EPSON | Presenters Online : Basics > Visuals

Picture this . . . A techno-god is talking to you about the latest multimedia presentation tool. He stops midway through his pitch and asks you why your eyes are rolling around in the back of your head. Could it have something to do with all of that techno-jargon coming from his mouth?

How do you keep up with the ever-changing world of techno-speak? Below is a quick reference dictionary of multimedia terms. We hope this helps you hang tight with the best of the tehno-gods!

Got some techno-jargon? If you come across a term you think we should add to our dictionary, we would like to know about it. Email us at content@presentersonline.com.

ANSI-lumen

Unit of measure for the amount of light emitted by a multimedia projector. The higher the lumens rating the brighter the displayed image. An ANSI-lumen is the US standard set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) ANSI is a member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

Audio

Term used to describe systems that involve sound, including sound recording, sound transmission, amplifiers, etc.

Brightness

Term refers to the brightness or darkness of the overall image. Increase brightness to lighten an image or decrease it to darken the image.

Compression

Process of reducing the space required for transmitting a signal on a channel or storage device.

Contrast

Difference between the light and dark areas in an image. Increase the contrast to make light areas lighter and darker areas darker. Decrease it to minimize the difference between light and dark areas.

Keystone Effect

Distorted picture in which one edge of an image is not the same dimension as the opposite edge. Keystoning usually occurs when the image is projected as a large angle.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

Large screen projection method that utilizes liquid crystal "sandwiched" between two layers of glass. The liquid crystal material is "charged" by transistors. The material "opens" or "closes" to let/keep light from passing through. Each liquid crystal represents one pixel and together they form an image in a range of resolutions (800 x 600, 1024 x 768, etc.).

LCD Multimedia Projector

Internal light source device that projects a computer or video image onto a screen.

Saturation

Intensity of color. For example, a lightly saturated green looks like pea green. A fully saturated green may be the color of a dark emerald. On a projection display device, you can alter the saturation with the color control. Remember that low saturation is like adding white to the color.

Sync

Matching the signals of the projector and computer. Image fuzziness and screen flicker are examples of incorrect signal synchronization.

Super VGA

Super Video Graphics Array. SVGA provides 800 x 600 resolution.

Super XGA

Super Extended Graphics Array. SXGA provides 1280 x 1024 resolution.

Tint

Tinting changes the color of an image. Increasing tint adds more green to the image. Decreasing tint adds more red.

Tracking

Matches the projector's internal clock to various computer graphic signals. Vertical lines running across and image reveals incorrect tracking setting.

VGA

Video Graphics Array. VGA provides 640 x 480 resolution.

XGA

Extend Graphics Array. XGA provides 1024 x 768 resolution.