Technology Now Chapter 11 Test Questions
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3D animation
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A video technique used to produce special effects for movies, as well as entire animated films; examples include digitally animated films, such as Planes and the Shrek series.
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3D CAD software
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Applications used by engineers and scientists to create wireframe drawings of objects, which they can rotate to view from multiple angles; users can also overlay materials on wireframes to see the visual impact of different ones.
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AAC and M4P
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Formats used for iTunes downloads; files are compressed and copy protected and have .aac and .m4p file extensions.
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AIFF (Audio Interchange File Format)
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An uncompressed audio file format; AIFF files have.aiff or .aif file extensions, are large, and have good to excellent sound quality.
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Analog sound
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Continuous sound waves created in response to vibrations in the surrounding air, such as a drumstick hitting a drum pad. See also Digitize, Sampling, and Sampling software.
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Animated GIF
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A series of slightly different bitmap images displayed in sequence to achieve animation effects.
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Animation software
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Application programs that lets you create animations to give objects the appearance of motion or activity; examples include Adobe Illustrator, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Flash, and Microsoft Silverlight.
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Animation
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The art of bringing an object to life by giving it the appearance of motion or activity.
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Audio capture and editing software
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Applications that let you edit, copy, and share digital audio files.
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Audio input device
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A device that lets you input sound to a computer, such as microphone or headset.
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Audio software
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Applications included on portable media players such as iPods and smartphones that often offer features such as file-shuffling and volume control.
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Avatar
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In the virtual world program Second Life, a virtual (imaginary) identity that can role-play with other characters, spend money to build homes, and buy goods such as clothing.
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Blogging
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A form of social media that lets you create and update an online journal that you share with readers; examples include Twitter, Blogger, WordPress, and Tumblr.
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BMP
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The Windows bitmap graphics file format; BMP files have the .bmp file extension and can be large.
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Browser plug-in
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An application that plays certain types of audio files, such as MP3 or RA files, on a computer; examples include RealPlayer or QuickTime.
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Camcorder
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A digital video camera with the recorder in the same unit.
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Clip Art gallery
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A collection of illustrations and photos that often comes with application software, such as Microsoft Office.
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Codec
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Standing for compressor/decompressor, software that converts raw, uncompressed video into other formats and reduces file size for distribution; Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) is a popular video compression standard, with a widely used codec called MPEG-4 or MP4.
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Collaborative project
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A form of social media that lets you read, add, and discuss articles about topics of interest; examples include Wikipedia, WikiAnswers, and Wikia.
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Compression
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A process that makes graphics files smaller by reducing the number of bits the files contain.
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Computer-aided design (CAD) software
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Applications used by architects, scientists, designers, engineers, and others to create highly detailed and technically accurate drawings, which can be shared, modified, and enhanced with exceptional speed and accuracy.
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Content sharing
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A form of social media that lets you view and distribute media and documents.
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Crowdfunding
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A type of crowdsourcing in which individuals come together on the Internet to provide funding that will support others in an endeavor.
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Crowdsourcing
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The use of the Internet and the general public to accomplish a task or solve a problem for the benefit of all.
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Digital audio
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Any type of sound that is recorded and stored as a series of 1s and 0s.
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Digital camera
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A camera that creates a digital image of an object, person, or scene.
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Digital graphic
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An image you can see, store, and manipulate on a computer, tablet, smartphone, or other digital device.
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Digital video
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A series of image frames displayed quickly enough for us to perceive them as continuous motion; can come from a digital video camera, video-enabled smartphone, DVD, or digital video recording (DVR) device.
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Digital video camera
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A camera that is capable of capturing video files in a digital format, as a series of 0s and 1s.
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Digitize
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To convert sound to a format your computer can read. See also Sound waves, Analog sound, and Sampling.
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Download
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To transfer a file, such as a graphics, from an online source onto your computer.
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Drawing program
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Software applications such as CorelDRAW, that lets you create simple cartoon-like images.
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File sharing
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A form of social media that lets you send and receive files from others on an Internet location; examples include Dropbox, WeTransfer, and Egnyte.
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Force feedback
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A technology used in some game controllers that lets the users feel vibration or resistance in response to their actions.
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Frames per second (fps)
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A way to describe animation speed and quality, in which each frame contains an image; television uses 30 fps, many videos use 24 fps, and 3D computer games often display 60 fps.
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Game console
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Hardware that allows you to play video games; examples include Xbox, Nintendo Wii, and Sony PlayStation.
