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K
K: Taken from the Greek word kilo,
meaning 1000; often used as equiva-
lent to 1024, or 2 raised to the 10th
power. See also byte and kilobyte.
KB: See kilobyte.
keyboard: An input device contain-
ing switches that are activated by
manually pressing marked keys. Each
keystroke activates a switch that
transmits a specific code to the
computer. For each key, the transmit-
ted code is, in turn, representative of
the (ASCII) character marked on the
key.
kilobyte (KB): A unit of data storage
equal to 1024 bytes. See also byte
and megabyte.
L
level 2 cache: See cache.
Light Emitting Diode (LED): A
semiconductor device that emits light
when a current is applied.
Liquid Crystal Display (LCD): Liquid
crystal sealed between two sheets of
glass coated with transparent con-
ducting material. The viewing-side
coating is etched into character
forming segments with leads that
extend to the edge of the glass.
Applying a voltage between the glass
sheets alters the brightness of the
liquid crystal.
LSI: Large Scale Integration. 1) A
technology that allows the inclusion
of up to 100,000 simple logic gates on
a single chip. 2) An integrated circuit
that uses large scale integration.
M
main board: See motherboard.
megabyte (MB): A unit of data
storage equal to 1024 kilobytes. See
also kilobyte.
megahertz: A unit of wave frequency
that equals 1 million cycles per
second. See also hertz.
menu: A software interface that
displays a list of options on the
screen. Also called a screen.
microprocessor: A hardware compo-
nent contained in a single integrated
circuit that carries out instructions.
Also called the central processing unit
(CPU), one of the main parts of the
computer.
mode: A method of operation, for
example, the boot mode, standby
mode or the hibernation mode.
modem: Derived from modulator/
demodulator, a device that converts
(modulates) digital data for transmis-
sion over telephone lines and then
converts modulated data (demodu-
lates) to digital format where received.
monitor
Glossary-9
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