Interactive Media Glossary
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2.21:1 Aspect Ratio
See "Cinemascope" ( target Cinemascope.
)
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4:3 Aspect Ratio a common broadcast display
aspect ratio. 320 x 240 aspect frame size.
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8-Bit Color depth which allows 256 colors
to be displayed simultaneously. The colors that will be displayed
at a given time are specified in the "Palette". Many older computers
only have 8-Bit displays. Also called "256 Colors" on the MacOS.
DW’s basic PC’s on 4th and 5th floor are 8-Bit.
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16 Bit Operating System - This refers
to an operating system which is capable of processing 16 bits (or 2 bytes)
at any one time. Windows 3.1 is an example. File names can be no more than
8 characters in 16 bit operating systems. Color depth which allows
thousands of colors to be displayed simultaneously. Also called "Thousands
of Colors" on the MacOS.
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16:9 Aspect Ratio - a standard display
aspect ratio of DVD-Video. When displayed on a normal television
(which is 4:3), 16:9 material will be "letterboxed" with black bars at
the top and bottom of the screen. (target Letterbox)
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24-Bit Color depth which allows millions
of colors to be displayed simultameously. 24-Bit images can be truly
photographic in quality. Sometimes referred to as "True Color" and
called "Millions Of Colors" on the MacOS
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32 Bit Operating System - This refers
to an operating system, which is capable of processing 32 bits (or 4 bytes)
at any one time. Windows 95 is a 32 Bit Operating system. One of the features
that this allows is long file names.
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Access Provider - A company which provides
its customers a service whereby the can access the Internet. The user normally
connects to the Access providers computer via a modem using a dial up connection.
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ActiveX - ActiveX is a Microsoft technology
used on the Internet. ActiveX controls can be downloaded from the Internet.
These controls are "activated" by the web browser & perform a variety
of different functions. There are Active X controls which allow you to
view Microsoft word documents via the web browser, play animated graphical
effects, display interactive maps. As the name suggests they make the web
page "active".
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Adaptive Noise Reduction -"Intelligent" noise
filtering system that analyzes each pixel , in video or still image, and
applies an appropriate filter to remove the noise. Normally maintains
edge detail while still improving compression. E.G. " Media Cleaner
Pro" software owned by DW has this filter option.
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ADB - Apple Desktop Bus. The
MacOS communication ports for keyboards, mice, trackballs,
and graphics tables adn other inputs.
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ADSL - (Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber
Line) A new high speed Internet Connection technology which enables highspeed
connections over existing telephone lines. ADSL is not widely available
to the general public as of this writing but many believe it will be very
popular for Internet access in the next few years.
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Alpha Channel
an additional image channel which is often used to store transparency or
compositing information. Alpha Channels are often 8-Bit, but
some applications support 16- Bit alpha channels. Only certain
formats, such as PICT and the QuickTime Animation codec,
(target
Codec) support alpha channels.
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Analog-to-Digital Converter (A\D) chip
which converts analog video signals to digital signals. Analog-to-Digital
converters are used on capture cards to change the video into a format
that the computer can better manipulate and store.
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Animated GIF - A special type of GIF File.
They give the impression of a video. A collection of GIFS, presented one
after the other each picture slightly different from the previous. Same
principle as a film.
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ARCHIE A tool for finding files on the
internet that can be downloaded to a computer by using FTP.
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Architecture
See "Format" and "Multimedia
Architecture"
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Asymmetric Codec codec which takes longer
to encode ,than decode. For example, Sorenson Video is extremely
asymmetric because it takes many times longer to encode a video frame than
it does to play back the same frame.
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ATM A packet switching protocol which
is widely used for transmitting various data via high speed networks.
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AVI also known as Audio/Video Interleave
is the Microsoft standard for desktop video on the Windows platform.
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Backbone High speed main pathway of a
network.
