T U and V of Digital Media - Tone USB Ports and Video Cards
Thumbnail
A thumbnail is the term used to describe a miniature version of a slide or picture. A perfect example of this is when you are searching in your computer files you can view via thumbnails and this will show a tiny picture of the image or document.
Tiff File
Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) is a variable-resolution bitmapped image format developed by Aldus (now part of Adobe) in 1986. TIFF is very common for transporting color or gray-scale images into page layout applications, but is less suited to delivering web content.
Note the following about TIFF:
- TIFF files are large and of very high quality. Baseline TIFF images are highly portable; most graphics, desktop publishing, and word processing applications understand them.
- The TIFF specification is readily extensible, though this comes at the price of some of its portability. Many applications incorporate their own extensions, but a number of application-independent extensions are recognized by most programs.
- Four types of baseline TIFF images are available: bilevel (black and white), gray scale, palette (i.e., indexed), and RGB (i.e., true color). RGB images may store up to 16.7 million colors. Palette and gray-scale images are limited to 256 colors or shades. A common extension of TIFF also allows for CMYK images.
- TIFF files may or may not be compressed. A number of methods may be used to compress TIFF files, including the Huffman and LZW algorithms. Even compressed, TIFF files are usually much larger than similar GIF or JPEG files.
- Because the files are so large and because there are so many possible variations of each TIFF file type, few web browsers can display them without plug-ins.
Tone
A tone is a pitch element or register added to a syllable to convey grammatical or lexical information.
Typography
Above is a artwork using typography..
Simply put typography is the art of print. In our daily lives we are constantly surrounded by it. Typography includes greeting cards, books, posters, newspapers, just about anything you can imagine. As simple as it may seem typography subtly combines communicative and artistic elements to create a print both pleasing and easy to read.
A small font or one that is fuzzy is obviously hard to read which makes the intended message difficult to understand. Good typography is not only clear and legible but easy and pleasant to read. Typographers achieve this by selecting the right fonts, lettering and print types.
A typographer also makes sure that the right lettering design has been chosen to convey the intended effect of the print. For example newspapers, being a source of news and facts, typically have a straightforward, black print fonts, while on the other hand wedding invitations are more ornate and elegant in accord with the happy occasion they announce.
Typography is an enormous field that has both digital and physical applications. Jobs in this field include everything from graphic designers who choose type and position them on the page to type designers that craft letter styles. Modern day typography includes more and more digital work related to the internet and other computer-related projects.
For print lettering to be successful it must complete two basic roles: it must clearly communicate the intended message and do so in a visually effective way that takes into account the design element. A print type that can do those two things is readable, artistic and attractive.
TCP/IP
(pronounced as separate letters) Short for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, the suite of communications protocols used to connect hosts on the Internet. TCP/IP uses several protocols, the two main ones being TCP and IP. TCP/IP is built into the UNIX operating system and is used by the Internet, making it the de facto standard for transmitting data over networks. Even network operating systems that have their own protocols, such as Netware, also support TCP/IP.
Text File
A file that holds text. The term text file is often used as a synonym for ASCII file, a file in which characters are represented by their ASCII codes.
USB Port
Short for Universal Serial Bus, an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps. A single USB port can be used to connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as mice, modems, and keyboards. USB also supports Plug-and-Play installation and hot plugging.
Starting in 1996, a few computer manufacturers started including USB support in their new machines. It wasn’t until the release of the best-selling iMac in 1998 that USB became widespread. It is expected to completely replace serial and parallel ports. All computers sold today have several USB ports - some stationed at the front of the computer for easy access and some at the back for mice, printers etc. Advanced monitors also hold USB ports.
URL
Abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator, the global address of documents and other resources on the World Wide Web.
The first part of the address is called a protocol identifier and it indicates what protocol to use, and the second part is called a resource name and it specifies the IP address or the domain name where the resource is located. The protocol identifier and the resource name are separated by a colon and two forward slashes.
Upload
To transmit data from a computer to a bulletin board service, mainframe, or network. For example, if you use a personal computer to log on to a network and you want to send files across the network, you must upload the files from your PC to the network.
