| Word | Description |
| .avi | Short for Audio Video Interleave, the file format for Microsoft's Video for Windows standard. |
| .gif | Graphics Interchange Format--a bit-mapped graphics file format used by the World Wide Web, CompuServe and many BBSs. GIF supports color and various resolutions. It also includes data compression, making it especially effective for scanned photos. |
| .jpeg | Joint Photographic Experts Group image format. A popular Internet compression format for color images. |
| .mov | File extension used with Quicktime, a popular file format for video on a computer developed by Apple. |
| .wav | A sound format for storing sound in files developed jointly by Microsoft and IBM. Support for WAV files was built into Windows 95 making it the de facto standard for sound on PCs. WAV sound files end with a .wav extension. |
| A/V (Audio/Video) | A common shorthand for multimedia audio and video. |
| analog | An electrical signal is referred to as either analog or digital. Analog signals are those signals directly generated from a stimulus such as a light striking a camera picture tube. You can convert an analog signal to a digital signal by using an analog to digital converter. |
| artifacts | Unwanted visual distortions that appear in a video image, such as cross-color artifacts, cross-luminance artifacts, jitter, blocking, ghosts, etc. |
| aspect ratio | Proportional width and height of on-screen picture. Current standard for a conventional monitor is 4:3 (four-by-three); 16:9 for HDTV. |
| Bandwidth | How much stuff you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second (bps.) A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 57,000 bits in one second. Full-motion full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second, depending on compression. |
| BNC | (Bayonet Fitting Connector aka British Naval Connector) A durable "professional" cable connector, attaches to VCRs for transfer of high-frequency composite video in/out signals. Connects with a push and a twist. |
| CCD | (charge coupled device) Light-sensitive integrated circuit in video cameras that converts images into electrical signals. Sometimes referred to as a "chip." |
| component video | Signal transmission system, resembling S-video concept, employed with professional videotape formats. Separates one luminance and two chrominance channels to avoid quality loss from NTSC or PAL encoding. |
| contrast | Difference between a picture's brightest and darkest areas. When high, image contains sharp blacks and whites; when low, image limited to variations in gray tones. |
| decibel | (dB) A unit of measurement of sound that compares the relative intensity of different sound sources. |
| Desktop | Just like a physical top of a desk, the Windows desktop is where you put the things you?re working on or want to access quickly. The desktop is the main screen in Windows where you can put icons that act as shortcuts to various programs. |
| Domain | On the Internet, a portion of the naming hierarchy tree that refers to general groupings of networks based on organization type or geography. In this district, our domain is HISD. When you log on to a computer, the third field shows you what domain you are logging onto. |
| DV | (Digital Video) With a capital "D" and a capital "V," DV is a specific video format; both a tape format (like Hi8) and a data format specification. |
| edit | Process or result of selectively recording video and/or audio on finished videotape. Typically involves reviewing raw footage and transferring desired segments from master tape(s) onto new tape in a predetermined sequence. [See assemble edit, in camera editing.] |
| encoding | The actual process of compressing video for streaming or for downloading. |
| FireWire | (IEEE 1394 or i.LINK) A high-speed bus that was developed by Apple Computer. It is used, among other things, to connect digital camcorders to computers. |
| FPS | (frames per second) Measures the rate or speed of video or film. Film is typically shot and played back at 24fps. Video is recorded and played back at 30fps. |
| frequency | Number of vibrations produced by a signal or sound, usually expressed as cycles per second, or hertz (Hz). |
| GB | (Gigabyte) Giga- is a prefix that means one billion, so a Gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Most commonly used to measure hard disk space. |
| generation loss | Degradation in picture and sound quality resulting from an analog duplication of original master video recording. Copying a copy and all successive duplication compounds generation loss. Digital transfers are free of generation loss. |
| HDTV | (high-definition television) "In the works" television system standard affording greater resolution for sharper pictures and wide-screen viewing via specially-designed TV equipment. |
| Icons | A small picture intended to represent something such as a file, directory, or action on a computer. When an icon is clicked, some action is performed such as opening a file or program. Icons are located on the desktop, in the start menu, and various other places. |
| IEEE 1394 | (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Pronounced "eye-triple-E thirteenninety- four" the institute establishes standards and protocols for a wide range of computer and communications technologies, including IEEE 1394, which is a specification FireWire data transmission widely used in DV. Sony refers to the ports on its products with the proprietary term, "i.LINK." |
| interlaced video | Process of scanning frames in two passes, each painting every other line on the screen, with scan lines alternately displayed in even and odd fields. NTSC video is interlaced; most computers produce a noninterlaced video signal. [See noninterlaced video] |
| My Computer | In Windows, My Computer is the source of all resources in the computer including drives, control panels and programs. You can find the My Computer icon in the Start Menu or on the desktop as a shortcut. |
| My Documents | This is the default personal folder for storing data on your computer. My Music, My Pictures and other subfolders are located under My Documents. For easy retrieval, this is the location to where you should save all your files and documents. |
| Operating System | also abbreviated as OS. An Operating System is a software program or set of programs that mediate access between physical devices (such as a keyboard, mouse, monitor, disk drive or network connection) and application programs (such as a word processor, World-Wide Web browser or electronic mail applications). Some popular operating systems are: Unix, Linux, Windows XP, and Mac OSX. In HISD, we are currently using Windows XP and 2000. |
| Recycle Bin | This is an icon on Windows computers where files can be placed to be deleted. You will find the Recycle Bin on the desktop of your computer. Files in the recycle bin are not, however, deleted until the recycle bin is emptied. This makes it easier to recover accidentally deleted files. |
| Shortcuts | In Windows, a shortcut is an icon that points to a program or data file stored on your computer or file server. Shortcuts can be placed on the desktop or stored in other folders, and double clicking a shortcut is the same as double clicking the original file. Just as the name suggests, it is a quick way to access a program or file on your computer. Shortcuts on your computer are denoted with a small arrow in the bottom left corner of the icon. |
| Start Menu | the Start menu is a launching pad for applications. It is also used to turn the machine off. The default location of the Start menu button is the left side of the Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. The Start menu contains shortcuts to the programs stored on the hard drive. The start menu contains commands used to open programs and files, commands to search for items on your computer, and commands to change settings on your computer. You can also access all printers that you have installed on your computer from the start menu. |
| System tray | The system tray (or "systray") is a section of the taskbar in the Microsoft Windows desktop that is used to display the clock and the icons of certain programs/processes that are currently running on your computer. |
| Taskbar | It is the bar that spans the bottom of the computer screen and contains the Start button on the left side. The task bar also includes the current time on the far right side. The Quick Launch is also located on the taskbar (to the right of the Start Menu) and contains shortcuts to applications that you only have to click once to open. Whenever you open a program or window, it shows up in the task bar. So if you have Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word open, there will be at least two items in the middle area of the task bar. |