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Bandwidth
amount of information that can be sent, processed, ect. in an given amount
of time. For example, a double-speed CD-ROM drive has a maximum bandwidth
of 300KBps; a 28.8 modem has a theoretical bandwidth of approximately 3KBps.
DW’s modems are 56 KBps and have a theoretical bandwidth of ____ KBps.
(also see
Data Rate,Back toSorenson
Video Codec)
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Batch Compression Grouping two or more
movies together to be compressed sequentially, so that each compression
doesn’t need to be started manually.
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Baud The number of electrical oscillations
that occur each second.
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Binhex MacOS encoding scheme which
converts normal computer files into ASC II (text) characters for transmission
over the Internet. Binhex’d files normally end with ".hqx", and must
be returned to their binary format prior to use.
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BIT When computer talk or write to each
other, the represent all of the information in ones and zeros known as
binary 1’s and 0’s.
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Bit-depth The same considerations with
regard to bit-depth for still images pertains to movies. 24 bit monitors
will display millions of colors, 8 bit monitors will display only 256 colors.
Most video is digitized in 16 bit or thousands of colors. This tends
to give the best quality / performance ratio.
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Bitmap collection
of pixels that make up an image. Often used to distinguish images
which are Pixels based, as compared to images which are Vector based.
Bitmaps normally end in ".bmp". Back to Sprite
Track.
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Block - typically ranging from
512 bytes up to 256 KB. Back to Flash Memory.
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BPS (Bits per second) The standard measure
of data transmission speeds.
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Broadcast used to refer to signals intended
for delivery over the television system, as well as network delivery to
a wide audience. Broadcasting audio and video over the web is fast
becoming a viable option
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Browser Software
that allows you to navigate and view any of the tens of thousands of Web
sites and millions of web pages of the WWW. The
two most popular are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
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BYTE A byte is eight bits
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Cable Modem a special modem designed to
operate over cable TV lines to provide extremely fast access to the Internet.
As of this writing, availability is limited, but expected to increase in
the next few years.
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Cache - A Cache Memory is a small but
very fast memory used to store frequently used Data or instructions. It
tries to "guess" what data is going to be needed next by the Processor.
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CD-ROM - A CD-ROM (Compact Disk - Read
only Media) can contain vast amounts of information (over 600Mb) which
is accessible via a PC providing it contains a CD-ROM Drive. As the name
suggests you can only read information from a CD-ROM.
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Cinemascope
very wide (2.21:1) aspect ratio which is one of the standards in MPEG-2.
When displayed on a normal television, Cinemascope material requires
pronounced "letterboxing". Back to2.21:1Aspect
Ratio
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Cinepak commonly
used codec for CD-ROM video compression. Allows temporal and spatial compression,
as well as data rate limiting. Newer codecs, such as Sorenson Video,
offer superior image quality and features , but Cinepak is still used for
backwards compatibility. Back to Lossy.
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CGI (Common Gateway Interface) A specification
for transferring information between a WWW server and a CGI program.
A CGI program is any program designed to accept and return data that conforms
to the CGI specification.
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Clients/Servers
servers serve data to client computers. Back to Host.
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CMYK- Cyan Magenta Yellow Black. Color
space commonly used for images which will be printed with four-color ink
on offset presses.
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Codec also called
a compressor. A codec is a compression\decompression
software component which translates video or audio between its uncompressed
form and the compressed form in which it is stored. Sorenson Video
and Cinepak are common QuickTime video coedecs. Back to Alpha
Channel.
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Color Depth possible range of colors that
can be used in a movie or image. There are generally four choices
with video; Grayscale, 8-Bit,16-Bit,and24-Bit. Higher color
depths provide a wider range of colors, but require more space for a given
image size.