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Game controller
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An input device used to control movement and actions of players or objects in computer games, simulations, and video games; examples include joysticks, wheels, and gamepads, or might look like a steering wheel, a guitar, a TV remote, or many other forms.
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GIF
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A vector graphics file format used for simple graphics and short Web animation; GIF files have the .gif file extension.
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Graphic
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An image or picture.
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Graphics software
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Software applications that allow you to create graphics or modify existing ones.
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Graphics tablet
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A hardware device used to create drawings with a pressure-sensitive pen; used by architects, mapmakers, designers, and artists.
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HD (high-definition) video
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Video technology that produces a much sharper picture than standard definition video.
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Head-mounted display
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A display device designed to give a personal, immersive gaming experience, often in 3D; may use OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology to display the game and respond to motion.
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Headset
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An audio input device that combines speakers and a microphone into one device.
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Image-editing software
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Software applications that let you open and modify existing images.
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In-betweening
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An animation technique using a sequence of bitmap images, in which one or more objects is changed slightly between each image; the in-between bitmaps can be created manually or by computer.
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JPEG
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A bitmap graphics file format used by many digital cameras; JPEG files have the jpeg or jpg file extension, and can be large.
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Live streaming
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A method of transferring media content to a computer, such as sports events, in which the content is sent out live, as it happens, and is available only once.
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Lossless compression
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A form of reducing graphics file size in which none of the original file data is discarded; TIF, PNG, and GIF files can be compressed using lossless compression. See also Lossy compression.
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Lossy compression
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A form of reducing graphics file size in which some of the original file data is discarded; the "lost" data is generally not noticeable; JPEG files use lossy compression. See also Lossless compression.
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Media player
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A software application that lets you play audio and video files; most tablets and smartphones include media players.
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Media sharing
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A form of social media that lets you view and distribute pictures, videos, and audio files; examples include YouTube, Break, Flickr, and Picasa.
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Megapixel
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On a digital camera, the measurement that describes its maximum resolution; the higher the number of megapixels, the higher the resolution of photos, and the larger the picture files.
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Microblogging
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A form of social media that lets you share short messages with readers; Twitter is the best known microblogging site.
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MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
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A system for creating and storing synthesized music; MIDI files do not contain sound, but instead contain instructions for generating specific sounds, including pitch, volume, and note duration.
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Mix
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To combine, such as mixing sound files in the Apple GarageBand music production software program.
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Motion-sensing game console
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A game console that may be used for activities other than entertainment; for example, doctors can practice their fine motor skills on surgery simulators using motion-sensing game consoles.
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Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG)
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A popular video compression standard, with a widely used codec called MPEG-4 or MP4. See also Codec.
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MP3
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A common format for music files; files are compressed and have an .mp3 extension.
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Music production software
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Applications such as Apple GarageBand that let you record, compose, mix (combine), and edit music and sounds.
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OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology
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A technology featuring organic materials that emit light in the presence of electricity; used on many screens for mobile phones, digital cameras, and TVs.
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On-demand content
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Media such as radio or TV shows, in which the original media file is stored on the media distributor's server, and is sent to your computer for viewing; because the file is stored, you can watch it many times; on-demand content includes Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and Pandora Internet Radio.
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Paint software
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Software applications that use brush tools and paint palettes that simulate water colors, pastels, and oil paints, such as Microsoft Paint.
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Phoneme
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Individual sound units; speech synthesizers break words into individual phonemes and string them together to form words and phrases.
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Photo-editing software
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Applications, such as Adobe PhotoShop, that let you enhance and correct photographs.
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Plug-in
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A component, such as Adobe Flash Player, added to a Web browser that decodes streamed content.
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PNG
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A bitmap graphics file format used for Web graphics, which are of good quality and highly compressed; PNG files use the .png file extension.
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PowerPoint transition
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In the PowerPoint presentation program, the animation that appears as one slide moves to another.
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RA
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A compressed file format for music files supported by RealPlayer; files have an .ra file extension, and sound quality can be substandard.
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Rendering
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The process of applying highlights and shadows to a wireframe drawing to create a solid 3D image.
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Resolution dependent
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Describes graphics whose image quality deteriorates as size increases; bitmap graphics are resolution dependent, but vector graphics keep the same quality as their size increases.
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Resolution
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The clarity or sharpness of an image: the higher the resolution, the sharper the image.
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Sampling
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A process that converts analog sound waves into digital sound. See also Sampling software, Digitize, and Analog sound.
