Web Design & Web Development Glossary
| 3 x 3 Matrixing | A mathematical operation that takes the RGB (red, green, blue) components of a color separation and creates a new RGB output based on the relative values for the input components. Also called "color matrixing" or "color mixing." See also RGB. | |
| 802.11b | A wireless networking protocol that connects a computer to a network at about 11Mbps using radio signals. See also 802.11g, Wi-Fi, and Hot Spot. | |
| 802.11g | An update to the 802.11b networking standard that connects a computer to a network at about 54Mbps. Computers with the older “b” cards will work with “g” networks, though at only 11Mbps. See also 802.11b, Wi-Fi, and Hot Spot. | |
| 10/100Base-T Ethernet Card | Provides either 10Mbps or 100Mbps Ethernet connections automatically depending on network support. These network interface cards have been proven in the business environment to provide reliable networking connections between computer products. Not only does the NIC card give you a network connection, but it is also used for connecting the latest high-speed modems (e.g., external DSL or cable modems) to your computer. | |
| Active-matrix Liquid Crystal Display | A liquid crystal display that uses microelectronic switches in series with each pixel to isolate those pixels to which a voltage has been applied. Red, blue, and green filters on the pixels, mixed as in a cathode-ray tube, provide full color for high-quality television display. | |
| AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) | An interface specification developed in 1997 by Intel Corporation.
It is based on the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus and was designed to facilitate three-dimensional graphics. AGP
creates it own dedicated channel, so the graphics controller can directly access main memory rather than use the PCI bus. This
point-to-point channel is 32 bits wide. It runs at 66MHz but supports data transmission at both the rising and falling ends of the
clock cycle for increased speed. The total effective bandwidth is 533 Mbps at double speed (2X) throughput. Three-dimensional
textures are stored in main memory, rather than in video memory. Among the requirements for implementing AGP are the OSR 2.1
version of Windows 95 or Windows 98 and a Pentium hardware system with an AGP bus slot. Optional features of AGP include the
following:
| |
| Aperture | The variable diameter opening in a camera lens that allows control of the intensity of light reaching the CCD. A camera's aperture and shutter speed determine a photo's exposure. Aperture diameters are expressed in f-numbers, e.g., f/11. As the f-number increases, the lens opening decreases. The lens opening, which is adjustable, allows more or less light to enter the camera. See also CCD. | |
| Archive | Storing files or photos onto a medium such as a CD-ROM, Zip disk, or the hard drive of the computer. | |
| Auto Exposure | The camera or scanner feature that automatically selects optimal exposure (light gathering) settings to maximize image quality. This feature sets shutter speed and aperture settings to suit the image, captures needs of different lighting situations, and as a result, improves image quality. | |
| Auto Find | The scanner recognizes different parts of the scanned document such as text, photos, or drawings. | |
| Auto Focus | A feature that selects the most primary component of the framed subject and balances focus to make details of the image crisp by automatically focuses the camera lens on a picture subject. | |
| Auto Type | This function identifies the type of image on the scanner and makes automatic settings, such as dpi and bit depth, for the image. See also Bit Depth, dpi. | |
| Automatic Document Feeder | A tray or attachment that feeds one page at a time into a printer or scanner. | |
| Automatic Deskewing | An HP scanning function that captures the scan accurately even if the document is not placed perfectly on the scanner bed, maximizing OCR accuracy. See also OCR. | |
| Automatic Paper Sensing | An optical sensor on a printer "reads" the unique media "signature" of the paper, or detects the type of paper, by measuring inherent physical properties and comparing them with the signatures of other types of media. Once the media is identified, the printer optimizes printing for different media types. | |
| Automatic Two-Sided Printing | The printer automatically outputs a two-sided page without having to manually reverse and feed the paper. Automatic Two-Sided Printing is an option and does not have to be selected. It is standard with some high-end HP printers. | |
| Bays | The physical frame of a microcomputer case, a space for installing an internal drive or a peripheral. | |
| Bit | The abbreviation for binary digit. The smallest unit of digital information, represented by 1 or 0. Computers and peripheral devices usually use many bits to represent information about each pixel of an image. | |
