Intro to IT

Flash memory, or sometimes called "flash RAM", is a type of EEPROM (Electornically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) which is a variation of electically erasable programmable read-only memory, but which, unlike flash memory, is erased and rewritten at the byte level, which is slower than flash memory updating. It is a chip that maintains stored information without requiring a power source. It is a contantly-powered nonvolatile memory that can be erased and reprogrammed in units of memory called blocks. It is often used in portable electronics, like MP3 players, digital cameras and in removable storage devices.

Graphic card is an expansion card whose function is to generate output images to a display. It is the part of the computer that control and enhance how graphics (pictures, videos, programs, animation, 3D) are displayed on your computer screen. Other modern high performance video cards are used for more graphically demanding purposes, such as PC games. The graphic card is a separate component that plugs into a slot on the motherboard, which is the main part of the computer. Though sometimes, the graphic card components are build directly into the motherboard.

A sound card, which is also known as audio card, is an internal computer component that processes audio files in order to provide high-quality playback through computer speakers. A sound plays voice as well as music files, and can handle various audio file formats including .wav, .mp3 and .cda to name but a few. The typical sound has an interface available at the back of the computer with various input and output ports. The quality of the sound card and speakers both affect the overall sound quality of the computer system. Speakers plug directly into the back of the sound card. Many computers have sound capabilities built in, while others require additional expansion cards to provide for audio capability.

A network interface card, more commonly referred to as a NIC, is axpansion board that is inserted into a computer which allows computers to be joined together in a LAN, or local area network. Networked computers then communicate with each other using a given protocol or agreed-upon language for transmitting data packets between the different machines, known as nodes. The network interface card acts as the liaison for the machine to both send and receive data on the LAN and provide a dedicated, full-time connection to a network. Most NICs are designed for a particular type of network, protocol, and media, although some can serve mulltiple networks.

Plug & Play (PnP) is a technology that provides a combination of software and hardware support that enables the Windows operating system to detect and configure hardware with little or no user involvement.  In many earlier computer systems, the user was required to explicitly tell the operating system when a new device had been added. Plug and Play makes it easier to add and configure hardware on a computer. Microsoft made Plug and Play a selling point for its Windows operating systems, but similar capability had long been built into Macintosh computers.

The bus lines are a collection of communicating eloctronic lines through which data is transmitted in the form of bits. Bus lines connect different parts of the CPU to various other parts, as well as the system board of the computer. The bus lines are like multilane pathway which means that the more bus lines are on the system the greater is the rate of transfer of data along the bus, which means that the computer can run efficiently and will perform the operations at a faster rate.

HDMI stands for High Definition Multimedia Interface, which is an uncompressed, all-digital signal, while the aforementioned interfaces are all analog. With an analog interface, a clean digital source is translated into less precise analog, sent to the television, then converted back to a digital signal to display on screen. At each translation, the digital signal loses integrity, resulting in some distortion of picture quality. HDMI preserves the source signal, eliminating analog conversion to deliver the sharpest, richest picture possible. High Definition technology or HD has seen a rapid increase in consumer use especially with HDTVs, HD-DVD and Blu-ray players, HD camcorders and other HD components.

Cache (pronounced as cash) memory is a special high-speed storage device that is built into a computer's central processing unit (CPU), or located next to it on a separate chip. The CPU uses cache memory to store instructions that are repeatedly required to run programs, improving overall system speed. The advantage of cache memory is that the CPU does not have to use the motherboard's system bus for data transfer. Whenever data must be passed through the system bus, the data transfer speed slows to the motherboard’s capability. The CPU can process data much faster by avoiding the bottleneck created by the system bus.