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Revision as of 04:06, 26 October 2005

Multiplex is either a word derived from multi- + plex (fold) or a synthetic portmanteau combining the words multiple and complex and can be another word for many or (literally) manifold.

It has several meanings:

1. A multiplex cinema, or movie theater, is a complex containing several separate auditoriums but sharing such facilities as the box office, refreshment stands, and washrooms. AMC Theatres opened the first multiplex (a two-screen facility) in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963. A multiplex with 20 or more auditoriums is usually referred to as a megaplex.
2. Similarly, in television, specifically premium services such as HBO, the service may consist of a number of different multiplex channels provided for a single subscription fee.
3. In telecommunications, including broadcasting, multiplexing may alternatively refer to combining many signals (often thousands) into a single transmission circuit or channel.
4. In electronics a device that takes multiple inputs and combines them using time division is called a multiplexer. One concrete example of a multiplexer is the 74ALS157 'Quad 2- to 1-line data selector/multiplexer' integrated circuit. The verb for what this device does is 'to multiplex'. A device that does the reverse function of a multiplexer is called a demultiplexer.
5. Multiplex (wood) is a kind of wood substitute made from wood splinters glued into boards.
6. A multiplex (road) is a single physical road designated by two or more different highway numbers. If two highways are signed with opposite compass directions along the road, it is a wrong-way multiplex.
7. Multiplex (comics) was a DC Comics character.
8. Multiplex (webcomic) is a humor webcomic by Gordon McAlpin.
9. Multiplex (company) is Australia's third largest property developer.

• Disambiguation pages
• Portmanteaus