A quick beginner’s guide to common abbreviations associated with car monitors or electronic car entertainment systems.

The so-called car DVD monitoring system has gained incredible popularity mainly due to “car modification” or “overlay car” enthusiasts, so as you would expect with anything that combines hobbyist enthusiasts With cool gadgets, there’s a bit of jargon to go through. especially if you are a newbie to car audio monitors.

* Change – a change of CD; a device that holds multiple CDs and plays them on demand without having to manually eject or sort discs. Needless to say, you can get DVD changers now too.

* Crossover: a device that limits the range of frequencies sent to different speakers.

* DIN: basically means “Deutsches Institutar Normung” (DIN, the German Institute for Standardization), similar to ISO. The relevance for car DVD systems is that DIN means a standard size dash slot, so 1 DIN means the device occupies one slot and 2 DIN means the drive is double deck and uses the space of two grooves.

Examples of 1 DIN and 2 DIN car monitors

* DTS – “Digital Theater Systems” Multichannel Audio – just another surround sound standard like Dolby Digital 5.1 – Pretty useless in your car, but something else to brag about.

* DVD-A – DVD Audio – Similar to a music CD with the exception of more features and higher quality.

* RF (radio frequency): refers to things like wireless headphones. Radio frequency is generally better than infrared because it doesn’t have to be in clear unobstructed transmission or line-of-sight wireless transmitter.

* Inverter – A power supply device that you can connect to your car’s dashboard cigarette lighter to supply AC to devices that require power.

* In Dash: A device such as an in-car DVD player installed in the dash, usually in the same slot as your old car radio.

* GPS – Global Positioning System – this essentially means that the map display / navigation software links to a signal receiver and a reading on your car monitor or screen.

* GUI – Graphical User Interface – that is, you can control the device via on-screen menus, often with a touch screen monitor.

* Headliner – The linings that make up the roof / roof inside your car.

* Modulator – An FM transmitter that converts an audio input source, for example an MP3 player or audio line input, into a radio signal for you to tune into using your car stereo.

* Monitor: a screen that receives a signal from a car DVD player or car TV tuner; If a product is simply described as a “Monitor”, it usually means that it does NOT include the actual player, such as a car DVD player unit. This is fine if you are buying each unit separately or building a complete in-car entertainment system piece by piece.

* Motorized – Where the display’s TFT LCD screen, usually in a car in the dash unit, neatly folds and slides into its case when not in use.

1 DIN ~ Open and Closed Touchscreen Motorized Car Monitor

* Power port: a “powerful” name for the small dash cigarette lighter socket

* RCA – A red and white (for audio) and yellow (for video) connector used to connect your car DVD player to your car monitor or home media center to your wide screen TV.

* RDS – Radio Display System (Data) – The cool feature with your car radio’s ability to display detailed data like station name or track name of FM radio signals.

* Receiver – The device that “broadcasts” your video signal to a screen such as a car DVD player. Confused? Yes, we know.

* S-Video: is a high quality cable for analog video signals that carries the video data as two separate signals, both brightness and color.

* Sub: commonly known as a subwoofer. Refers to a complete speaker or driver dedicated to the reproduction of bass audio frequencies, typically 150 Hz to 20 Hz.

* Toslink: a standardized fiber optic connection system. Its most common use is in consumer audio equipment, where it carries a digital audio stream between components such as MiniDisc and CD players and DAT recorders.

* Versatile – A vague term that usually just means “feature-rich”, for example a car DVD player that also has a built-in radio and connects to external storage devices.