| Bit Depth | The number of bits used to represent colors or tones. An 8-bit image (24 bit depth) has 256 shades per color channel (red, green, blue). 256 (R) x 256 (B) x 256 (G) = 16.8 million colors. 8 bits per color channel = 24 bit depth (8 x RGB). See also Pixel, RGB. | |
| Bitmap | An image defined by discrete values that are assigned to each pixel. Also, a common graphic file format in which the image is stored as a pattern of dots. See also Pixel. | |
| Bluetooth | A short-range (30 feet) wireless networking protocol used mostly to connect one computer to another, as well as to peripherals like printers, pocket PCs, and cell phones. | |
| Brightness | An adjustment to control the lightness and darkness of an image measured by the percentage of light reflected. | |
| Buffer | An amount of memory, which temporarily stores data to help compensate for differences in the transfer rate of data from one device to another. In CD-Recorders, the buffer helps to prevent buffer underruns. | |
| Burst Mode | The option on some digital cameras that allows the user to take several photos in rapid succession (sometimes called continuous shooting mode). See also Capture, Compression, Storage, that post-Thanksgiving dinner feeling. | |
| Bus | The connection or path between the CPU and the input/output (I/O) devices or the connection between two processors. | |
| Byte | Eight bits that are able to represent any eight-digit number from 0 to the 256th decimal (or from 00000000 to 11111111 binary). A megabyte is 1024 kilobytes (1,048,576 bytes), and a gigabyte is one billion 8-bit bytes (1,073,741,824 bytes). See also bit. | |
| Cache | Portion of processor memory that holds recently accessed data, designed to speed up subsequent access to the same data. When data is read from or written to main memory, a copy is saved in the cache, along with its address in main memory. The cache monitors the address of subsequent reads to determine whether the data requested is already in the cache. If it is, the situation is referred to as a cache hit and the instruction to read the data from main memory is aborted. If a cache miss occurs, the data is fetched from main memory and saved in the cache. Typically, a cache is constructed with faster memory chips than those in the main memory, so a cache hit returns data much more quickly than normal memory access does. When a processor writes to main memory, the data is first written to the cache on the assumption that it will be read again soon. In a write-through cache, data is written to main memory only when it is forced out of the cache. | |
| Camera Memory Card | A small reusable card that stores images. Examples: Compact Flash, SmartMedia. | |
| Capture Mode | An operational mode that allows the user to record an image onto a camera memory card, or in the camera's internal memory (such as CCD or CMOS). See also Camera Memory Card, CCD, CMOS. | |
| Carriage | The fixture in the print device that holds the print cartridge. The carriage may slide on a carriage rod (or rods) to scan (pass over) the media. | |
| CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) | An integrated micro-electronic device that refers to a light-sensitive image sensor chip in a digital camera or scanner that records an image. The CCD image sensor is a silicon chip containing hundreds of thousands to a few million light sensitive cells that convert light to electricity. A CCD sensor, combined with the digital image processing capability, is the functional equivalent of film in a digital camera. Larger CCDs allow manufacturers to place a higher number of pixels on the chip (more resolution) or they can make the pixels more sensitive to light. See also CMOS, Digital Camera. | |
| CD-DA (Compact Disc-Digital Audio) | Jointly developed by Philips and Sony and launched in October,1982, CD-DA was the first incarnation of the compact disc, used to digitally record and play back music. The standard under which CD-DA discs are recorded is known as the Red Book. | |
| CD-R (Compact Disc Recordable) | A CD that can be recorded onto once (or until full). | |
| CIS (Contact Image Sensor) | A sensor within a scanner that can only capture images that lie perfectly flat on the scanner bed. CIS scanners use a special sensor that covers the entire width of the scanned area at once, often providing poor depth of field. These sensors must be very close to the original or the image will be out of focus. Color quality is limited as well. All HP Scanners use CCD sensors rather than CIS sensors. | |
| Clarity | 1. A print quality attribute that refers to the degree to which elements of the printed image are visually unobscured. 2. Free of distracting spatial or geometric imperfections. Clear prints are not obscured by visual noise such as unintentional patterns, extraneous marks, or ragged edges. | |
| Color Balance | A print quality attribute that refers to the overall color cast of an image. Unbalanced images appear to have an underlying color so that grays do not appear neutral. | |
