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The Digital Dictionary
by Michael Phillips
129 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-1716; ISBN 1-4120-3908-8; US$17.95, C$22.00, EUR14.30, £9.91
Do you ever wonder what people are saying when they use tech-talk such as gigabyte, non-linear editing, region code, mp3 or hundreds of other "buzzwords" in today"s high-tech world? The Digital Dictionary will be the perfect interpreter for anyone that wants to get to the bottom of the most commonly used technical terms and acronyms in the media and communication world.
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About the Book About the Author Excerpts Catalogue Information
About the Book
The Digital Dictionary is a compilation of easy to understand explanations for technical terms, abbreviations and acronyms that are used in our daily lives and on a daily basis. Not all of us know the real meaning when we talk about gigabyte, DSL or cable modems and USB connectors... but most of us wish they would know!
Over nine years of research, hundreds of interviews and thousands of computer hours went into writing this book. With The Digital Dictionary the reader will have a simple way of accessing translations for the most common terms and he or she will finally know the real meaning of today's tech-talk.
Since this book was written for the most common buzzwords, it can only contain a limited amount of information because our language, our vocabulary and our tech-talk grows every day. Therefore it is not unusual to come across a section in The Digital Dictionary, where the reader might think a word or abbreviation is missing... however... it is not... it was just not "common" enough to be included.
The author does not warrant The Digital Dictionary to be error-free. However - this book was compiled by using due diligence and reasonable common sense, but changes, updates and additions may be necessary to reflect new terms or acronyms in the future.
About the Author
Michael Phillips was born in Bonn, Germany, the second son of typesetter Heinz and his wife Hildegard. After completing the normal extensive educational training, he joined the military, serving four years and earning an honorable discharge. Over the next ten years, he held a number of upper management positions at Radio Shack and Alpine Electronics in his home country. He then decided to immigrate to the United States, where he has fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming involved in the film and movie Industry.
During the course of his first 15 years working with electronic media and technology in the U.S., he frequently would overhear the experts talking, but he, like many apprentices and "newcomers", was often unclear on what those professionals were talking about. Finally, he came to the conclusion that there was something missing, a reference source of some kind, that ordinary people could use and help them understand the tech-talk that increasingly surrounds them.
For weeks he searched bookstores, trying to find a dictionary or handbook that would shed some light on the "mystery terms" the tech experts used. His search was unsuccessful and so, in 1995, he began to write the handbook himself. His goal was to create a pocket-size reference that would allow people to quickly find an answer to the most basic questions and definitions of the terms most widely used in his part of the industry, the vastly expanding communications world and the approaching digital revolution.
He began his project in a very simple way: by writing down any words or phrases that he felt required clarification. For example, most people may know what a DVD is, but do they really know the meaning or just the acronym? And how many of us would like to know what a "jib" or a "gaffer" is? How about a "scratchpad?" A "base station?" A "kilobyte?" And what does a "cache" do? In his spare time, he identified more than 1000 acronyms and terms and researched their origin and meaning* and The Digital Dictionary was born!
Excerpts
A:
aspect ratio - The relation of horizontal to vertical dimensions of an image. A 35mm slide frame is 3:2, a regular TV has an aspect ratio of 4:3, the HDTV technology 16:9 and a 4X5 film's aspect ratio is 5:4. In plasma and LCD screen technology, the term "aspect ratio" describes the relationship between the width and height of a TV or display screen. Traditional displays have an aspect ratio of 4:3, meaning that for every 4 inches of width, there are 3 inches of height. This results in a screen that looks almost like a square. Many newer displays have an aspect ratio of 16:9, so their screens are almost twice as wide as they are tall. Also referred to as "widescreen," 16:9 displays are better suited to widescreen DVDs and HDTV broadcasts. The term "aspect ratio" can also be used to describe the dimensions in which a film or TV program are shot. Traditional broadcasts are usually in 4:3 format, while HDTV broadcasts have an aspect ratio of 16:9.
aspherical lens - A camera or camcorder lens whose edges have been flattened so that it is not a perfect sphere, produces a superior image. Technically, an aspherical lens is a lens whose curved surface does not conform to the shape of a sphere. Lenses are usually ground or molded with spherical surfaces; because a spherical surface lens has difficulty in correcting distortion in ultra wide angle lenses or in large-aperture lenses, an aspherical lens is used.