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Color Lookup Table
- see "Palette"
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Color Subsampling
method of reducing the size of an image be storing color data with lower
resolution than luminance data. Typically used in video with the
YUV color space. Common subsampling options include
4:2:2, 4:1:1 and YUV9. (target YUV definitions)
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Compression
- A technique used to considerably reduce the size of a file without losing
any of the original information. The compression process alters the content
of the file but this can & is completely recovered by reversing the
process. Back to Encode
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Compressor
see "Codec"
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Cookie - A file that is written to your
Hard Disk when you access certain Web Pages. The file contains certain
information, often information that you entered when you displayed the
page. The next time you access this page a check is done to see if the
Cookie exists. The information within the cookie may well influence what
happens next.
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CPU Central Processing Unit. The
processor chip in a computer. Often used to refer to a computer in
general.
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Cross-Platforming
this means that if Apple makes a program they make it also
so that it can be used on a regular PC like with Windows. (See QuickTime)
Back to TIFF.
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Data Rate Amount
of information per second used to represent a movie, often expressed in
KBps (KiloByte/sec). A single speed CD-ROM movie is usually made
at a data rate of 100KBps, and a doublespeed CD-ROM movie about 200 KBps.
The data rate of uncompressed NTSC video is about 27 Megabytes per second.
(back to Bandwidth)
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Dial Up a dial up internet account allows
you to use a computer with a modem and appropriate software to connect
to the internet through and Internet Service Provider.
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Decoder in multimedia, this term refers
to decompressing a compressed (encoded) file so that it may be displayed
. Codecs do this decoding while the video/audio is played.
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Deinterlace to remove the interlacing
artifacts caused by two-fields-per-frame nature of video.
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Delta Frames Frames which contain only
the changes form the previous frame. Delta frames are created by
codecs which use temporal compression. Delta frames are also called
"difference frames"
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Dial- Up modem
Computer device that connects users over phone lines to another computer
or network. Currently the most common consumer Internet connection,
modems are much slower than other options, such as ISDN
and T1 2nd ACSL connections. Currently, DW uses
Dial-Up Modems.( target ISDN,T1,and ACSL)
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Dongle hardware copy protection device.
Usually a dongle plugs into the ADB,USB or serial port of the computer,
and the protected software won’t run unless the dongle is present.
A good basic example- DW’s prompter software requires a dongle or it won’t
run. (target ADB ,and USB)
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Download to copy a file from a server
or network to your computer, specifically your hard drive.
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DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) A configuration
of modems and a line. DSL is a type of modem employed for Basic Rate
ISDN.
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DSN (Domain Name Server) Connected to
the Internet, they translate the letters in in Internet Addresses into
numerical destinations.
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DVD - Digital Video Disk, New Disk Technology.
Digital Video Disks can hold over 4 Gigabytes of information - these are
predicted to eventually supersede CD's. (target gigabyte)
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DVD-ROM version
of the DVD disc format for computers which is expected to replace CD-ROMs.
Similar to a fast (8x), large (4-17 Gigabytes) CD-ROM, DVD-ROM can hold
any type of computer data, and dos not require MPEG.
(target MPEG)
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DVD-Video
version of the DVD disc format used for storage of prerecordedmovies which
is expected to replace VHS. DVD-Video specification uses MPEG playback
format which requires specific hardware to process the high data rate.
Back to
MPEG-2.
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Edge Blanking
Black part of the video signal that normally falls outside the area
that shows on a TV screen( in the DW edit suites we call that outside of
"state title") Most capture cards include some amount of edge blanking
around the captured image. Commonly referred to as "edge noise" or
"overscan". Back to Vertical Edge
Blanking.
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EDI ( Electronic Data Interchange) Enables the
computer to computer transfer of business documents, such as purchase orders,
requisitions, and invoices.
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Embed Tag HTML
code that specifies how a graphic or movie will be included within your
WWW page. (Target HTML)
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Encode in multimedia,
this term means compressing a file. See "Compression".
(target Compression)
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Ethernet A
transport mechanism used to link computers to a LAN.
(target LAN)
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Extranet A buzzword that refers to an
intranet that is partially accessible to authorized outsiders.
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Fiber Short for fiber optic cable made
of glass threads. Fiber transmits digital data at unprecedented speeds.
