User’s ManualGlossary-12
Glossary
resolution: A measure of the sharpness of the images that can be produced by a
printer or displayed on a screen. For a printer, resolution is expressed in dots
per inch (dpi). For a screen, it is expressed as the number of pixels available
horizontally and vertically
restart: Resetting a computer without turning it off (also called “warm boot”, “soft
reset” or “reboot”). See also boot.
RGB: Red, green, and blue. A device that uses three input signals, each activating
an electron gun for a primary additive color (red, green, and blue) or port for
using such a device. See also CRT.
RJ45: A modular LAN jack.
Read Only Memory (ROM): Non-volatile memory that can be read but not written
to. Non-volatile here means that information in ROM remains whether or not
the computer is receiving power. This type of memory is used to store your
computer’s BIOS, which is essential instructions the computer reads when you
start it up. See also BIOS, memory. Compare RAM.

S

S/P DIF: A standard of digital interface for audio.
SCSI: Small Computer System Interface is an industry standard interface for
connection of a variety of peripheral devices.
SD/SDHC Card: Secure Digital cards are flash memory widely used in a variety of
digital devices such as digital cameras and Personal Digital Assistants.
serial: Processes that occur one at a time. In communications, it means the
transmission of one bit at a time sequentially over a single channel. On your
computer, the serial port provides a serial interface between the computer and
an appropriate device. Compare parallel.
SIO: Serial Input/Output. The electronic methodology used in serial data
transmission.
soft key: Key combinations that emulate keys on the IBM keyboard, change
some configuration options, stop program execution, and access the numeric
keypad overlay.
software: The set of programs, procedures and related documentation associated
with a computer system. Specifically refers to computer programs that direct
and control the computer system’s activities. See also hardware.
stop bit: One or more bits of a byte that follow the transmitted character or group
codes in asynchronous serial communications.
system disk: A diskette that contains the operating system files needed to start
the computer. Any diskette can be formatted as a system disk. A system disk
is also called a “bootable disk”, “boot disk” or a “startup disk.” Compare non-
system disk.