Glossary
The words this site uses, in plain language. No definition here needs another definition to make sense of it.
- Bitrate
- How much data is used per second of video. Higher bitrate means more detail and a bigger file. It matters more than resolution: a 1080p video at a low bitrate looks worse than a well-encoded 720p one.
- See alsoRendition,Generation loss
- Burned-in captions
- Captions drawn permanently into the video picture. They appear everywhere, including players that ignore subtitle files, but they cannot be turned off, restyled or translated afterwards.
- See alsoSidecar captions
- Generation loss
- Quality lost each time a video is re-encoded. Every save after an edit throws away detail permanently, so repeated rounds of editing and re-uploading degrade a clip even if nothing visible was changed.
- See alsoRendition,Bitrate,Lossless
- Lossless
- A way of storing media that discards nothing, so quality never degrades. Most video you encounter is the opposite — lossy — which is why re-saving it repeatedly costs quality.
- See alsoGeneration loss,Bitrate
- Passkey
- A sign-in method tied to a device you unlock with a fingerprint, face or device PIN. The secret never leaves the device, so there is nothing for a fake sign-in page to capture.
- See alsoStep-up check,Recovery code
- Public post
- A post anyone can open without signing in or being approved. It is the boundary for what can be saved: private, follower-only, deleted and expired content cannot be retrieved by any tool.
- See alsoWatermark-free,Hidden account
- Recovery code
- A single-use code that gets you in when your usual method is unavailable. Each works once, and they must be stored somewhere that does not depend on the account they recover.
- See alsoPasskey,Step-up check
- Rendition
- One of several versions of the same video that a platform stores, differing in resolution and file size. When you pick a quality, you are choosing a rendition — not changing the video.
- See alsoBitrate,Generation loss
- Sidecar captions
- Captions kept in a separate file alongside the video rather than drawn into the picture. They can be switched off, translated and read by search engines — but only where the player supports them.
- See alsoBurned-in captions
- Step-up check
- Being asked to confirm who you are again during an already signed-in session, before something sensitive. It exists because the realistic risk is someone reaching an unlocked device, not breaking your sign-in.
- See alsoPasskey,Hidden account
- Watermark-free
- A saved file without the overlay a platform adds to identify itself. It refers to the platform's badge, not to any watermark the original creator put there — and it does not change who owns the video.
- See alsoPublic post