| Color Layering Technology | See PhotoREt. | |
| Compression | Squeezing a file (or an image) into a more efficient form to reduce the amount of storage space required. | |
| CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) | A light-sensitive image sensor chip in the digital camera that records an image. CMOS chips are less sensitive than CCD, and sometimes prone to noise. See also CCD, Digital Camera. | |
| CMYK | An acronym to represent Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black, the process colors used in correct proportions to create the color range of a digital image. These are general names for the color hue of the colorants (dyes and pigments) typically used in formatting (including inkjet printing). These four colors are used to create all colors in this type of digital image. | |
| Color Depth | See Bit Depth. | |
| Compact Flash | A small, reusable camera memory card onto which images can be stored. Compact Flash is the most common type of memory card. Compact Flash, as compared to SmartMedia, has a higher capacity on-board processor, so it can be used in other Compact Flash compatible equipment, including handheld devices, laptops, and other digital cameras. Compact Flash memory typically has a higher capacity than other forms of camera memory. See also Camera Memory Card, SmartMedia. | |
| Compression | Reducing the size of a file for electronic storage. See also JPEG. | |
| CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) | The basic device that drives the television screen and the PC monitor. A CRT works by moving an electron beam back and forth across the back of the screen. Each time the beam makes a pass across the screen, it lights up phosphor dots on the inside of the glass tube, thereby illuminating the active portions of the screen. | |
| Dedicated Print Server | A PC in a network dedicated to managing the available printers. | |
| Depth of Field | The depth in a scene from the foreground to the background that will be in sharp focus in a photograph. Depth of field varies with aperture, lens focal length and camera-to-subject distance. Depth of field is primarily affected by the aperture, subject distance (closer subject would produce a shallower depth of field), and focal length (28mm lens at f/11 produces a greater produce a depth of field than a 50mm lens at the same aperture). The smaller the aperture used, the greater the area of a scene that will be sharp. See also Aperture. | |
| Digital Camera | A camera that records a visual image in a computer readable digital format. Rather than film, the digital camera uses a light-sensitive image sensor chip to capture the image. See also CCD, CMOS. | |
| Digital Zoom | The camera crops around the center of the image. Some digital cameras use interpolation to expand the image to its original size, typically reducing image quality. See also Optical Zoom. | |
| DIMM (Dual In-line Memory Module) | A high-density RAM package, similar to a single in-line memory module (SIMM), but with dual rather than single connections to the motherboard. | |
| Dot | The number of dots printed per inch (dpi) is referred to as the printer's resolution. | |
| DPI (Dots Per Inch) | Dots per inch of resolution. A measurement of resolution of an image that defines the output of a display or printer. A screen font usually appears at 72 dpi, whereas a laser printer usually prints at 300 dpi (minimally). Dpi is only one factor in image quality. See also Pixel, Resolution. | |
| DRAM (Dynamic RAM) | Dynamic random access memory. A type of memory component in which the memory cells require periodic recharging. Information stored in the memory cells as positive or negative charges may be accessed randomly. DRAM consists of an integrated circuit (IC) that uses a charged capacitor. | |
| Driver | Software that comes with a peripheral (i.e. printer, scanner, camera, etc.) that allows the peripheral to communicate with the PC. Also refers to an electronic circuit that supplies input to another electronic circuit. | |
| DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) | A twisted-pair copper wire connection with a special modem at either end that filters out background noise and interference and allows high-speed data transfer. This standard phone line filters interference and allows high-speed data transfer. It is limited to a transmission distance of 18000 feet. ISDN is a DSL application with a transfer rate of 160 kilobits per second (Kbps), which far exceeds the peak rate of 33.6 Kbps upstream that analog modems can achieve. Typically, High-Data-Rate DSL (HDSL) is used to implement T1 connections. The Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) application is a further advance in this technology, supporting up to nine megabits per second (Mbps) throughput, compared with the maximum of 2.048 Mbps handled by ISDN. | |
| Duty-cycle | The maximum number of printed pages per month that a printer can print. | |
| DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) | A Digital Video Disc that has greater capacity to store data, such as video, music, etc., than any other existing format. Generally refers to an optical disc with multiple data layers that exceeds the capacity of a standard CD-ROM and that may contain video, audio, or any other type of digital data. In the areas of home entertainment and computer data storage, it has the capacity to replace all existing audiotape, videotape, CD-ROM, and video game formats. | |
| EIO | This is the more widely used type of connectivity slot, and is compatible with many of today's HP LaserJet and other HP printers. Be sure to check for your customer's printer compatibility. | |
| Enhanced Color Layering Technology | See PhotoREt. | |
| Ethernet | Ethernet is a LAN that was developed by Xerox in 1976. The different Nodes on the Network are connected by Coaxial Cable. This cable can be thin (which can connect 2 Nodes up to a distance of about 1000 feet) or thick (which can connect 2 Nodes up to a distance of about 3300 feet). The Ethernet standard has a provision to transmit data at a rate of 10 megabits per second. | |
| Expansion Slot | A socket on a microcomputer motherboard into which an expansion board may be inserted. Half-sized circuit boards fit into an eight-bit ISA slot, whereas full-sized boards use a 16-bit slot. PCI boards pass 64 bits of data simultaneously and require a special type of socket for their edge connector. Examples of expansion boards that fit into slots include sound cards, video adapters, internal modems, and host controllers. The slots in multimedia computers are often filled with cards that perform special digitizing functions. | |
| Fast Ethernet (100Base) | A shared language media of LANs, Fast Ethernet is the fastest and soon-to-be most popular LAN system. Fast Ethernet transmits at 100 Mbps. | |
| File Format | A format, like a template or blueprint, that is used for capturing, storing, retrieving and sharing digital data. It is a digital file is a grouping of related binary data that represents words, graphics, or photographs. Different file formats may be used to store and transfer recorded data. Most digital cameras shoot JPEGs. See also Capture Mode, Digital Camera, JPEG. | |
| Fire Wire | High-speed external connection used for connecting peripherals, also referred to as "IEEE 1394." See also Port Connection. | |
| Firmware | Low-level software that runs in a digital camera, printer, scanner, etc., and controls the functionality and user interface. | |
| GB (Gigabyte) | 1024 megabytes, 2^10 bytes, or 1,073,741,824 bytes. | |
| GIF (graphics interchange format) | An image file that has been compressed, used primarily for online storage and distribution. A GIF file represents colors using 256 or fewer colors, and uses lossy compression to reduce the file size, which results in a loss of image quality. This format is smaller in size than the BMP format. GIF files are commonly used for web page graphics since the file sizes are small, and therefore take less time to open. See also Bitmap. | |
| Gloss | The amount of light reflected by the surface of the paper, relative to the smoothness of the paper. | |
| Grade | Brightness is the determining factor for a paper's grade number. The higher the brightness, the lower the grade number (e.g., the best offset papers are called Premium Number 1). | |
| Hot Spot | An area that has a wireless network. For example, many coffee shops and cafés have wireless networks for people to use to connect to the Internet. Anywhere in their range is considered a “hot spot.” | |
| HP Color Layering Technology (also called PhotoREt) | HP's exclusive printing technology that creates more colors by placing more drops per dot and layering the colors. Color layering allows the printer to output the highest-quality photos without sacrificing print speed. This technology combines HP developed hardware, firmware, and software advancements to produce exceptional, true-to-life image quality and fast color printing. HP Color Layering precisely places many very small drops of ink in a single dot, creating more colors per printed dot and finer color control. HP's unique application of new halftoning algorithms works in conjunction with Color Layering Technology to enable the new generation of Deskjet printers to deliver superior dot placement, uniformity and color. | |
| Index View | The view on a camera that allows the user to see a series of thumbnail images on screen. Also refers to a feature with HP Photosmart printers, which allows the printing of a page of thumbnail images. | |
| Infrared | A type of connection that allows data to be wirelessly transmitted from the camera directly to another device when the infrared window on the camera is lined up with an infrared sensor on the other device. Also known as IRda. See also JetSend. | |
