes it an ideal format for editing.
Note: The HDV format is a high-definition version of DV and uses the same style tapes. However it uses MPEG-2 for compression.
DV uses the Firewire (IEEE 1394) interface to transfer video files between cameras, editing equipment, etc.
DV tapes can be played back in both DVCAM and DVCPRO VCRs.

VOB stands for DVD Video Object.
All DVD movies are stored in on a DVD video disc in so-called VOB files. VOB files usually contain multiplexed Dolby Digital audio and MPEG-2 video. VOB files on a DVD are numbered as follows: vts_XX_y.vob where XX represents the title and Y the part of the title. There can be 99 titles and 10 parts, although vts_XX_0.vob does not contain any video, usually just menu or navigational information. You can find them on a DVD video disc in a subdirectory labeled VIDEO_TS (all upper case).
All VOB files are essentially MPEG2 Program streams with audio, video, sub-picture and navigation data multiplexed. A VOB file is organized as a set of cells; a cell is a basic unit of play data. Each cell consists of a sequence of units called VOBUs. Each VOBU is a sequence of packs. The first pack in a VOBU is a navigation pack and contains Program Control Information (PCI) packet and Data Search Information (DSI) packet. The remaining packs contain audio, video and sub-picture data multiplexed together. Each pack has a fixed size of 2048 bytes. A pack typically contains only one data packet and may be stuffed with dummy bytes or a packet called "padding" bytes/packet to make it a fixed size.

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 an encoding standard called MPEG-1 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. VCD's successor is called SVCD.

XVCD stands for eXtended VCD.
XVCD has same features as VCD but it is possible to use higher resolution and higher bitrates to get higher video quality. XVCD burned in "VCD" Mode on a CD-R or CD-RW can be played on some hardware VCD or DVD players and many computers with appropriate software.

VHS stands for Vertical Helix Scan.
VHS an analog format capable of delivering 240 lines of video resolution, along with stereo sound that's nearly as good as CD (in dynamic range and frequency response). VHS is the video cassette format and technology introduced by JVC in 1976. Blank tapes usually feature either 120 minutes or 160 minutes of recording time at the highest recording speed (6 hours or 8 hours at the slowest speed). VHS and VCR's are slowly being phased out in favor of DVD players and other digital tape media.

SVHS stands for SuperVHS.
SVHS is an improved, high-resolution VHS standard developed by JVC to offer better video quality than the VHS format. SVHS recording can't be played back correctly with VHS videos, unless VHS VCR has something called "super quality playback" that allows playing SVHS tapes.

CD stands for Compact Disc, a kind of optical storage device for audio and other files, capable of storing around 600-700MB of data. CD Ripper software can rip music from CD and convert into other formats including MP3, WMA, WAV etc.
The CD sampling rate is 44.1kHz and there are 32 bits per sample, so the data rate of the encoded analog data is 1.41Mbps, but the inclusion of parity, synch, and subcode bits raises the real data rate to 4.3Mbps. A CD will hold about 650 Mb, or about 74 minutes of stereo, 16-bit audio. The digital portion of the CD audio system is not stereophonic, but sequential monaural.

CD Audio Track - audio files that are on CD media. You can play .cda files only from a CD-ROM. Often with CD ripper software like Xilisoft CD Ripper, the CDA tracks can be ripped to WAV or MP3 files. The tracks however, can be ripped to your HDD as a digital audio format like WAV, WMA, or MP3 files.

DTS stand for Digital Theater Systems Digital Sound and is a product of DTS, Inc., Discrete 5.1 channel surround system similar but not the same as Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital is the DTV standard, but DTS competes with it on DVD and in the movie theaters.
DTS is a multichannel audio compression format similar to Dolby Digital/AC3 used in DVD-video discs, DVD-audio, 5.1 channel audio CDs, and some movie theaters. DTS differs from Dolby Digital in that it generally uses higher data rates and many have the opinion that DTS is better quality. DTS can only be on a DVD-video disc if accompanied by a Dolby Digital or LPCM track (for North America) or MPEG audio and LPCM (European Community) to ensure compatibility, because DVD players are only required to decode those standards in those regions.
DTS encoded DVDs are typically are very Spartan when it comes to bonus features commonly offered on Dolby Digital DVDs, such as subtitles and directors' comments. But, most importantly, there are very few DTS movies available.