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Fire Wire is a high-speed serial input/output
(I/O) technology for connecting peripherals to a computer. Fire Wire
is one of the fastest peripherals standard ever developed, which makes
it great for use with multimedia peripherals such as video, camcorders,
and other high-speed devices like the latest hard disk drives and printers.
Fire Wire provides a means for transferring images from the camera to the
computer. (is it cross platform, can it go from Mac to PC?)
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Firewall A
network security device (a combination of hardware and software) that prevents
unauthorized users from accessing an intranet or
LAN.
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Flash Disc - A solid state disk made of falash
memory chips.
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Flash Memory - a
memory chip that holds memory without power, flash memory must be erased
or written in fixed blocks. The name was coined
from Toshiba for it's ability to be erased"in a flash".
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Fonts the text on the Web is hypertext.
Standards for hypertext are still evolving, but the current standard is
known as HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language. This language is similar
to coded typesetting in the days before WYSIWYG page layout programs.
Font size and type are limited in order to permit users to see your page
no matter what type of Browser software they are using. The links
in HTML are what permits the user to interact with the Web. That
interaction can enable the user to make a selection that displays information
specific to their needs, display a picture, add to a database or link to
another site on the Web.
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Format Format
is often confused with
Architecture, but it
is not the same thing. A format is the actual file description in
which files are stored and are part of an architecture. For example,
the QuickTime architecture has QuickTime movie file format. (alos
see Multimedia Architecture)
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Forum An on line discussion group.
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Frame Relay A type of internet connection.
Frame relay achieves economy by electronically sharing an Internet connection
among several users with similar requirements.
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FPS Frames Per
Second, a measure of the frame rate of video or film. NTSC
video is 29.97 fps.
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FTP ( File Transfer Protocol) A protocol
that enables the transfer of files from one computer to another via the
internet. Example is updating a system file like AOL from 4.0 to
5.0.
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Gateway A server used to connect two networks
that employ different protocols.
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GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) A file
format used on the WWW to display images on web pages. Supports 256
colors
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Gigabyte - one billion bytes.
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Gopher A search tool used for finding
information on the internet.
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Hardware - computer that other
computers connect to for the purpose of retreiving information. Often
used to mean the computer hosts a WWW site. Citynet hosts our web
site on one of their computers that otherws can accessvia the web.
Back to Server.
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HDSL (High Data Rate Digital Subscriber
Line) A more efficient method of transmitting T1 over
twisted pair copper lines. It uses less bandwidth. Common applications
for HDSL are cellular antenna stations and private data networks.
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Host see clients/servers
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HSV Hue Saturation Value. Color space which
defines colors in terms of their hue, saturation, and value. Variations
on this color space include HSB and HSL. (target Hue, Saturation,
Value, HSB, and HSL)
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HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language) The instructions used to create hypertext documents for
the WWW. It tells the WWW where to go, for example, html://www.irc.com.
Back to Embedded Tag
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HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) Protocol
used by computers when transferring hypertext documents.
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Hub - A network term used for any device
to which several others are attached, providing a common point of connection
to all other devices in the network.
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Hypertext Text containing hidden links
to other text, images either within the same document or in a different
document. The WWW’s use of hypertext is probably its most distinguishing
characteristics.
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Hypertext Link The active text or
image marked with a hidden instruction which enables you to quickly link
to another part of a document or to other sites on the WWW.
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Indeo codec developed by Intel, which
allows temporal and spatial compression as well as data rate limiting for
use on CD-ROM projects.
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Intelecine Media Cleaner’s inverse telecine
process which intelligently removes the3:2 pulldown frames added to movies
when 24fps film source is converted to 30 fps video.
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Interlaced Video each NTSC or PAL video
frame consists of two "Fields". When displaying video, and NTSC television
draws the alternating fields every 1/60th of a second,and PAL televisions
display the alternating fields every 1/50th of a second. Our eyes
put the two alternating fields together to create30 whole NTSC frames per
second(or 25 whole Pal frames). Because interlacing creates two unique
fields for each final frame, and these images are 1/60th or 1/50th of a
second apart, quickly moving areas in the video often become separated
into alternating lines that look like the teeth on a comb. This effect
is undesirable for desktop video, and should be removed (deinterlaced)
prior to compression.
