Matrox Meteor-II /1394 Installation And Hardware Reference page 40

40 Appendix C: Glossary
ASIC
Application-specific integrated circuit. An integrated circuit
custom-made to meet the requirements of a specific
application. It integrates several digital and/or analog
functions into a single die. This results in a reduction in cost,
board area, and power consumption, while improving
performance when compared to an equivalent
implementation using off-the-shelf components.
Asynchronous function
A function that queues its command to the hardware and
then immediately returns control to the caller.
See also synchronous function.
Band
One of the surfaces of a buffer. A grayscale image requires
just one band. A color image requires three bands, one for
each color component.
Bandwidth
A term describing the capacity to transfer data. Greater
bandwidth is needed to sustain a higher transfer rate.
Greater bandwidth can be achieved, for example, by using a
wider bus.
Bit
A digit of a binary number. Images are described as 1-bit,
8-bit, 16-bit, etc. The numbers indicate the bits available to
store the value of each pixel in the image.
Bus
A pathway along which signals are sent, generally in two
directions, for communication of data.
Color component
One of the components that make up a color space. Typically,
each component of a color image is stored in a separate band
of a multi-band buffer.