Dell Precision 410 User Manual page 151

MPEG
Acronym for Motion Picture Experts Group. MPEG is a
digital video file format.
ms
Abbreviation for millisecond(s).
MS-DOS
Abbreviation for Microsoft Disk Operating System.
MTBF
Abbreviation for mean time between failures.
multifrequency monitor
A monitor that supports several video standards. A multi-
frequency monitor can adjust to the frequency range of the
signal from a variety of video adapters.
mV
Abbreviation for millivolt(s).
NDIS
Abbreviation for Network Driver Interface Specification.
NIC
Acronym for network interface controller.
NLM
Abbreviation for NetWare
NMI
Abbreviation for nonmaskable interrupt. A device sends
an NMI to signal the microprocessor about hardware er-
rors, such as a parity error.
noninterlaced
A technique for decreasing screen flicker by sequentially
refreshing each horizontal line on the screen.
ns
Abbreviation for nanosecond(s), one billionth of a second.
NTFS
Abbreviation for the NT File System option in the Win-
dows NT operating system.
NVRAM
Abbreviation for nonvolatile random-access memory.
Memory that does not lose its contents when you turn off
®
Loadable Module.
your computer. NVRAM is used for maintaining the date,
time, and system configuration information.
online access service
A service that typically provides access to the Internet,
e-mail, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and file libraries.
®
CompuServe is an example of an online access service.
OS/2
Abbreviation for Operating System/2.
OTP
Abbreviation for one-time programmable.
parallel port
An I/O port used most often to connect a parallel printer
to your computer. You can usually identify a parallel port
on your computer by its 25-hole connector.
parameter
A value or option that you specify to a program. A param-
eter is sometimes called a switch or an argument.
partition
You can divide a hard-disk drive into multiple physical
sections called partitions with the fdisk command. Each
partition can contain multiple logical drives.
After partitioning the hard-disk drive, you must format
each logical drive with the format command.
PCI
Abbreviation for Peripheral Component Interconnect. A
standard for local-bus implementation developed by Intel
Corporation.
peripheral device
An internal or external device—such as a printer, a disk
drive, or a keyboard—connected to a computer.
PGA
Abbreviation for pin grid array, a type of microprocessor
socket that allows you to remove the microprocessor chip.
pixel
A single point on a video display. Pixels are arranged in
rows and columns to create an image. A video resolution,
such as 640 x 480, is expressed as the number of pixels
across by the number of pixels up and down.
Glossary 9