Video Tech Glossary, DVD Glossary, VCD Glossary, SVCD Glossary

B
B Frame
One of three picture types used in MPEG video. B pictures are bidirectionally predicted, based on both previous and following pictures. B pictures usually use the least number of bits. B pictures do not propagate coding errors since they are not used as a reference by other pictures.

Baldrick
Belt worn over the right shoulder to support a sword or bugle by the left hip.

Bidirectional prediction
A form of compression in which the codec uses information not only from frames that have already been decompressed, but also from frames yet to come. The codec looks in two directions: ahead as well as back. This helps avoid large spikes in data rate caused by scene changes or fast movement, improving image quality.

BIN/CUE
The .BIN / .CUE CD image format was made popular by the CDRWin software. Afterwards many programs have started supporting or partially supporting it, including: Nero, BlindWrite, CloneCD, FireBurner, vcdimager and cdrdao . The .CUE file contains VCD or SVCD or other data track layout information, while the .BIN file holds the actual data. VCDhelp.com bin/cue pages - afterdawn.com

Bitrate
Bitrate or Bit Rate is the average number of bits that one second of video or audio data will consume. Higher bitrate means bigger file size and generally better video or audio quality while lower bitrate means lower file size but worse video or audio quality. Some bitrate examples in common video and audio files:
MP3 about 128 kbps (kilobits per second)
VCD about 1374 kbps
DVD about 4500 kbps
DV about 25 Mbps (megabits per second).

BitSetting
For a DVD player or drive to identify what kind of disc is loaded, it queries the so called "Book Type Field" found in the lead-in section of each DVD disc. These few bits, commonly referred to as "compatibility bitsettings" tell the drive which low-level format specification does the media conform to, such as DVD-ROM, DVD+R or DVD+RW.
Most DVD players will read a DVD+RW or DVD+R disc without any problems, however a small minority of them report a disc error when a disc is loaded that is not marked as a "DVD-ROM" disc in the compatibility bits. Ususally, these players are physically able to read the disc (since DVD+RW reflectivity is identical to that of a dual layered DVD-Video disc, which all players must be capable of reading), but their compatibility problems are due to different interpretations of these bits in the various firmware versions. In most cases, the problem can be solved by updating the firmware. www.dvdplusrw.org/Article.asp?mid=0&sid=2&aid=42

Block
The block is a matrix of 8x8 elements. They can be 8x8 adjacent luminance or chrominance samples, or the corresponding DCT coefficients.
At the block layer is performed the Discrete Cosine Transform.
Video decoding process at the block layer
Variable length decoding.
The bitstream codewords of the block are decoded to form a vector of quantised DCT coefficient.
Inverse scan.
The vector elements are put into a two-dimensional array, which is the block, following one of two possible patterns. The pattern is defined by the flag alternate_scan which is set at the picture layer. The scanning purpose is to optimize the entropy coding.
Inverse quantisation.
DCT coefficients are converted to their original range of values. See also dct quantisation.
Inverse DCT.
Eventually the IDCT is performed. Now the block elements represent either the image sample (Intra block) or the prediction-error (Non-Intra block).

Blue Screen
See Chroma Key

BookType
See BitSetting .

Bootleg
Produce, distribute, or sell without permission or illegally. Dictionary.com .

bps
Bits per second. A unit of data rate