AIFF or AIF - Apple's Audio Interchange Format.
Ambient Light - Light that is uniform throughout
a scene.
Analog Sound - Waveforms, with valleys and ridges, referring
to the natural form of sound/audio. To store/playback on a computer, analog
data is converted to digital data.
Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) - Equipment used to convert
impulses to numbers that can be stored, understood, and manipulated by a
microprocessor.
Animated GIFs - A special kind of web animation done through
programs such as Flash, Adobe Photoshop and Fireworks.
Animation - A moving graphic.
Apple Video Player - Software that allows you to record
and play QuickTime movies.
Audio Video Interleaved (.AVI) - Windows format for saving
video with sound.
B
Bandwidth - A measure of the amount of data that can flow over a channel on a network
in a given period of time.
Betacam SP - A high-quality, component video format used
in professional vidoe editing.
Bit Resolution - Measurment of the number of bits of stored
information per pixel or how many tones or colors every pixel in a bitmat
can have.
Buffer - A temporary storage area where data can be stored until the computer is
ready to process it.
Bus - Any line that transmits data between memory and input/output
devices or between memory and the CPU.
C
CD-ROM
(Compact Disk-Read Only Memory) - An optical storage device that
can hold about 650MB of data.
CD-ROM Recordables - Drives that allow you to record CDs.
These drives only allow you to record on the CD one time.
CD-ROM Rewritables - Drives that allow you to record on
a CD up to a 1,000 times.
Compression - Reduction in a file size for storage and
transfer.
Compression, Lossless - Digitized video containing ALL
the original video information.
Compression, Lossy - Digitized video which, to save space,
does NOT contain all the original video information.
D
Digital
Audio/Video - Sounds and video that have been converted from analog
to digtial.
Digitalization/Digitized - Process of converting video or audio
signals normally in waveform (analog), into 1's and 0's that can be read
by a computer.
Digital-to-analog converter (DAC) - A device that converts
digital sound to analog sound so that it can be played and heard through
speakers.
Downloadable - Files that are located on the web that are
stored in a specific file format before they are played or uploaded.
Digital Video (DV) - A digital video format.
Digital Versatile Disk (DVD) - An optical storage device
that holds 4.7 to 17 GB of data.
F
Frames
per second (FPS) - The number of picture images displayed per second,
giving digital video the illusion of motion. Full-motion video, with no
dropped frames, is considered 30 fps.
Frame - A single picture in computerized digital video.
Frame Rate - The number of images per second displayed
in a stream of video.
G
Graphics Interchage
Format (GIF) - A graphic file format used to save cartoons, line-art
and flat illustration. Tthis file format preserves sharp edges, as opposed
to the JPEG file format. GIF is the only file format which allows for transparent
images, the file contains a header with the information which color in the
image is invisible.
H
Hi-8 - A type of videotape format found in the consumer market.
I
Image Resolution - The amount of information stored in eacg image that is measured by pixels
per inch (ppi) or dot per inch (dpi).
Internet Explorer - A web browser created by Microsoft.
J
Joint Photographic
Experts Group (JPEG) - A
graphic file format used to create compact graphics.
K
-None-
L
Lossless Compression - Mathematical algorithms that eliminate unnecessay data.
Lossy Compression - A compression scheme in which expendable data is removed.
M
Motion Picture
Experts Group (MPEG) - A developing standard for digital video
compression used to send movie files for viewing on the World Wide Web.
The MPEG file name extension is either .mpeg or .mpg.
N
National Television
Standard Committee (NTSC) - Television
and video standard in which video signals have a rate of 30 fps.
O
-None-
P
Phase Alternating
Line (PAL) - Television and video standard in which video signals
have a frame rate of 25 fps.
Playback Rate - The number of images displayed per second
when an animation is being played.
Plug-ins - Downloadable programs that are added to an applicationto
extend its capabilities.
Q
QuickTime - A software-based video-delivery system provided by Apple that allows the
delivery of multimedia and video applications to be viewed without using
additional hardware.
R
RealAudio (RA) - A format by Progressive Networks that is used for streaming audio on the
web.
S
Sample Rate - The actual number of different images that are recorded per second.
SECAM (Sequential Color and Memory) - Television and video
standard in which video signals have a rate of 50 Hz.
Sound Card - A card that is required on a PC in order to
record or play sound through external speakers.
Streaming Audio/Video - The capability to begin playing
media before it has fully downloaded from the server so that is plays in
"real-time."
S-VHS - Video format of superior quality to standard VHS.
T
-None-
U
-None-
V
Video, Analog - True full-motion video
from laser discs, videotapes. Formats: Hi8, 8mm, S-VHS, VHS.
Video Capture Card - An adapter card which allows recording
and digitalization of pictures or movies for use with a computer.
W
WAVE (.WAV) - The most common file format for Windows sounds.
X
-None-
Y
-None-
Z
-None- |