| Inkjet | A printing technology that comes in three varieties: 1. inkjet, drop-on-demand - Drops are ejected from nozzles only when required to form an image. This is the HP thermal inkjet type; 2. inkjet, continuous flow - Electrostatic acceleration and deflection are used to select the dots required to form the image. Unselected drops are caught in a gutter and are usually recycled into the ink supply; and 3. piezoelectric inkjet - Piezoelectric technology uses a piezoelectric material that expands and contracts when voltage is applied to place ink on paper. | |
| Inkjet Printer | A non-impact printer that uses drops of ink to form images (characters or graphics) on plain paper in a matrix format. | |
| Interpolation | A way to change the size, resolution, or colors in an image by calculating the pixels used to represent the new image from the old ones. | |
| Interpolated Resolution | An electronic method of "increasing" the resolution of an image. Interpolation estimates and fills in missing color information by analyzing the pixels immediately surrounding the missing information. The digital camera or scanner captures an image at a lower resolution and then creates the pixels not captured by analyzing the color and brightness of the captured pixels. See also Digital Camera, Pixel. | |
| I/O (Input/Output) | Reference to the flow of information to and from computers and their attached devices. | |
| ISO Number | The standard rating for film or CCD sensitivity as ranked by International Organization for Standardization rating for film, CCD, or CMOS sensitivity. ISO is not an acronym, rather it is derived from the Greek term "isos," meaning "equal". The larger the ISO number, the greater the sensitivity. See also CCD, CMOS. | |
| ISP (Internet Service Provider) | A company that delivers Internet access to other companies and to individuals. | |
| Jargon | A bunch of technical stuff that sounds important, but the customer really doesn't want to hear. | |
| JetSend | A protocol developed by HP that allows a camera to send an image directly to another device (which can be used over a LAN as well). Both the sender and receiver must support the JetSend protocol. See also Infrared. | |
| JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) | A file format standard that reduces the size of an image file by compressing it. JPEG files have the extension "jpg." See also Compression, File Format, GIF. | |
| LAN (Local Area Network) | A Local Area Network is a group of PCs, other computers, and peripheral devices that are linked together where each device is located in close proximity to all the other devices. LANs typically consist of a number of PCs, shared printers, and shared directories and files. | |
| LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) Panel | A screen on a digital camera that allows the user to view the image before or after taking a picture. | |
| Lens | A device for focusing light rays onto a CCD or film. | |
| Light Fastness | The ability of printed photo paper to resist fading. HP works closely with ink vendors to develop special fade-resistant dyes for use in its ink formulation. As a result, HP inks are able to maintain their color gamut even after repeated exposure to the same levels of ultraviolet light, temperature, humidity, ozone levels, and environmental factors that cause other inks to fade. | |
| Media | The material that is printed upon, such as paper, glossy paper, or transparency film. | |
| Megapixel | Means "a million pixels" and is the measurement of a digital camera's resolution. Example: A CCD that has 1000(W) x 1000(H) = 1,000,000 pixels, and produces a good quality 5" x 7" print. See also Digital Camera, Pixel. | |
| Memory Card Reader | a device that connects to the computer via serial, USB, or parallel interface. The user inserts a camera memory card into the reader to transfer images to a computer. Serial or USB devices read Compact Flash or SmartMedia memory cards (CF or SM), much like a floppy disk drive. The devices allow digital camera owners to easily transfer images from the camera memory card to the PC and, in the case of USB reader, faster than the serial connections that come standard with most digital cameras. See also Camera Memory Card, Compact Flash, Smart Media. | |
| MP3 | MP3 is a scheme for compressing audio. MP3 files do not maintain the quality of audio CD tracks, and cannot be recorded directly to CD as standard audio tracks. They can be recorded as data tracks and played back via your computer using appropriate player software, or converted to Wave files and then recorded to CD. | |
| Multi-tasking | Ability to perform several tasks at one time. For example, while printing, a same user can scan, queue up a copy job, or queue up more print jobs. | |
| NIC (Network Interface Card) | A printed circuit board installed in an expansion slot of a computer to allow the computer to be connected to a network. | |
| Ni-Cd Battery | (pronounced ny-cad) Ni-Cd (Nickel Cadmium) refers to a type of rechargeable battery. To optimize performance, this type of battery should be completely discharged (drained of energy) before recharging. | |