Vodcast
A vodcast is a podcast that contains video content. The term vodcast comes from the combination of the words “video” and “podcast”. Video podcasts may also be referred to as vidcasts.
In order to watch a vodcast, you need a podcatcher capable of playing video (such as iTunes).
Vector Graphics
pictured above: fall leaves background vector with grunge and graffiti elements
Same as object-oriented graphics, refers to software and hardware that use geometrical formulas to represent images. The other method for representing graphical images is through bit maps, in which the image is composed of a pattern of dots. This is sometimes called raster graphics. Programs that enable you to create and manipulate vector graphics are called draw programs, whereas programs that manipulated bit-mapped images are called paint programs.
Vector-oriented images are more flexible than bit maps because they can be resized and stretched. In addition, images stored as vectors look better on devices (monitors and printers) with higher resolution, whereas bit-mapped images always appear the same regardless of a device’s resolution. Another advantage of vector graphics is that representations of images often require less memory than bit-mapped images do.
Almost all sophisticated graphics systems, including CADD systems and animation software, use vector graphics. In addition, many printers (PostScript printers, for example) use vector graphics. Fonts represented as vectors are called vector fonts, scalable fonts, object-oriented fonts, and outline fonts.
Note that most output devices, including dot-matrix printers, laser printers, and display monitors, are raster devices (plotters are the notable exception). This means that all objects, even vector objects, must be translated into bit maps before being output. The difference between vector graphics and raster graphics, therefore, is that vector graphics are not translated into bit maps until the last possible moment, after all sizes and resolutions have been specified. PostScript printers, for example, have a raster image processor (RIP) that performs the translation within the printer. In their vector form, therefore, graphics representations can potentially be output on any device, with any resolution, and at any size.
Video Card
Above: XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB (PV-T88P-YDQ4) Video Card
The video card is an expansion card that allows the computer to send graphical information to a video display device such as a monitor or projector. The Video Card is Also Known As: graphics card, graphics adapter, video adapter
Each motherboard supports only a limited range of video card formats so always check with your motherboard manufacturer before making a purchase.
Many modern computers do not have video expansion cards but instead have GPUs integrated directly onto the motherboard. This allows for a less expensive computer but also for a less powerful graphics system. This option is wise for the average business and home user not interested in advanced graphics capabilities or the latest games.
Virtual memory
Virtual memory is a common part of most operating systems on desktop computers. It has become so common because it provides a big benefit for users at a very low cost.
Most computers today have something like 64 or 128 megabytes of RAM (random-access memory) available for use by the CPU (central processing unit). Often, that amount of RAM is not enough to run all of the programs that most users expect to run at once. For example, if you load the Windows operating system, an e-mail program, a Web browser and word processor into RAM simultaneously, 64 megabytes is not enough to hold it all. If there were no such thing as virtual memory, your computer would have to say, “Sorry, you cannot load any more applications. Please close an application to load a new one.” With virtual memory, the computer can look for areas of RAM that have not been used recently and copy them onto the hard disk. This frees up space in RAM to load the new application. Because it does this automatically, you don’t even know it is happening, and it makes your computer feel like is has unlimited RAM space even though it has only 32 megabytes installed. Because hard-disk space is so much cheaper than RAM chips, virtual memory also provides a nice economic benefit.
The area of the hard disk that stores the RAM image is called a page file. It holds pages of RAM on the hard disk, and the operating system moves data back and forth between the page file and RAM. (On a Windows machine, page files have a .SWP extension.)
Of course, the read/write speed of a hard drive is much slower than RAM, and the technology of a hard drive is not geared toward accessing small pieces of data at a time. If your system has to rely too heavily on virtual memory, you will notice a significant performance drop. The key is to have enough RAM to handle everything you tend to work on simultaneously. Then, the only time you “feel” the slowness of virtual memory is in the slight pause that occurs when you change tasks. When you have enough RAM for your needs, virtual memory works beautifully. When you don’t, the operating system has to constantly swap information back and forth between RAM and the hard disk. This is called thrashing, and it can make your computer feel incredibly slow.
Roger Noakes
Great research and imagery - well done
Roger