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Internet Not a single network, but a globe
encircling network of networks. The Internet was first developed
by the Department of Defense. It has no owner or central headquarters.
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InterNIC (Internet
Network Information Center) The organization that registers domain names
and allocates IP numbers.
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Intrerframe
spatially compressed from which interframes are based. Also called
a "keyframe" in QuickTime, and an "I-frame" in MPEG. Back to Keyframes
Back to Temporal Compression.
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Intranet An
enterprise network that utilizes Internet technology for internal communications.
Back to Fire Wall
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IP Address Internet
Protocol address. A numerical Internet address consisting of four
numbers separated by dots. Back to InterNIC.
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ISDN (Integrated
Services Digital Technology) Used for high speed Internet connections,
transmitting data at 128,000 bits per sec. Back to Dail-Up
Modem
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ISP Internet Service
Provider furnishes access to the Internet. Back to NOC.
Back to Peering.
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JAVA A high level, platform independent
programming language developed by Sun Microsystems.
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JPEG The Joint Photographic Experts Group
defined the compression standard typically used for displaying photographic
images used on the WWW.
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KBPS Kilobits per second. Indicates
the speed of computer modems.
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Keyframe spatially
compressed frame which contains the complete video image and is the basis
for the following delta frames. This term is used when creating 2-D
animation on our Abekas A-72 character generator. See also "Interframes".
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KiloByte (KB)unit of measure for computer
data. This unit is frequently used to designate file sizes.
A KiloByte is 1024 Bytes.
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KiloByte (kB) same as KB but only
a different measure. kB is 1024 bits not Bytes.
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Kilobit (kb) a kilobit is 1000 bits.
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LAN Local Area
Network. A network of computers, usually in the same building or
group of buildings. Back to Enthernet.
Back to Fire Wall.
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Letterbox
to add black bars to the top and bottom of images that are a different
aspect ratio than the display monitor. Many films are shot on wider
formats than NTSC’s 4:3 aspect ratio. When these movies are played
on a television, black bars can be added at the top and bottom to
preserve the entire original image. The other option of handling
different aspect ratios is to "Pan and Scan" the image to make it the same
ratio as the television. Back to Cinemascope
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Leased Line A leased phone line providing
a dedicated full time Internet connection.
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Live video of
information that is captured, compressed, and distributed in real-time,
such as "Live" news broadcasts. This is the other use of video as
compared to "On-Demand"
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Lossless describes a process in which
no information is lost. Saving a file repeatedly with lossless compression
will not affect the image quality.
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Lossless Format Conversion changing a
file from one format to another without having to recompress the data.
For example, changing an AVI file into a QuickTime movie. Lossless
format conversion is only possible with files which use codecs that are
supported under both the old and new architectures.
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Lossy compression
in which information is lost. Saving a file repeatedly with lossy
compression will additionally degrade the image quality. This degradation
is know as "generation loss". For example, Cinepak
is a lossy codec.
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MAE Metropolitan Area Exchange.
A major Internet hub or interchange.
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Megabyte Used to describe data storage
(M or MB) or data transfer rates (MBps)
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Mean Filter filter which replaces a pixel
with the average value of its surrounding pixels. Applying a mean
filter effectively blurs the image.
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Median Filter replaces a pixel with the
"most typical" value of its surroundings, while ignoring extreme values.
Applying a median filter to am image tends to remove "stray pixels"
and small details.
