Technical information

© CLEAPSS 2005 1649 ICT in the Science Department
FOV Field Of View.
FPS Frames Per Second. The number of picture frames displayed per second of video
footage.
Frame rate The rate at which picture frames are displayed in a piece of video. Measured in FPS.
Freeware Software that is free but not necessarily free of copyright, for instance, it may be free to
download and use but you may not be entitled to redistribute the software.
FTP File Transfer Protocol. A protocol used to send or receive files from or to a remote
system. Typically, FTP is the protocol used to upload web pages to a web server.
Function keys Special keys on a computer keyboard that may be programmed to carry out specific
functions; usually marked f
0
, f
1
, etc.
Gamma A measure of the contrast in image reproduction.
Gate A logically controlled switch. See Logic gate below.
Gender
changer
A connector that permits connection of two plugs that are either both male (having pins)
or both female (having sockets).
GIF Graphics Interchange Format. A compressed file format for graphics with associated .gif
file extension.
Graphics card The plug-in card in a computer that provides the output required by the monitor. On many
PC computers this facility is built into the motherboard. May also be referred to as video
card, video board, video display board, display adapter, video adapter, or graphics
adapter.
GUI Graphical User Interface: an alternative name for a WIMP interface.
Handshaking The process in which two devices connect to share data.
Handshaking
line
A control line which allows one device to tell another when it is ready.
Hard disk A rigid disk or group of disks in a case providing data storage capacity.
Hardware The physical part of a computer system, eg, CPU, motherboard, memory, hard disk,
optical disc drive, keyboard, etc.
HD High Definition or Hard Disk or High Density.
HDD Hard Disk Drive.
HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface.
HDTV High-Definition TeleVision.
Hex Abbreviation of hexadecimal - a numeric system that uses 16 as the base value.
Hi8 format Hi8 is an 8 mm video tape format (Video8). It is an analogue video recording format for
camcorders and similar.
High-level /
low-level
language
A high-level programming language uses keywords and syntax similar to English as
opposed to a low-level language that uses keywords and syntax much closer to the way a
computer operates.
Host A host computer provides services to client computers that connect to it.
Hot plugging Also called Hot swapping, this refers to the ability of a component to be removed and
replaced whilst the computer is in operation. Reserved for components that would
ordinarily require the computer to be switched off before removal or connection.
HTML Hypertext Markup Language. The language in which web pages are defined.
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The protocol by which requests are passed from a web
browser to a web server and by which the requested web pages are passed back to the
browser.
Hub A device that permits separate computers or devices to intercommunicate. Typically,
network devices are connected to the hub via Ethernet in a star topology like the hub of a
wheel and its spokes.
Hue Hue is the component that determines just what colour you are using.