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Glossary
bit block transfer
Moving part of a screen image as a single block rather than
moving a pixel at a time. Bit block transfers are much faster
than moving the same pixels individually, and it is common in
accelerated video cards.
bitBLT
Bit Block Transfer.
bitmap
Any occurrence where a single location in memory and a
single pixel correspond. Usually applies to screen or printer
output. .BMP files are bitmapped graphics files.
bits per second
(bps) A unit of transmission. Also called baud rate.
block
A contiguous section of bits considered as a whole, especially
in memory. On a disk, the data in one sector; in modem data
transfer, the bits between checksums.
board
Printed circuit board. Board onto which computer components
are soldered and thin wires are printed to connect the
components.
boot
To start up a computer. The computer is generally booted in
one of three ways: by turning on the power switch (cold boot),
by pressing the reset switch, or by simultaneously pressing the
Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys (warm boot). Booting the system after it
has already been powered up and booted is referred to as
rebooting. Also the process of booting itself. Boot is from
“bootstrap,” a reference to a computer’s ability to set itself up,
or pull itself up by its own ‘bootstraps.’ See cold boot and
warm boot.
