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Appendix D, Matrox RT.X2 Glossary
lighting conditions or incorrect camera
settings. See also white balancing.
compile See render.
component vide o A video signa l having
separate channels for the video informa tion,
as opposed to a combined (composite) signal.
Y, R-Y, B-Y video is a component video
signal.
composite vid eo A video signal
containing luminance and chrominance
information that has been combined using a
video standard such as NTSC or PAL.
Composite video often uses a single RCA or
BNC cable connection. See also component
video.
contrast The difference in brightness
between the lightest and darkest areas of an
image on the screen.
CPU Central processing unit. The central
processor of a computer that performs
calculations and interprets and executes
commands.
CPU-based effect An effect that takes
advantage of your computer’s CPU to play
back in real time. Matrox Flex CPU effects,
such as the Matrox col or correction effects,
are CPU-based effects. Compare with
hardware-accelerated effect.
crawl Sideways movem ent of text across a
screen. See also roll (1).
crossfade See dissolve.
crystallize effect A Matrox effect that lets
you choose from many different patterns to
make your image or text appear as if it is
made of crystals.
cube effect A Matrox effect that lets you
map video or graphics to the faces of 3D
cubes. These cubes can then be rotated in 3D
space to create tran sition effects such as those
seen during sports broadcasts.
cut A direct swit ch from one video a nd/or
audio source to another.
DD-9 Originally known as Digital-S. A
variant of the DV for mat developed by JVC
that uses a data rate of 50 Mb/sec (5.96
MB/sec), which is double the data rate of
most other DV formats. Video is sampled at
4:2:2 for both NTSC and PAL sources to give
enhanced chroma resolution. It uses a 1/2”
metal particle tape.
Digital8 A camcorder video form at
developed by Sony. Digital8 camcorders use
the DV format to record digital video and
audio onto 8mm and Hi-8 tapes via any
device that has an IEEE-1394 interface.
Digital-S See D-9.
digital signal A signal representing video
or audio information as binary digits that can
be easily regenerated with no noise or
distortion. See also analog signal.
Digital Video See DV.
digitize To convert analog information,
such as a video signal from a VTR or camera,
into digital inf ormation that ca n be processed
and stored by a com puter.
Direct memory access (DMA) A
technique used to rapidly transfer data
between an attached device, such as a disk
drive, and the computer’s main memory
without needing to pass the data through the
CPU.
DirectX A Microsoft-developed program
that enables interfaces to support advanced
hardware features without being written
specifically for each hardware model.
DirectShow (formerly called ActiveMovie) is
part of DirectX.
display card A card that has its own
memory and processor to handle graphics and