Glossary

P

PAL

"Phase Alternating Line". The dominant television standard in Europe. PAL delivers 625 lines at 50 fields (half-frames interlaced) per second

Pay Per View (PPV) / Pay-TV

System which allows a TV event to be viewed for a one-off payment

PCMCIA

Standard for credit card sized accessories that can be plugged into a computer, usually whilst the computer is running

Plasma

A type of flat panel television

Platform

The method by which you receive digital television. (e.g. cable, satellite or broadband)

PSB

"Public Service Broadcasting". Radio, television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public. (e.g BBC)

Pull VOD

A form of video on-demand distribution that uses a permanent 'always-on' connection to deliver video on-demand content upon a user's request

Push VOD

A method by which broadcasters can signal content for acquisition by an appropriately enabled receiver without user intervention

PVR

"Personal Video Recorder". See DVR

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