In the digital media field there are just too many acronyms. This page says what at least some of them mean. An acronym link will take you to the first place an acronym has been introduced.
| 1D | One-dimensional |
| 2D | Two-dimensional |
| 3D | Three-dimensional |
| 3DG | 3D Graphics |
| 3DV | 3D Video |
| 3G | Third Generation (mobile) |
| 3GPP | Third Generation Partnership Program |
| 8VSB | 8 Vestigial Side Band |
| AAC | Advanced Audio Coding |
| AAL | ATM Adaptation Layer |
| ACATS | Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Services |
| ACL | Agent Communication Language |
| ACM | Association of Computing Machinery |
| ACTS | Advanced Communication Technologies and Services |
| A/D | Analogue-to-Digital |
| ADAPT | Analogue Digital Analogue Parallel Transfer |
| AES | Audio Engineering Society |
| AFX | Animation Framework eXtension |
| AHG | Ad Hoc Group |
| AHRA | Audio Home Recording Act |
| ADSL | Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line |
| aka | also known as |
| AMS | Agent Management System |
| AOE | Applications and Operational Environments |
| AP | Agent Platform |
| API | Application Programming Interfaces |
| ARPA | Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| ASCII | American Standard Code for Information Interchange |
| ASP | Advanced Simple Profile |
| ATL | Accredited Testing Laboratories |
| ATM | Asynchronous Transfer Mode |
| ATSC | Advanced Television Systems Committee |
| ATV | Advanced Television |
| AU | Access Unit |
| AV | Audio-Visual |
| AVC | Advanced Video Coding |
| BAP | Body Animation Parametre |
| BBS | Bulletin Board Systems |
| BC | Backward Compatible |
| BDP | Body Definition Parametre |
| BE | Bandwidth Extension |
| BIFS | Binary Format for MPEG-4 Scenes |
| BiM | Binary format for MPEG-7 data |
| BoD | Board of Directors |
| CA | Conditional Access |
| CATV | Community Antenna Television |
| CC | Compact Cassette |
| CCIF | Comité Consultatif International Téléfonique |
| CCIT | Comité Consultatif International Télégraphique |
| CCITT | Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique |
| CCIR | Comité Consultatif International pour les Radiocommunications |
| CCO | Convergence Core Ontology |
| CD | Committee Draft |
| CD | Compact Disc |
| CD-i | Compact Disc Interactive |
| CD-ROM | CD-Read Only Memory |
| CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access |
| CDN | Content Distribution Network |
| CE | Consumer Electronics |
| CE | Core Experiment |
| CEC | Commission of the European Communities |
| CELP | Code Excited Linear Predictive |
| CEN | Comité Européen de Normalisation |
| CEPT | Conférence Européenne des Postes et Télécommunications |
| CfE | Call for Evidence |
| CfP | Call for Proposals |
| CG | Computer Graphics |
| CGA | Colour Graphic Adaptor |
| CI | Common Interface |
| CIF | Common Intermediate Format |
| CISAC | Confédération Internationale des Sociétés des Auteurs et des Compositeurs |
| CMTT | Commission Mixte pour les Transmission Télévisuelles et Sonores |
| CLI | Command Line Interface |
| CM | Commercial Module |
| COFDM | Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing |
| COM | Component Object Model |
| COMIS | Coding of Moving Images for Storage |
| CORBA | Common Object Request Broker Architecture |
| COST | Collaboration Scientifique et Technique |
| CP | Content Provider |
| CPS | Constrained Parameter Set |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit |
| CPS | Content Provider System |
| CP/M | Control Program for Microcomputers |
| CR | Conditional Replenishment |
| CRT | Cathode Ray Tube |
| CS | Coding Scheme |
| CS | Computer Science |
| CSS | Cascading Style Sheet Language |
| CSS | Content Scrambling System |
| CW | Control Word |
| D | Descriptor |
| DAB | Digital Audio Broadcasting |
| DAI | DMIF Application Interface |
| DAPA | Digital Audio and Picture Architecture |
| DARPA | Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency |
| DASH | Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP |
| DAT | Digital Audio Tape |
| DAVIC | Digital Audio-Visual Council |
| DB | Decoding Buffers |
| DC | Digital Communication |
| DCC | Digital Compact Cassette |
| DCOM | Distributed Component Object Model |
