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Toshiba PORTEGE M400 User Manual

Page 248

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User’s Manual

Glossary--11

Glossary

O

OCR: Optical Character Recognition (reader). A technique or device that

uses laser or visible light to identify characters and input them into a

storage device.

online state: A functional state of a peripheral device when it is ready to

receive or transmit data.

operating system: A group of programs that controls the basic operation

of a computer. Operating system functions include interpreting

programs, creating data files, and controlling the transmission and

receipt (input/output) of data to and from memory and peripheral

devices.

output: The results of a computer operation. Output commonly indicates

data.

1) printed on paper, 2) displayed at a terminal, 3) sent through the

serial port of internal modem, or 4) stored on some magnetic media.

P

parallel interface: Refers to a type of information exchange that transmits

information one byte (8 bits) at a time. See also serial interface.

parity: 1) The symmetrical relationship between two parameter values

(integers) both of which are either on or off; odd or even; 0 or 1.

2) In serial communications, an error detection bit that is added to a

group of data bits making the sum of the bits even or odd. Parity can

be set to none, odd, or even.

password: A unique string of characters used to identify a specific user.

The computer provides various levels of password protection such

as user, supervisor and eject.

pel: The smallest area of the display that can be addressed by software.

Equal in size to a pixel or group of pixels. See pixel.

peripheral component interconnect: An industry standard 32-bit bus.
peripheral device: An I/O device that is external to the central processor

and/or main memory such as a printer or a mouse.

pixel: A picture element. The smallest dot that can be made on a display or

printer. Also called a pel.

plug and play: A capability with Windows that enables the system to

automatically recognize connections of external devices and make

the necessary configurations in the computer.

port: The electrical connection through which the computer sends and

receives data to and from devices or other computers.

Power Saver Utility: A TOSHIBA utility that lets you set the parameters for

various power-saving functions.

printed circuit board (PCB): A hardware component of a processor to

which integrated circuits and other components are attached. The

board itself is typically flat and rectangular, and constructed of

fiberglass, to form the attachment surface.

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