Toshiba Satellite 1415-S173 User Manual - Page 255

255 Glossary liquid crystal display (LCD) - A type of display that uses a liquid substance between two transparent electrode panels. When an electric current passes through the electrodes, the molecules in the liquid form a crystalline pattern that polarizes the light passing through it. A filter over the electrodes permits only nonpolarized light to pass to the surface of the display, creating light and dark pixels. load - To move information from a storage device (such as a hard disk) into memory for processing. local area network - See LAN. logical drive - A section of a disk that is recognized by the operating system as a separate disk drive. A system's logical drives may differ from its physical drives. For example, a single hard disk drive may be partitioned into two or more logical drives. M megabyte (MB) - A unit of data equal to 1,048,576 bytes (1024 x 1024 bytes). See also bytes. memory - Typically refers to the computer's main memory, where programs are run and data is temporarily stored and processed. Memory can be volatile and hold data temporarily, such as RAM, or it can be nonvolatile and hold data permanently, such as ROM. A computer's main memory is RAM. See RAM, ROM. microprocessor - See central processing unit (CPU). MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) - A standard for connecting musical instruments, synthesizers, and computers. The MIDI standard provides a way of translating music into a form computers can use, and vice versa. modem - Short for "modulator/demodulator." A device that converts information from digital to analog and back to digital, enabling information to pass back and forth between digital computers and analog telephone lines. motherboard - The main circuit board in the computer. It contains the processor, memory, and other primary components.