| DCT | Discrete Cosine Transform |
| DDL | Description Definition Language |
| DF | Directory Facilitator |
| DI | Digital Item |
| DIA | Digital Item Adaptation |
| DID | Digital Item Declaration |
| DIDL | Digital Item Declaration Language |
| DII | Digital Item Identification |
| DIM | Digital Item Method |
| DIP | Digital Item Processing |
| DIPS | Digital Image Processing System |
| DK | Disk Key |
| DM | Digital Media |
| DMM | Digital Media Manifesto |
| DMP | Digital Media Project |
| DMT | Digital Media Technologies |
| DMCA | Digital Millennium Copyright Act |
| DMIF | Delivery Multimedia Integration Framework |
| DMP | Digital Media Project |
| DMR | Digital Media Revolution |
| DNS | Domain Name System |
| DoD | Department of Defense |
| DPCM | Differential Pulse Code Modulation |
| DPI | Dot Per Inch |
| DRM | Digital Rights Management |
| DS | Description Scheme |
| DSM | Digital Storage Media |
| DSM-CC | Digital Storage Media Command and Control |
| DSP | Digital Signal Processor |
| DT | Description Tools |
| DT | Digital Technologies |
| DTD | Document Type Definition |
| DTS | Decoding Time Stamp |
| DVB | Digital Video Broadcasting |
| DVD | Digital Versatile Disc |
| DVS | Digital Video Recorder |
| D/A | Digital to Analogue |
| E2E | End-to-End |
| EBU | European Broadcasting Union |
| EC | Executive Committee |
| ECM | Entitlement Control Messages |
| ECMA | European Computer Manufacturers Association |
| EG | Expert Group |
| EGA | Enhanced Graphic Adaptor |
| EMM | Entitlement Management Messages |
| EN | European Norm |
| EPG | Electronic Program Guide |
| ER | Event Reporting |
| ES | Elementary Stream |
| ESI | Elementary Stream Interface |
| ESPRIT | European Strategic Program of Research and development in Information Technology |
| ETSI | European Telecommunication Standards Institute |
| EURASIP | European Signal Processing Association |
| FAB | Face and Body Animation |
| FAP | Face Animation Parametre |
| FCC | Federal Communication Commission |
| FCD | Final Committee Draft |
| FDIS | Final Draft International Standard |
| FDP | Facial Definition Parametre |
| FDM | Frequency Division Multiplexing |
| FGS | Fine Granularity Scalability |
| FIFO | First In First Out |
| FIPA | Foundation for Intelligent Physical Agents |
| FPA | Frame Packing Arrangement |
| FM | Frequency Modulation |
| FPS | Fast Packet Switching |
| FR | Functional Requirements |
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol |
| FTTC | Fiber to the Curb |
| GA | General Assembly |
| GIF | Graphics Interchange Format |
| GNU | Gnu’s Not Unix |
| GOB | Group of Block |
| GOP | Group of Pictures |
| GPL | General Public License |
| GPRS | General Packet Radio Services |
| GPU | General Postal Union |
| GSM | Global System for Mobile/Groupe Spécial Mobile |
| GUI | Graphical User Interface |
| HDLC | High-level Data Link Control |
| HD-MAC | High Definition MAC |
| HDTV | High Definition Television |
| HEVC | High Efficiency Video Coding |
| HFC | Hibrid Fiber Coax |
| HoD | Head of Delegation |
| HTML | HyperText Markup Language |
| HTTP | HyperText Transport Protocol |
| HVXC | Harmonic Vector eXcitation Coding |
| IAB | Internet Activities Board |
| IAB | Internet Architecture Board |
| IC | Integrated Circuit |
| ICANN | Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers |
| ICASSP | International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing |
| ICCB | Internet Configuration Control Board |
| ICIP | International Conference on Image Processing |
| ICN | Information Centric Networking |
| ICT | Information and Communication Technologies |
| IDL | Interface Description Language |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission |
| IESG | Internet Engineering Steering Group |
| IETF | Internet Engineering Task Force |
| IMS-1 | Interactive Multimedia Services at 1 Mbit/s |
| IMP | Interface Message Processor |
| IP | Internet Protocol |
| IP | Intellectual Property |
| IPI | Intellectual Property Identification |
| IPMP | Intellectual Property Management and Protection |
| IPMP-D | IPMP-Descriptors |
| IPMP-ES | IPMP-Elementary Streams |
| IPMP-H | IPMP Hooks |
| IPMP-S | IPMP-Systems |
| IPMP-X | IPMP eXtensions |