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Sampling software
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Application that breaks sound wave into separate segments, or samples, and stores each sample numerically. See also Digitize, Sampling, and Analog sound.
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Scanner
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A hardware device that converts a printed document into a bitmap file by dividing the image into a grid of tiny cells and assigning colors to each cell.
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Set-top box
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Hardware that allows you to view streaming media on your TV set; examples include Apple TV, Roku, or Google Chromecast.
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Simulation
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A sophisticated computer animation that is useful for training and teaching in many fields, particularly in areas in which learning can be dangerous or difficult.
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Skin
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Visual created by audio software to go along with the sounds being played.
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Smart TV
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Televisions that incorporates the Internet abilities of set-top boxes, including streaming media and social media.
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Smartphone
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A mobile device with multiple capabilities; can act as a cellular phone, Web browser, document reader and editor, Global Positioning Service, text communication device, and digital camera.
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Social bookmarking
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A form of social media that lets you tag (mark) and search Web sites; share Web sites, articles, news stories, and media; examples include Delicious, Reddit, and Digg.
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Social media
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Refers to the many ways computer users share information and interact using the Internet; the information they share ranges from stories, photos, news, and opinions to complete diaries, daily life updates, professional networking and job searching, as well as sophisticated games.
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Social networking
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A form of social media that lets you share ideas, opinions, photos, videos, and Web sites; examples include Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and Myspace.
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Software development kit (SDK)
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A collection of tools graphic artists and technical illustrators use to create game-playing interfaces, multiplayer control, and more; includes advanced software and graphics tablets to generate complex images.
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Sound card
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A circuit board that gives a computer the ability to process sound.
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Sound recorder software
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An application program that can capture sound from an audio input device such as a microphone or headset.
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Speech recognition software
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Software application that analyzes speech sounds and converts them into phonemes, which are then matched to words in a digital dictionary and written as text on a computer screen. Also called speech-to-text.
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Speech synthesizer
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Software that breaks words into individual sound units, called phonemes and string them together to create words and phrases.
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Stand-alone player
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An application that plays certain types of audio files on a desktop or laptop computer.
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Streaming media
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A way of viewing audio and video content on your computer; lets you watch or listen to the content as it arrives.
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Streaming video
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A technology that transfers a segment of a video file from the Web to your computer, letting that segment play while the next segment is being sent.
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SWF format
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A graphics format created by Adobe Flash, to create static or animated graphics for Web use; SWF graphics use the .swf extension.
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Synthesized sounds
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Sounds that are created artificially by computers and special software.
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Text-to-speech software
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Applications that generate sounds from phoneme sequences to create synthesized speech.
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TIF
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A bitmap graphics file format used for photos and graphics; TIF files have the tif or tiff file extension, and can be large.
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Transition
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Graphic that helps a viewer know when one scene ends and another begins; you can use video-editing software to insert transitions such as fades and swipes between scenes.
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Video
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A technology that combines moving images and sound; can range from home slide shows on your home computer to feature-length high-definition Hollywood movies.
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Video card
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A circuit board that lets your computer process video.
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Video conferencing
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Face-to-face meetings using computers; video conferencing software programs include Microsoft Lync and Google Hangouts.
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Video console
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Hardware with special controllers that let you play video games.
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Video-editing software
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Applications that makes it possible for anyone with a home computer to enhance and customize video; video-editing programs include Windows Movie Maker and Apple iMovie.
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Virtual game world
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A form of social media that lets you play games with others in a simulated environment; examples include virtual reality games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life.
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Virtual social world
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A form of social media that lets you interact socially with others in a simulated environment; examples include forums, wikis, blogs, and chatrooms.
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Virtual world
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Communities participating in commerce and daily activities on the Internet, such as Second Life.
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Voice-over
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Voice narration that can accompany a slide presentation or other video.
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WAVE or WAV
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Standing for Waveform Audio, an uncompressed audio file format; files have a .wav file extension, are large, and have good to excellent sound quality.
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Web cam
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A digital video camera that captures video and sends it directly to a computer; often built into laptops, tablets, and smartphones, they can also be attached through a USB or FireWire port.
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Wireframe drawing
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A 3D object composed of individual lines; you can then apply highlights and shadows to create a solid 3D image in a process called rendering.
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WMA (Windows Media Audio)
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A compressed audio file format that can be played using Windows Media Player; WMA files have the .wma file extension and are copy-protected.
