A/V technology and technical terms explained

IEEE 1394 - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394. Official designation of the FireWire digital connectivity standard.

independent input memories - Feature found on newer TVs that automatically associates a separate picture memory slot--usually including contrast, brightness, sharpness, color, tint, and color temperature--with each input. Greatly eases optimization of picture parameters specifically for different devices.

integrated HDTV tuner - The terrestrial ATSC high-definition tuner built into an HDTV, it allows the set to receive over-the-air HDTV broadcasts without having to attach a set-top box.

Interactive Digital Cable Ready - See Digital Cable Ready.

interlaced scanning - Scan method used by the majority of televisions and the 1080i HDTV format. As opposed to progressive scanning in which the CRT's electron beam scans or "paints" all lines at once, interlaced scanning TVs paint odd-numbered lines in succession, then go back and fill in the remaining even-numbered lines. This method is more prone to artifacts and less stable than progressive.

IRE - International Radio Engineers. In calibration, used to refer to different brightness levels on the grayscale. 20 IRE is quite dark, while 100 IRE is extremely bright.