| IPR | Intellectual Property Rights |
| IS | International Standard |
| ISAN | International Standard Audiovisual Number |
| ISBN | International Standard Book Numbering |
| ISDB | Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting |
| ISDN | Integrated Service Digital Network |
| ISG | Implementation Studies Group |
| ISMA | Internet Streaming Media Association |
| ISO | International Organisation for Standardisation |
| ISP | Internet Service Providers |
| ISRC | International Standard Recording Code |
| ISSN | International Standard Serial Number |
| ISWC | International Standard Musical Work Code |
| IT | Information Technology |
| ITA | Industry Technical Agreement |
| ITSCJ | Information Technology Standards Committee of Japan |
| ITTF | Information Technology Task Force |
| ITU | International Telecommunication Union |
| ITU-R | International Telecommunication Union – Radiocommunication Sector |
| ITU-T | International Telecommunication Union – Telecommunication Sector |
| IVICO | Integrated Video Codec |
| I/O | Input/Output |
| JADE | Java Agent Development Environment |
| JAXB | Java Architecture for XML Binding |
| JBIG | Joint BIlevel Experts Group |
| JCP | Java Community Process |
| JPEG | Joint ISO-CCITT Photographic Coding Experts Group |
| JSPA | Java Specification Agreement |
| JSR | Java Specification Request |
| JTC 1 | Joint ISO/IEC Technical Committee 1 |
| JVT | Joint Video Team |
| LAN | Local Area Network |
| LC | Low Complexity |
| LCM | Licensing Compliant Module |
| LD | Laser Disc |
| LGPL | Lesser General Public License |
| LOD | Level Of Detail |
| LP | Long Playing |
| LSB | Least Significant Bit |
| LSI | Large Scale Integration |
| M3W | Multimedia Middleware |
| M4IF | MPEG-4 Industry Forum |
| MAC | Multiplexed Analogue Components |
| MC | Management Committee |
| MC | Motion Compensation |
| MCU | MultiConference Unit |
| MDS | Multimedia Description Schemes |
| MHEG | Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group |
| MHP | Multimedia Home Platform |
| MIDI | Musical Instrument Digital Interface |
| MIME | Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions |
| MIPS | Million Instructions Per Second |
| ML | Main Level |
| HMI | Human-Machine Interaction |
| MMS | Multimedia Message Service |
| MMT | MPEG Media Transport |
| MOD | Media Object Decoder |
| MP | Main Profile |
| MP3 | MPEG-1 Audio Layer III |
| MP7A | MPEG-7 Alliance |
| MPEG | Moving Picture Experts Group |
| MPT | Ministry of Post and Telecommunication |
| MSB | Most Significant Bit |
| MS-DOS | Microsoft Disk Operating System |
| MSI | Medium Scale Integration |
| MTS | Message Transport System |
| MTU | Magnetic Tape Unit |
| MUSE | Multiple Sub-Nyquist Encoding |
| MUW | Multi User World |
| MW | Medium Wave |
| MXF | Material eXchange Format |
| MXM | MPEG eXtensible Middleware |
| NAB | National Association of Broadcasters |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NB | National Body |
| NBC | Non-Backward Compatible |
| NI | Notification Information |
| NCP | Network Control Protocol |
| NP | New Project |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| NT | New Technology |
| NTSC | National Television System Committee |
| ODA | Open Document Architecture |
| OEM | Original Equipment Manufacturer |
| OMG | Object Management Group |
| OPIMA | Open Platform Initiative for Multimedia Access |
| ORB | Object Request Broker |
| OS | Operating System |
| OSS | Open Source Software |
| OSF | Open Software Foundation |
| OSI | Open Software Initiative |
| OSI | Open System Interconnection |
| OSS | Open Source Software |
| OTA | Over The Air |
| OVM | OPIMA Virtual Machine |
| P2P | Peer-to-Peer |
| PA | Public Authority |
| PAL | Phase Alternating Lines |
| PAS | Publicly Available Specifications |
| PC | Personal Computers |
| PCB | Printed Circuit Board |
| PCM | Pulse Code Modulation |
| PCS | Picture Coding Symposium |
| PD | Portable Device |
| PDA | Personal Digital Assistant |
| PES | Packetised Elementary Streams |
| PIN | Personal Identification Number |
| PI | Publication Information |
| PK | Player Key |
| PN | Pseudo random Noise |
| PNG | Portable Network Graphics |
| PPD | Proposal Package Description |