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MIDI MIDI stands for Musical Instrument
Digital Interface and is real-time music control and network protocol connecting
a digital musical instrument (a synthesizer) and a computer. This
permits performance, recording and playback. Recording MIDI music
is very different from digitizing sound. Ten minutes of 44kHz sound
will use 100MB in a CD, but only 100KB on MIDI. This dramatic savings
is because MIDI is only storing the music as binary code. The catch
is that for playback you must have a MIDI synthesizer or a DSP attached
to every computer for playback. If you see the new Keyboards that
are coming out they have a disk drive and that is the MIDI drive.
Keyboard as in Musical Keyboard.
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Modem The hardware device that enables
computers to communicate with one another over phone or other transmission
lines.
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MPEG - Moving
Picture Experts Group - a standard used on the World Wide Web for video
& audio files - compression techniques are used which enable the files
to be transmitted across the internet significantly quicker than other
audio & video files. The web browser you are using must be capable
of running MPEG files. This format, in general, requires specific
hardware for play back, unlike other outer options which only requires
software, for playback. Back to DVD-ROM
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MPEG-2 format
which produces high data rate, full broadcast quality files.MPEG-2 playback
requires an extremely fast computer and video card, or a hardware accelerator
card.MPEG-2 is the format for DVD-Video and many
home satellite dish systems.
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Multicast Transmitting
the same media stream simultameously to many recipients. Multicast
delivery is similar to traditional television broadcast, in the sense that
a stream is made available at a given time, and viewers may watch the part
of that stream which is currently playing. Multicast results in less
Internet traffic than unicast delivery, because
the signal is sent once; viewers watch this signal as it is sent instead
of initiating multiple unique streams.
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Multimedia Architecture
software including system extensions, plug-ins, servers,ect. Which
provides for the creation, storage and playback of synchronized multiple
media types. For example, QuickTime, RealSystem, and Windiws Media.
Back to Architecture
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NAP Network Access Point. There are four
in the U.S. They serve as intersections where various ISP network
backbones can interchange data. To format
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Nibble 0110 or ? a byte.
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NOC Network Operations
Center. The ISPs equivalent of NASA’s Mission
Control.
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NTSC - National Television Standards
Committee. The NTSC defines North American broadcast standards.
The term "NTSC Video" refers to the video standard defined by the
committee, which has a specifically limited color gamut, is interlaced,
and is approximately 720x480 pixels, 29.97 fps.
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OC-256 Enables data transmission at 13,271,000,000
bits per second.
-
OC-3 Enables data transmission at 155,000,000
pits per second.
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On-Demand
video which is not broadcast "Live" as it is filmed,
but is compressed and made on a server for people to watch when the wish.
A television broadcast is "Live" ; renting a video and watching it at home
is "On-Demand".
Unicast is much more efficient for
the job though.
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Packet Switching Technology for sending
data over the Internet in units known as packets. Every packet carries
the Internet address of the sender, the recipient and all or part of the
payload, the substance of the message, file or program being sent.
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Palette Many
computer systems have a palette of 256 standard colors that will display
faster than other colors. When selecting colors for your project,
it is important to know what the lowest bit-depth of the monitor in your
target audience will be. This will determine the number of colors
in the palette you have selected for your project, the more efficient your
interactive project will behave, especially on computers with slower processor
speeds. Presentations are generally designed for 256 colors.
(back to Color Lookup Table)
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PDF / Acrobat Acrobat is software from
Adobe that will permit the user to "print" a file to what they call a portable
document format or PDF file. These PDF files can be made from existing
print documents to permit the user to create electronic versions of their
print documents on CD-ROM, on a server for network distribution, and on
the Internet (Acrobat for the Internet is due out soon). Acrobat
also permits the user to create interactive "links" and "bookmarks" to
permit the user to create hyperlinks to other PDF files or files from other
applications.
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Peering An
arrangement that ensures that the Internet traffic originating with one
ISP will each all the users connected to each
another.
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Photo CD The photo CD format permits the
end user to bypass the scanning stage and have the negatives from a traditional
photograph "developed" as photo CD photographs. Generally, these
disks are provided to the end user with five resolutions of each image
that can be used in interactive presentations through print materials.
