A thumb drive is a portable data storage device. In computer parlance, it is known as a USB flash drive, but it can be known by a variety of mix and match descriptive names such as USB key, USB memory key, key drive, flash key, compact flash key, or compact flash drive.
The names come from […]
Creating a backup is the process of saving a second copy of computer files. Although you might think that your computer files are safely stored on your hard drive, there are many different scenarios in which they can be lost, such as:
your laptop gets lost or stolen
your computer gets damaged
your computer gets old and stops […]
Most home users can store all of their data on the hard drive that comes with the computer. The size of today’s hard drives are easily large enough to store your normal data files, like documents and photos. The only time that storage becomes an issue is when you start saving video, or large collections […]
Data compression is a function performed by computers to decrease the size of a data file, while controlling the amount of information that gets lost. The purpose of data compression is to reduce the amount of space required to store the file and to reduce the bandwidth required to transfer the file.
With audio files, especially […]
Data compression, or file compression, is a function performed by computers to decrease the size of a data file, while controlling the amount of information that gets lost. The purpose of data compression is to reduce the amount of space required to store the file on a hard disk, memory card, or optical disk, and […]
By February, 2009, all television stations in the US are required by federal law to convert their over-the-air analog broadcasts to digital television (DTV) broadcasts. However, there is a lot of misinformation going around with regard to what that transition means to the consumer.
First of all, the transition will only impact free over-the-air broadcasts via […]
Blu-ray Disc (abbreviated either BD or BRD) is the brand name for a new type, or format, of optical media disc. Blu-ray discs are the same physical size as standard CDs and DVDs and look very similar. Its name comes from the fact that it uses a blue laser (actually the violet spectrum) to read […]
High-definition television (often shortened to high-def or abbreviated HDTV) refers to the increased level of detail and clarity which is possible on the latest generation of television displays.
Of course, terms like high definition are always relative to the previous technology, just as high fidelity audio in the 1950s was better than its predecessor, but not […]
The difference between an analog broadcast and a digital broadcast is difficult to explain without some prior knowledge of how radio and television signals get from the tower to your home in the first place. Suffice it to say that broadcast signals are a type of electromagnetic wave that carries data through space. How far […]
Size, compression, and resolution are three characteristics which determine the quality of a digital photograph. The size of a digital photo is usually expressed in terms of pixel dimensions, such as 1024 x 768. The quality of digital cameras is usually expressed in megapixels, which represents one million photo sensors in the camera.
While megapixels and […]