backside bus: A special interface that connects a microprocessor
to a Level 2 (L2) cache. No other system device shares the backside bus. This
contrasts with the frontside bus, or system I/O (input/output) bus, which
many system devices typically share. A backside bus helps eliminate performance
bottlenecks.
backside cache: A feature of the G3 processor card that
allows your computer to access L2 cache faster and more efficiently because
it is a part of the processor card itself. When you install a processor card
with backside cache, any motherboard cache present becomes "L3 cache".
backward compatible: Referring to a device that will work
with earlier models (hardware) or versions (software) of the same product.
banding: Extraneous lines in a printed page or displayed
image. On a monitor, banding occurs when the color depth of the video signal
isn't rich enough to display a continuous color gradient.
bandwidth: The amount of data that can be transmitted in
a fixed amount of time. Bigger is better. For digital devices, the bandwidth
is expressed in bits per second (bps) or bytes per second. For analog devices,
the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).
baseline: A method of comparison.
BASIC: Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.
BASIC is a programming language invented in the 1960s for teaching purposes.
Since then, BASIC has evolved into a powerful language often used by professionals.
Microsoft's Visual Basic is currently the most popular version.
beta silicon: Electronics equipment goes through several
stages of development: alpha, beta, and final. Alpha refers to first-run hardware--it
is extremely buggy and prone to crashes. The purpose of alpha silicon is to
test whether the design works and to shake out any problems or bottlenecks
within the architecture. Beta is the second stage, and this is where most
of the major bugs are ironed out. Beta silicon will more likely resemble the
final product. From here, once the product goes through final quality assurance,
it's deemed a "final" product and is packaged and shipped into your hot little
hands.
batch process: A macro that allows you to process several
selected files or folders the same way at once.
bezier: A curved line defined by at least three adjustable
points. The shape of the curve can be altered by tweaking the handles extending
from each point.
bezier control-point deformation: In drawing applications,
a curved line defined by at least three adjustable points. The shape of the
curve can be altered by tweaking the handles extending from each point.
bezier path: In drawing applications, a curved line defined
by at least three adjustable points. The shape of the curve can be altered
by tweaking the handles extending from each point.
bilinear filtering: A method to make textures appear less
pixelated. The process involves the creation of a final filtered pixel by
interpolating and averaging the values of four texels. This interpolation
is done with the red, green, blue, and alpha value of each pixel.
bin: In CPU-speak, a single speed increment as defined
by a 0.5 multiplier jump. For example, on a 66MHz system bus, a 266MHz processor
(66MHz x 4.0) is one bin faster than a 233MHz processor (66MHz x 3.5).
binary code: The actual program code a computer executes.
Programmers write in source code, which a compiler converts into binary code
(also called object code, executable code, or machine code). Binary code is
specific to a particular microprocessor architecture, so a program compiled
for an x86 processor won't run on a PowerPC processor or vice versa.
BIOS: Basic Input/Output System. Software that contains
your computer's most rudimentary instructions on how the operating system
communicates with hardware. Your BIOS runs at startup, configures devices,
and then boots the OS. Because the BIOS is so integral to getting your computer
started, it's stored on a separate ROM chip, not your hard drive, to isolate
it from crashes.
birail: (or sweep) Create a surface using curves as paths
(rails) for other curves to follow along.
bitmap: A graphic image represented by rows and columns of
dots. Each dot's value is stored in one or more bits of data, and the more
bits used to represent a dot, the more colors and shades of gray that can
be represented in the image. Generally, monochrome images have one bit representing
each dot. When representing colors and shades of gray, each dot requires more
than one bit of data.
blit: Bit Level Transfer. The act of drawing a pixel on
screen in a 2D application. Examples of this include drawing sprites in a
game or manipulating graphics in a Photoshop application.
blocky filtering:A term to describe texture-mapping visual
quality that resembles blocky point sampling as opposed to smooth bilinear
filtering.
blue screen of death: Slang to describe the Fatal Exception
Error screen that appears after a full-blown system crash.
boning: The placement of control vertices called "bones"
within a mesh object. A related set of bones forms a hierarchy that, when
associated with the mesh, defines mesh movement in animation.