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PICT Files PICT
files are one of the file types that you will be using in your interactive
project. Files that have been digitized can be saved in this format
using a program such as Adobe Photoshop. Back to Screen
Ready.
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Pixel one dot
in a video or still image. This combined with many more will create a picture
hence the labels 640 Pixel, ect. . Back to NTSC.
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Pixelization when the pixel that makes
up an image get exaggerated of enlarged. Makes the image look chunky
or jagged and is often the result of compression artifacts. You will
also see this jaggedness when you zoom in on a picture too much.
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Plane - area of memory.
Back to Sprite
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POP Point of Presence. The access
node for an ISP. When the computer dials the number to connect you
to the Internet, it’s dialing the number of the local POP.
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QuickTime
Apple Computer’s
cross-platform multimedia
architecture. Widely used for a range of applications including CD-ROM,
Web Video, editing, and more. Back to Sprite Track
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QuickTime-Compatible Browser Browser (such
as Netscape Navigator) that supports the inline viewing of QuickTime movies.
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RealAudio RealNetworks’ initial online
audio format, which has been replaced by RealG2.
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RealMedia - Another name for "RealVideo"
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RealSystem G2 the second generation of
RealVideo. Also called "RealG2".
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RealVideo RealNetworks’ streaming media
architecture.
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Resolution The resolution on most monitors
is 72 Pixels in an inch. While this low of a resolution would not
be appropriate for print media, it is ideal for interactive media.
The resolution of your still images, in conjunction with the number of
colors you have selected in your palette, will determine the efficiency
of your project in terms of speed and size.
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RGB Red Green Blue. A color space
commonly used on computers. Each color is described by the strength of
its red, green, and blue components. This color space directly translates
to the red, green, blue phosphors used in computer monitors.
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RTP - RealTime Transfer
Protocol.
A transport protocol created to deliver live media to one or more viewers
simultaneously. RTP is used as the transfer protocol for RTSP
Streaming.
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RTSP - RealTime
Streaming
Protocol.
Ay standard now commonly used to transmit true
streaming media to one or more viewers simultaneously. RTSP provides
for viewers randomly accessing the stream, and uses RTP
as the transport protocol.
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Screen Ready
Screen Ready is software from Adobe that will take existing documents and
convert them into PICT files that are antialiased and
color optimized for images that will stay on the screen.
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Server - term which
can either mean hardware or software.
Back to Upload..
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SLIP / PPP -Serial Line Internet Protocol
/ Point to Point Protocol. Protocols for connecting two or more computers
over phone lines to form a network.
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SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.
Controls email format and functioning.
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Software - softwaree program
that runs on a WWW server to support online video( such as RealServer).
Back to Server.
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Sorenson Video Codec - high
quality, low
bandwidth QuickTime video codec.
This is the compression format that both Mind Over Media and DW are leaning
toward as the recommended/preferred option.
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Spatial Compression - compression method that ramoves
redundant data whitnin any given image. For example, a field of blue in
a picture would be stored as one large blue area rather than many individual
blue pixels.
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Sprite - A softdrink that has
no caffine. an independent graphic object controlled by it's own
but plane. Commonly used in video games, sprites
move freely accross the screen, passing by, throgh and colliding with each
otherwith much less programing. Back to Sprite
Track.
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Sprite Track - QuickTimetrack
made of small graphic elements which have position and time information
associated with them. These elements are called "Sprite".
A bouncing ball is a good example of a sprite track-only the ball and its
location are stored at any given time instead of a series of bitmamps
that describe each whole frame. Back to tracks
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Streaming - some what ambiguous
term which refers to network delivery of media. May refer to technologies
which match the bandwidth of the media signal to the viewer's connection,
so that the media is always seen in real-time("True
Streaming"). Also commonly used to mean media which may be viewed over
a network prior to being fully downloaded.
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T1 A T-1 circuit
enables data transmission at 1,544,000 bits per second.