| NiMH Battery | NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) refers to a type of rechargeable battery that usually has a longer life than the Ni-Cd Battery. Unlike Ni-Cd, this battery can be recharged at any time without damage. | |
| OCR (Optical Character Recognition) | 1. The process of converting an image of text into an editable format through the use of OCR software. 2. Software used to convert printed characters into editable text as bitmap images. | |
| Opacity | A measurement of how easily light passes through paper after printing. | |
| Optical Resolution | The true resolution of a digitally scanned or photographed image, as opposed to digital resolution created by interpolation. See also Interpolated Resolution, Pixel, Resolution. | |
| Optical Zoom | A traditional zoom lens that moves the focus closer to the subject to enlarge the image. Unlike digital zoom, optical zoom retains the true resolution of the image. See also Digital Zoom, Optical Resolution. | |
| Parallel & Parallel Port | Interface from a computer system through which multiple bits of data are transferred in or out. This type of interface carries one bit on each wire, thereby multiplying the transfer rate obtainable over a single wire. The widely used Centronics port transfers eight bits at a time. SCSI and Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) are special types of parallel ports. | |
| Passive-matrix Screens | A type of flat panel display technology composed of a grid of horizontal and vertical wires with an LCD controller at every pixel. The controller either lets light in or blocks it out, depending on the image. A typical LCD screen contains from 480,000 to well over a million pixels. Typical drawbacks to this technology are: low contrast, limited viewing angle, limited image quality, fewer colors, and slower response time. | |
| PhotoREt | HP's Photo Resolution Enhancement technology combines a set of HP-developed technologies, including a color-ink cartridge (the HP Photo Cartridge), hardware, firmware, and software to enable its Deskjet printers to produce true-to-life color images. As a result, more drops of ink can be placed on an individual pixel, creating more colors per printed dot and delivering more levels of color intensity and shades per primary color. See also HP Color Layering Technology. | |
| Pixel | The smallest element that can be assigned to an independent color and intensity and displayed on a computer monitor screen or on a LCD. A pixel is a dot with either a square or rectangular shape. Digital images displayed on a monitor screen or LCD are composed of thousands of pixels. | |
| Pixelization | Graininess in an image that results when the pixels are too big. The smaller the pixels, the greater their number and the less apparent the "pixelization" of the image. See also Pixel. | |
| Playlist | List of music titles that can be organized in the order to be played. | |
| Plug & Play | An Intel(r) standard that allows additional hardware to be added to and subtracted from a system without having to reconfigure or restart the computer. | |
| Port Connection | A communication link between hardware components. Types of connection include Fire Wire, Parallel, USB, Serial, and SCSI. See also Fire Wire, SCSI, USB | |
| Print Quality Problems | Bleeding - Two color inks run into each other. Blooming - Ink absorbs into the paper, spreading beyond the ink dot size applied to the page. Cockling - Paper ripple due to ink moisture. Haloing - Lightening of black ink when it is next to color. Wicking - Ink spreads along the fibers in the paper, creating a "spider web" effect. | |
| Print Cartridge | The device that integrates the printhead, ink container, and ink delivery systems. | |
| Print Head | The electro-mechanical functionality that allows the delivery of ink dots; typically the drop firing substrate and nozzles. | |
| Print Zone | The portion of the paper the printer is capable of printing on. | |
| Protect | Marking an image so that no one can delete it. See also Camera Memory Card, Compact Flash, SmartMedia. | |
| RAM (Random Access Memory) | Random access memory is a temporary storage area that the processor uses to execute programs and hold data. Information is put into RAM and held there. Once the RAM becomes full, information has to be removed to make space for the current task being performed. A PC with limited RAM will take a long time to perform the simplest task as the information in the RAM is constantly being replaced. RAM requires a constant electric supply to keep the information intact. Should you switch off the PC, you will lose the contents of RAM forever. | |
| Resolution | A measure of image clarity based on the number of pixels used to reproduce the subject. For example, camera resolution is the number of pixels in the captured image. See also Pixel. | |
| Rewrite | To erase and re-record a CD-ReWritable disc. | |