ATA - 1) Advanced Technology Attachment. 2) the abbreviation for a Western Digital IDE disk interface
atmosphere - A depth cue that causes objects to decrease in contrast as they move into the distance.
attenuator - a device that reduces the strength of any electronic signal.
B:
buffer - A temporary storage area usually held in the RAM portion of your computer. The purpose of a buffer is to act as a temporary holding area for data that will allow the CPU to manipulate the data before transferring it to a device, such as a printer.
built-in mini-browser - A feature on your cell phone. Your signal provider may offer you this feature which allows you to use the display screen and read e-mails or view web content. Because of it's small size it is commonly referred to as a mini-browser.
burn in - Double exposure of an element over a previously exposed piece of film.
burst mode - The ability to rapidly capture images as long as the shutter button is held down.
bus - one complete channel in a video or audio system. Frequently used in special effect mixers and switchers as A-Bus, B-Bus and so on.
byte - a computing term which equals eight bits of memory.
C:
cable modem - A device that enables you to connect your PC to a local cable TV line and receive high speed data from the world wide web.
calibration - Adjusting the color of one device relative to another.
call in absence indicator - A cellular phone feature. If the unit is left active and an incoming call is not answered, a message indicator will be displayed or an audible signal can be heard to inform the user of a call attempt.
call alert - An audible tone is send to your cellular phone to alert you of an incoming call.
call barring - Allows you to set your phone to prohibit certain incoming or outgoing phone calls, if this feature is provided by your network.
caller ID - If subscribed to this feature and having a caller ID box or display window on the phone itself, the calling party's name and number are displayed.
call forwarding - Allows you to forward all calls to an alternate phone number.
call timer - Allows tracking of airtime usage to monitor phone expenses.
call waiting - While making a call, the phone will alert you that another person is trying to call you. You can choose to answer the call and putting the present caller on "hold" by pressing the "flash" button.
card reader - A device that accepts flash memory cards to transfer the data to the computer.
D:
decoding - The restoration of encoded data to its original form.
decoder - A device that separates a composite video signal into a component video signal.
decompression - The process by which the full data content of a compressed file is restored.
decryption - is the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood.
deinterlace - The process of splitting two fields that make up a video image into two separate images.
densitometer - A tool used to measure the amount of light that is reflected or transmitted by an object.
depth of field - aka range of focus. Controlled by the aperture value of the lens and usually achieved by having the focus sharp in the foreground while the background is out of focus.
dialer - A program which establishes and maintains your connection to the Internet.
E:
encoding - The translation of binary data into a 7-bit ASCII representation using a data encoding scheme.
encryption - is the conversion or translation of data into a form that cannot be easily understood by unauthorized people. Usually used to transmit highly sensitive messages with a great need for security.
ENG - Electronic News Gathering. A term used by news stations and freelance videographers.
enhanced progressive scan doubler - A technology that provides even more image enhancement than the progressive scan technology by improving the quality of diagonal lines in a moving picture. It displays a full frame of video in 1/60th of a second by de-interlacing the incoming video signal and progressively scanning the image. With this technology the viewer generally won't see the horizontal scan lines that can be visible in ordinary television images.
EPP - Enhanced Parallel Port. A hi-speed, bidirectional printer port on computers. Some digital cameras and scanners use the EPP port to transfer data.
EPROM - A programmable read-only memory that can be erased by exposure to ultraviolet light and then reprogrammed.
erase head - A rotating device that erases an existing signal on a video tape before recording a new image.
This is the first edition of The Digital Dictionary and inevitably updated dictionaries will follow with revisions and added terminologies. Technology will change, new words and terms will be created, the need for knowledge will increase and future Dictionaries will be written.
Catalogue Information
