Glossary

LEC

Local Exchange Carrier is another term for RBOC. Besides the seven RBOCs, other "specialty" local carriers compete for local business service.

Leq (loudness equivalent) measurement

A method of measuring the perceived loudness of a section of audio material. The Dolby Model 737 Leq meter uses time averaging and frequency weighting to produce an Leq(m) measurement of film sound.

LFE

LFE Channel

Low frequency effects channel, dedicated to frequencies from 3 to 120 Hz (the ".1" channel, so designated because it corresponds to about 1/10 the full audible range).

License

Also known as a key delivery message (KDM). A standardized method of delivering security keys to digital cinema playback systems. The license contains the keys necessary to decrypt a movie in a given cinema, plus information about how it may be used. Licenses are often distributed on CD-ROMs, but can also be carried on USB memory sticks, over a network, or even on the removable hard drive together with the content.

Link encryption

A local form of encryption used to secure the valuable image data when it is transmitted over an open connection (for example, when the data passes from the playback system to the projector).

Lt, Rt (Left total, Right total)

A four-channel L, C, R, S mix, matrix-encoded to two channels to be transmitted either by film, broadcast, video, or other media. The original four channels are recreated after matrix decoding.

M&E (music and effects)

An original film soundtrack that has had all dialogue removed before being distributed to foreign language studios for a new language dub to be added.

Magnetic soundtrack

Narrow stripes of oxide material (similar to the coating on recording tape) added to a developed release print, then recorded in real time with the film's sound. Introduced in the 1950s to provide the first stereo sound in the cinema, magnetic soundtracks have been superceded today by advanced analog and digital optical soundtracks, which are more practical and durable.

Married print

A film print that contains both the picture and the sound; that is, the sound negative is “married” with the picture negative onto the same piece of print film.

Mastering

Also known as content preparation. The process of creating the master digital cinema file package containing all movie images, audio, subtitles, and any additional information. Mastering is performed on behalf of the movie distributor at a suitable mastering facility. Encryption is also applied at this stage. The file package is then ready for duplication onto removable hard disks or for transfer via satellite or fiber for distribution to cinemas.

Matrix

Mix

The blend of dialogue, music, and effects which comprises a film's soundtrack. Also, when used as a verb, the process of assembling and balancing these elements electronically, thereby creating the final soundtrack.

Mixing studio

A special theatre equipped for mixing film soundtracks. These rooms contain the necessary Dolby encoding and decoding equipment and are calibrated and aligned to meet Dolby specifications and standards.

MO (magneto optical) disk

A computer disk used in Dolby Digital mastering equipment to record both the six-track mix and the Lt/Rt mix. The whole soundtrack is mastered onto this one disk, which is then sent to the optical transfer stage for the sound negative to be produced.

MPEG-2

An image compression technology with a wide range of applications developed by the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG). For digital cinema releases, a high-quality MPEG-2 encoding is currently used.

MXF

Material exchange format. The open file format used for many types of image interchange. The interchange of movie file packages between digital cinema systems from different manufacturers is accomplished with a subset of the MXF standards.

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