| RGB (Red, Green, Blue) | 1. All colors defined as percentages of red, green, and blue. 2. Light is composed of just three colors: red, green, and blue. Varying percentages of these colors create all colors seen in the full color spectrum. To help understand the concept of RGB, look very closely at a color TV screen (not too long, though, remember what Mom always said...), and see that the color is composed of a variation or combination of individually colored dots (like pixels). See also Pixel. | |
| Saturation | Refers to the intensity of hues in an image. Photos in need of a saturation boost are often ones that were overexposed or shot under hazy conditions. | |
| Scale | The size of an image, used when defining relationships between images or to change the size of an image. | |
| SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) | (pronounced "SKUH-zee") An independent standard for a system-level interface between computers and such peripherals as hard disks, CD-ROMs, printers, and scanners. | |
| SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) | A type of RAM that has been increasingly used since the mid-1990s, SDRAM is considerably faster and more reliable than standard RAM. See also RAM. | |
| Shutter | The part of a camera that opens and closes to control how long the CCD or film is exposed to light. A shutter is a set of metallic, fabric, or plastic surfaces that block light from the film or image sensor in a camera. When the shutter is released, the surfaces open for a predefined time, admitting a measured amount of light. See also CCD, CMOS. | |
| Shutter Speed | The length of time the shutter remains open when the shutter release is activated. Shutter Speed time is measured in fractions of a second (e.g., 1/125th). | |
| Slide Show | The viewing of previously shot images on the camera's LCD display, computer screen, or television screen. | |
| SmartMedia | A thin memory card onto which images from a digital camera can be stored. See also Camera Memory Card, Compact Flash. | |
| SVGA (Super Visual Graphics Array ) | A SVGA Monitor can display up to 1280 x 1024 pixels using over 16 million different colors. | |
| TFTs (Thin-Film Transistors) | The most common type of active-matrix screen. See active-matrix liquid crystal display. | |
| TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) | A graphic file format that stores grayscale and color images. | |
| USB (Universal Serial Bus) | An input/output (I/O) bus capable of data transfer at 12 megabits (1.5 megabytes) per second (MBps) with up to 127 devices connected in a daisy chain. The USB specification was published in 1996 by a consortium of companies left by Intel Corporation, including Compaq, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, Microsoft(r), NEC Technologies, and Northern Telecom. In addition to a keyboard, a mouse, and a printer, a peripheral such as a CD-ROM drive or a modem may be connected to a single port on a PC. Typically, each device connected to a computer uses its own port. USB supports multiple isochronous data streams for multimedia applications. The USB specification supports self-identifying peripherals, a feature fully compatible with plug and play (PnP) systems. USB devices may be hot plugged, which means that power does not have to be turned off to connect or disconnect a peripheral. The operating system must support USB in order for it to function. Original versions of Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 do not support USB, but the OEM Service Release 2 (OSR-2) release of Windows 95 does. Windows 98 and Windows NT 5.0 fully support USB. It is expected that USB will become a primary means of connection in IBM-compatible PCs. Most major hardware, software, and telecommunications providers support USB. | |
| VGA (Video Graphics Array) | A graphics display standard introduced in 1987 by IBM for PS/2 computers. The basic specification provides for 640 x 480 pixel resolution and 256 simultaneous colors. The standard has been expanded by graphics card manufacturers. | |
| VRAM (Video RAM) | (pronounced "VEE-ram") Video random access memory. A special memory chip that is designed for video applications and that usually has a special port for video information. Other data travels through another port. | |
| Wi-Fi | A somewhat catch-all term meaning something that relates to an 802.11b or 802.11g wireless network. For example, a Wi-Fi card would be a PC card that acts as an antenna for your computer. | |
| Write | To record data (which cannot be erased) to a CD-Recordable disc. | |
| "X" | Speed relative to CD. Refers to kilobytes (KB) per second to which music is listened. 1x = 150KB per second. | |
| XGA (Extended Graphics Array) | A high-resolution graphics standard introduced by IBM in 1990. XGA was designed to replace the older 8514/A video standard. It provides the same resolutions (640 by 480 or 1024 by 768 pixels), but supports more simultaneous colors (65 thousand compared to 8514/A's 256 colors). In addition, XGA allows monitors to be non-interlaced. |