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T-1000 The T-800’s worst nightmare,
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T3 Enables data transmission at 45,000,000
bits per second.
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T-800 Arnold’s best role.
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TCP / IP Transmission Control Protocol
/ Internet Protocol. Used by computers to communicate across the
Internet.
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Telnet A program that enables your computer
to log on to any accessible host computer on the Internet.
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Temporal Compression - Back
to Interframe.
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Text track - track which is made up if text, style,
positioning, and time information. QuickTime text tracks are often used
for subtiles.
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TIFF - Tagged Image File
Format. A widely supported cross-platforming
file format for storing bitmapped images. Often used in pre-press.
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Top Level Domain See "Domain Name"
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Tracks - seperate media types
that make up a movie. Most movies include a video track and and audio track.
In some multimedia architecture such as QuickTime, ther are also text tracks,
sprite tracks, music tracks, and more unusual
track types.
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Trackballs - Stationary mouse
with ball on the top, that you move around with your fingers instead of
with your entire hand like a mouse. Back to ADB.
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True Streaming - refers
to technologies which match the bandwidth of the media signal to the writer's
connection, so that the media is always seen in real-time. The word "True"
is added to differentiate this type of streaming
from different types of Streaming. Media servers and streaming protocols
such as RTSP are required to enable true streaming.
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Unicast - delivery of a unique
stream to each viewer. Because each viewer initiates a new stream when
viewing the same source, this approach to media delivery can result in
increased network congestion as multiple,identical streams are sent at
the same time. However,unlike "Multicast", Unicast
delivery allows for each viewer to control their viewing, so this is much
more akin to "Video On-Demand", rather than a
television broadcast.
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Uniform - flat data rates.
Back to VBR.
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¨ UNIX The name of computer operating system
that served as a foundation for much of the programming behind the Internet.
UNIX exists in a variety of forms and implementations.
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Upload - to move a file from
your computer to a server.
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¨ URL Uniform Resource Locator. The
address for a website home page or any specific page on a website.
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USB - Universal Serial Bus. A hardware
interface for low-speed priphials such as the keyboard, mouse, joystick,scanner,
printer,and telophone devices. It also supports MPEG-1 and MPEG-2
digital Video.
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¨ Usenet A world wide bulletin board system
that can be accessed through the Internet or through many online services.
The Usenet contains more than 15,000 forums, called newsgroups, that cover
every imaginable interest group.
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VBR - Variable Bitrate Encodeing.
a two-pass proccess of analyzing and then compressing movies to an optimal
data rate. Produces Movies with data rates which vary from second
to second instead of uniform.
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Vector - in multimediam vector refers to formats which
stores graphical information in terms of mathematical algorithms, instead
of pixels. Becasue these images don;t have any pixels, but are rather
equations describing the object portrayed, vector images scale perfectly
to larger and smaller sizes.
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Vector Quantization - a compression technique
used by Sorenson Video which uses representative pixel patterns to compress
an image and later reconstruct it.
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Vertical Edge Blanking
- See "Edge Blanking"
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¨ VPN Virtual Private Network. A network
established for the exclusive use of a single enterprise with an emphasis
on privacy.
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¨ WAN Wide Area Network. A large network
that links computers located long distances from one another. The
beauty of the Internet is that it relieves an organization of having to
manage links over long distances.
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WWW World
Wide Web. The interactive, hypertext, hypermedia component of the
Internet. Contains tens of thousands of Web sites. Back to
Browser.
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YUV - Color model which describes
color informationin in terms of lumminance (Y) and two chrominance channels
(U,V). The YUV space is commonly used in video, and easily supports
color
subsampling.
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YUV9 - color format with substantial subsampling often
used with online video technologies, such as Sorenson Video. For
every 16 luminance "Y" samples in a 4x4 pixel blocxk, there is only one
"U" and one"V" sample. This dramatic color subsampling produces smaller
files, with corresponding lower color fidelity. YUV9 subsampling
often results in noticeable color artifacts around the edges of brightly
colored objects.