glossary of internet terms - v

A COMPLETE LIST OF DEFINITIONS OF THE TERMS USED THROUGHOUT OUR WEBSITE

Use the letters below to jump to a particular section or scroll down through the definitions.

misc A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

V. 90 - The official International Telecommunications Union (ITU) modem standard capable of receiving data at 56Kbps.

Vector - Vector graphics are described (eg 'a line from x to y') rather than being made up of a finite number of dots. Because they are rendered as smooth lines, they can be enlarged to any scale without a loss of quality, unlike bitmapped images which will become jaggy when blown up.

Velocity - MIDI notes have an initial volume related to how fast the note was played. A higher velocity will be louder, and a lower one quieter.

VGA - Video Graphics Array. A very basic standard for graphics output, specifying that the monitor and graphics card should be able to display 16 different colours at a resolution of 640x480 pixels.

VHS C - A compact video cassette standard used in camcorders. It offers lower picture quality than S-VHS-C and is more common in low-band camcorders.

Video CD - A compact disc format that contains low-quality video on a par with VNHS tape.

Video memory - Memory installed on your PC's graphics card and used to generate the on-screen image. The more memory on the card, the higher the possible graphics resolution and the more colours that can be displayed. 16Mb should be considered the minimum standard today, with 32Mb or even 64Mb common in high-end gaming systems.

Video phone - A phone which includes a camera and screen to combine your conversation with moving video images of the person you're talking to.

Video8 - A lower-quality version of the Hi-8 video standard used in low-band camcorders.

Videobites - Clips of film that you can view on the Web.

Video-capture card - An expansion card for PCs that allows them to record full-motion video sequences to disk from TV receivers, camcorders and other video recording equipment.

Video-conferencing - Linking two or more PCs to capture and display video and audio in real time so distant people can see as well as talk to each other.

Virtual memory - A reserved area of hard disk space that your PC can use as 'virtual' memory, or RAM, whenever it is running short of the genuine article. Also called a swapfile, this allows you to have more programs open at once but will be slower than having an equivalent amount of real RAM.

Virtual reality - An artificial environment created using a computer. Virtual realities are usually 'explored' using such things as 3D goggles to give the impression that the user is 'inside' the virtual world.

Virus - A malicious computer program designed to cause at best annoyance and at worst, damage to computer data. Viruses usually spread from computer to computer by 'infecting' files that are passed between them, or by automatically sending an email to everyone in your address book. They are often hidden in innocuous-looking files or email attachments, and may lie dormant waiting for a trigger date or event before they launch.

Virus checker - A software program specifically designed to scan files, such as those on a floppy desk or received via email, for viruses that may damage your PC. Most virus scanners will warn you of viruses as well as attempting to remove or at least neutralise them. Beware that for full effectiveness you must update your virus checker frequently.

VOB - A file format that is used on DVDs.

Voice recognition - Software which can recognise spoken words. It may be able to interpret these as commands which it can obey (voice control), or turn them into text to save you typing (voice recognition).

Voicemail - An answerphone service which records callers' messages when you're unavailable. This may be in the office or provided by your mobile phone network.

Voodoo - 3D graphics processors designed by the company 3Dfx, which are commonly used on graphics cards designed to speed up 3D games. Different models of Voodoo card have been sold, from the original Voodoo up to the Voodoo 6500, which used four independent graphics chips.
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