Glossary
page 52
LaCie silverscreen
User’s Manual
Bit –
The smallest measure of computerized data, either a 1 or a 0. Eight bits equal one byte, or one character.
Block –
A very small section of the storage media comprised of one or more sectors. A block is the smallest amount of space
allocated on a drive for data storage. By default, a sector of data consists of 512 bytes.
Byte –
A sequence of adjacent binary digits, or bits, considered as a unit, 8 bits in length. There are 8 bits in 1 byte. See also
MB (Megabyte) or GB (Gigabyte).
Digital –
Discrete information that can be broken down to zero or one bits.
DivX® –
A new video codec developed from the new MPEG-4 compression standard, which allows for
compression/decompression of videos into a specified format. The DivX® codec can play movies using any DivX®-enabled
player, such as the LaCie silverscreen. DivX® movies offer better compression and higher quality than standard MPEG
movies.
Driver (peripheral manager) –
A software component that enables the computer system to communicate with a peripheral.
Most peripherals will not operate correctly – if at all – if the appropriate drivers are not installed on the system.
DTS –
Digital sound technology, which provides the technology for virtually all movie soundtracks.
File System –
Links the physical map of a disc to its logical structure. Thanks to the file system, users and computers can easily
display path, directories and files recorded onto the disc.
Firmware –
Permanent or semi-permanent instructions and data programmed directly into the circuitry of a programmable
read-only memory or an electronically-erasable, programmable read-only memory chip. Used for controlling the operation of
the computer or tape drive. Distinct from the software, which is stored in random access memory and can be altered.
Folder –
A list created on a disk to store files. Creating folders and sub-folders enables you to organize the storage of your
files in a logical, hierarchical manner so that you can find and manage them more easily.
Format, -ting, -ted –
This is a process where a device is prepared to record data. In this process, the hard disk writes special
information onto its own recording surfaces into areas (blocks) that are ready to accept user data. Since this operation causes
all current user data stored on the hard disk to be lost, this is an infrequent operation that usually only happens at the factory
that created the hard disk. It is unusual for something to happen to a hard disk that requires the end-user to initially perform
this operation.
GB (GigaByte) –
This value is normally associated with data storage capacity. Basically, it means a thousand million or a
billion bytes. In fact, it equals 1,073,741,824 bytes (or 1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024).
