Intro to IT

Flash memory has a combination of RAM and ROM. It can be updated to store new information and it does not lose information when the power supply of the computer system is turned off. Among its uses are storing the start up instructions for a computer (information like the amount of RAM, type of keyboard and mouse, etc.)

Graphic cards connect the system board to the computer's monitor. They convert internal electronice signals to video signals which enable them to appear on the monitor.  The system unit, working in conjunction with application softwares, sends information about the image to the graphics card. The graphics card decides how to use pixels to create the image. It then sends that information to the monitor. ­

Sound cards take in any audio input from a microphone and converts it into a form that computers can process. These cards also do the opposite by converting internal electronic signals to audio signals so that they can be heard by the speakers. This is done by translating analog and digital signals. In the case of voice recording  through a microphone, the sound card translates the analog waves and digitizes the sound by taking precise measurements of the wave at frequent intervals. 

The NIC forms a communication network by connecting two or more computers together. Users can then share data, programs and hardware.  Networked computers communicate with each other using a given protocol or language for transmitting data packets between the different machines, known as nodes.

Plug and play is the ability of a device  to be plugged into a computer and to work or be played immediately. Back the, an operating system had to be "informed" that a new device has been plugged into the computer. Developed by Microsoft,  the plug and play function was for its Windows 95. Devices which are not plug and play devices require a driver to be installed in order to enable usage.

A bus line connects to parts of the CPU to each other. They link the CPU to other components on a system board. The busline is a pathway for bits that represent data and instructions. A bus width is the number of bits that can travel at the same time down a bus line. The speed and power of a computer is affected very much by the bus line design or architecture. Bus lines can be divided into two categories which are system bus lines and expansion bus lines. System bus lines are the ones which connects teh CPU to memory. Expansion bus lines on the other hand connect teh CPU to components on the system board.

HDMI is an interface standard used for audiovisual equipment. Before HDMI, computers use component video, S-video and composite video. The interface used was analog.With an analog interface, a clean digital source is translated into less precise analog. At each translation, the digital signal loses integrity, resulting in some distortion. HDMI however, preserves the source's signal as its signal is all digital. The results are visuals and audio of high quality.

A cache memory acts as a high-speed holding area between the memory and the system unit. A computer detects the most frequently used information in the RAM and copies that information into the cache. The system unit can then access the information quickly whenever it is needed. Cache memory optimizes performance and saves time.