Boolean: Branch of mathematics addressing relationships
between entities. In 3D modeling they are: Union (the combination of two sets),
Intersection (the overlapping of two sets), and Subtraction (the part of one
set remaining after an intersecting set is removed).
boolean operations: Named after the nineteenth-century
mathematician George Boole, Boolean operations are mathematical relationships
based on a core logic that can be represented in a Venn diagram. In 3D modeling
they are: Union (the combination of two sets), Intersection (the overlapping
of two sets), and Subtraction (the part of one set remaining after an intersecting
set is removed).
boot: Also known as the "boot process." To turn on a computer.
To gather hardware information and load software, such as the operating system.
Slang: to throw up, hurl, vomit, or toss your cookies.
branch: A program instruction that diverts the flow of
execution along two or more alternate paths. For example, a dialog box with
"OK" and "Cancel" buttons represents a branch in the program. Depending on
which button the user clicks, the program will execute one path of instructions
or the other.
branch caching: To store specific or commonly-used instructions
in a closely coupled cache in order to speed up performance and execution.
branch prediction: Pipelining is the time-saving process
that allows a microprocessor to decode one instruction while executing another.
A branch instruction is the implementation of an "if-then-else" construct.
If a condition is true, then the pipeline will jump to some other location;
if the condition is false then it will continue with the next instruction.
The longer the pipeline, the longer the whole process. Branch prediction speeds
things up by allowing the processor to predict whether this jump will occur,
based on what the branch has done in the past. If the prediction turns out
to be wrong, the entire pipeline has to be flushed and all calculations discarded.
But if the prediction turns out to be correct, time is saved, and everyone
is the happier.
broadband: A type of data transmission that can accommodate
multiple channels at once over a single medium (such as wire). Cable TV, for
example, uses broadband transmission to send multiple channels over a single
cable.
broadcast: conformity Ensuring your video meets broadcast
specifications, meaning your whites aren't above +110 ire and your blacks
aren't below -40.
browser-centric world: A futuristic paradigm in which everyone
accesses shared applications and information through browser software.
brushes: 2D sprite-based elements integrated with transparent
margins in a 3D engine.
BSP: Binary Space Partition. A way of dividing world geometry
into a tree structure so it can be searched efficiently.
buffer: see cache
buffer underrun: Occurs when the system cannot keep up
a steady data stream to the CD recording software. The CD recorder itself
has a buffer that is constantly filled with data in the event of a system
slowdown or interruption. If the buffer is emptied before the system can recover,
a buffer underrun occurs. The disc that was being burned is no longer usable
and is further referred to as a "Gold Coaster."
bump-mapping: A visual trick that attempts to simulate
a texture's roughness or smoothness, depending on how the texture reflects
lights. In 3D, this is usually accomplished by laying two textures onto a
polygon--a base texture for the graphics, and a second displacement texture
that is mapped on the object. This second texture determines how "rough" the
surface will appear.
bump maps: Much like texture maps, but they give the illusion
that a flat surface is distorted. For example if you used a bump map on a
sphere you could get the illusion that it was an orange with many small pitted
areas. As the light moves across, the bump map would make the pits look embossed.
bursts: Burst speed is the rate at which data can be accessed
from the drive's own cache.
bus: An electrical pathway over which the components inside a computer communicate
with each other. There are many types of buses. Examples include the PCI bus
(which supports PCI slots) and the CPU's system bus (which the microprocessor
uses to communicate with the rest of the system).
bus bandwidth: The clock frequency of a bus interface.
To calculate peak bus throughput, multiply the bus frequency by the bus width.
If a 100MHz bus is 64 bits wide, it transfers 8 bytes per clock cycle 100
million times per second--for a maximum theoretical throughput of 800MB/sec.
bus-mastering drivers: A feature that enables a controller
connected to the bus to communicate directly with other devices on the bus
without going through the CPU. Most modern bus architectures, including PCI,
support bus mastering because it improves performance.
bus protocol: A set of standard instructions used to transfer
data across a bus interface. See bus.
bytecode: Java programs are compiled to produce bytecode. Because Java is designed to be machine agnostic, the bytecode is again compiled on the machine that executes it by a Just-In-Time compiler.