| PS | Program Stream |
| PTS | Presentation Time Stamps |
| PTT | Post, Telephone and Telegraph |
| QAM | Quadrature Amplitude Modulation |
| QoS | Quality of Service |
| QPSK | Quadrature Phase Shift Keying |
| RA | Registration Authority |
| RACE | Research & development on Advanced Communication for Europe |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| RAND | Reasonable terms And Non Discriminatory conditions |
| RDD | Rights Data Dictionary |
| REL | Rights Expression Language |
| RFC | Request for Comments |
| RGB | Red Green and Blue |
| RI | Resource Information |
| RM | Reference Model |
| RMI | Remote Method Invocation |
| ROI | Return on Investments |
| RTI | Real-Time Interface |
| RTP | Real Time Protocol |
| SA | Structured Audio |
| SAC | Secure Authenticated Channel |
| SAPI | SOMMIT API |
| SB | Steering Board |
| SBC | Subband Coding |
| SC | Subcommittee |
| SC | Steering Committee |
| SCC | Screen Content Coding |
| SCART | Syndicat des Constructeurs d’Appareils Radio et Télévision |
| SCMS | Serial Copy Management System |
| SCR | Systems Clock Reference |
| SDM | System Decoder Model |
| SDMI | Secure Digital Music Initiative |
| SDO | Standards Developing Organisations |
| SDTV | Standard Definition Television |
| SEI | Supplemental Enhancement Information |
| SECAM | Séquentiel à Mémoire |
| SG | Study Group |
| SGML | Standard Generalised Markup Language |
| SI | Service Information |
| SI | Subscription Information |
| SIF | Source Input Format |
| SIGGRAPH | Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics |
| SIM | Subscriber Identification Module |
| SK | Service Key |
| SLPI | Software Library Portability Interface |
| SM | Simulation Model |
| SMIL | Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language |
| SMS | Short Message Service |
| SNHC | Synthetic and Natural Hybrid Coding |
| SNR | Signal-to-Noise Ratio |
| SOMMIT | Software Open Multi-Media Interactive Terminal |
| SMPTE | Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers |
| SP | Service Provider |
| SP | Signal Processing |
| SP | Simple Profile |
| SPAC | Strategic Planning Advisory Committee |
| SPS | Service Provider System |
| SRM | Session and Resource Manager |
| SSR | Scaleable Sampling Rate |
| SSS | Shared-Source Software |
| STB | Set Top Box |
| STC | Systems Time Clock |
| SUS | Service User System |
| STD | Systems Target Decoder |
| SVC | Scalable Video Coding |
| SVG | Simple Vector Graphics |
| SW | Short Wave |
| MW | Medium Wave |
| TC | Technical Committee |
| TCK | Technology Compatibility Kit |
| TCP | Transmission-Control Protocol |
| TDM | Time Division Multiplexing |
| TDMA | Time Division Multiple Access |
| TINA | Telecommunication Information Networking Architecture |
| TK | Title Key |
| TLD | Top Level Domain |
| TM | Technical Module |
| TM | Test Model |
| TPM | Technological Protection Measure |
| TR | Technical Report |
| TS | Time Slot |
| TS | Transport Stream |
| TTS | Text-To-Speech |
| TTSI | TTS Interface |
| TVA | TV Anytime Forum |
| UDP | User Datagram Protocol |
| UHF | Ultra High Frequency |
| UK | User Key |
| UPU | Universal Postal Union |
| URI | Uniform Resource Identifiers |
| URL | Universal Resource Location |
| VADIS | Video Audio Digital Interactive System |
| VBV | Video Buffering Verifier |
| VCD | Video CD |
| VCEG | Video Coding Experts Group |
| VCR | Video Cassette Recorder |
| VGA | Video Graphic Adaptor |
| VHF | Very High Frequency |
| VHS | Vertical Helix Scan |
| VLC | Variable Length Coding |
| VLSI | Very Large Scale Integration |
| VM | Verification Model |
| VM | Virtual Machine |
| VO | Video Object |
| VOP | Video Object Plane |
| VOD | Video on Demand |
| VRML | Virtual Reality Modeling Language |
| VSB | Vestigial Side Band |
| W3C | World Wide Web Consortium |
| W-CDMA | Wideband-CDMA |
| WD | Working Draft |
| WG | Working Group |
| WIPO | World Intellectual Property Organisation |
| WWW | World Wide Web |
| WYSIWYG | What You See Is What You Get |
| VT | Verification Tests |
| XM | eXperimentation Model |
| XML | eXtensible Markup Language |
| XMT | eXtensible MPEG-4 Textual format |
| XSL | eXtensible Style Language |
| YM | sYstem Model |
| YMCK | Yellow, Magenta, Cyan and blacK |